Reminiscing . . .

hi peeps!
i finished my housemanship last week friday, but my internet subscription was not renewed at the time so... yeah. that's how come i'm online [finally!] after so long.
it's been a rollercoaster ride, this housemanship. i will say i've learnt some, as regards the immediate care and follow-up of patients, right from their admission to the time of their possible discharge.
but, in a nutshell, it was not exactly fun.
it's been a period of character building and reshaping, a time to shed 'baby fat' and become a mature, grown adult. it's a good thing, superb yeah, but the process? the path? it can all be summed up in one most appropriate word:
GRUELLING!!!
it takes grace to be a teacher indeed. i say this because those who we were placed under came in different shapes, sizes, character and attitude, which largely defined our attitude toward them. some were good and graceful in giving instructions and corrections, and you could clearly see it in them that they would want for you to be a good and well-trained doctor. others scoff at your mistakes, give instructions haphazardly and expecting you [the magic mindreader] to extrapolate and by default understand what they mean and get everything done as they imagine it all in their minds. and then they come to find that not everything is as picturesque as their minds had painted it, all because some 'bloody house-officer' [name-calling begins!] could not understand simple instructions given to him/her. some others are even worse in that they go way beyond name-calling to further humiliate you and push you to the wall with their words and attitude, yep! so when you finally flare up and talk back at them [which they so anticipate like vanilla ice-cream] they would finally have something to nail you down with. and this unfortunate action of yours will earn you the most dreaded consequence in the history of housemanship: E-X-T-E-N-S-I-O-N ! ! !
well thankfully, my own experience was more of threats of extension, some name-callings here and there, and me showing some attitude as payback for their insensitivity [in my pediatric mind!] it was later on i then realized that it would have earned me a bad name plus an extension for a poor attitude towards your senior colleagues, regardless of what they may have done to you...
long and short, it has been a bittersweet experience for me.
i won't say i regret anything, but if i had to do housemanship again, i would be a goodly, punctual, up-and-doing, studious, curious lady who would calmly and humbly take corrections, and never be missing during any ward-rounds or calls. that way, i believe, any colleague of whatever rank would be shaming himself/herself trying to get at you.
but, being that i wouldn't want to go in for a second housemanship 'tenure' [as many of our money-conscious and hustling colleagues do] i want to see it this way:
i have a whole life ahead of me. youth service, private practice, residency, family living, friends and acquaintances, neighbors... the list keeps getting longer of opportunities ahead of me which i could use advantageously to make right the wrongs and mistakes i made in the past. so those things i didn't do or know to do as a house officer, i know now. those virtues of life that make you favorably disposed to your neighbor are at your fingertips now, so try to live by them as your guiding principles. be a reasonably principled person. be flexible, but not compromising. it's a fine line, i agree, but your guiding principles will help you spot the difference, or when you are just about tipping over.

it is well with you, dear Lota. you are a victor, no matter what. in Jesus name, Amen!
shalom!