Hardcore……
Back when I was in 4th year,medical school, I rented an apartment in NY that was on the third floor of a building which had no elevator.
Doing laundry was a workout in itself. I had
To walk up and down those three flight of stairs with a heavy load of laundry.
Once, I was postcall, but still had to get my laundry done or else I would not have had chance to do it for a week because of my schedule. Tired, exhausted and half-asleep I was going down the stairs, slipped and fell landing on my right foot which twisted badly.
Honestly I thought I had broken it. I just sat there in excruciating pain, and all I could think of was that I had ‘screwed up’.
At the time I was on my surgical rotation and the attending was really hard on the students. However, if I could get an LOR from this guy, I would definitely get into a surgical residency, which is what I was extremely interested in at the time.
I did not even want to go to the hospital, and I didn’t. I dragged myself back up to my apartment. Then I wokeup on the floor of my apartment, just inside the door, about two hours later. I had actually lost consciousness due to the pain.
After being assessed at the hospital, I just had a sprained ankle. I stayed off my feet for two days. Showed up to work bright and early on crutches…….you better believe it.
Also getting around on the subway during peak hour while on crutches is like being roadkill….people will push you and actually tell you to, ‘get out of their way’.
Needless to say, when you are laser-focused on a goal, don’t let anything get in your way once you have a pulse.
Sleepy ER Doctor Diaries 