Our first winning entry is a story from a grizzled resident:

A lot is on my mind these days. I am thirty years old, I have a one year girl who is turning into an Olsen Twin with melodrama substituted for’acting’. I just had a new baby boy 7 days ago who has decided to make me relive my intern year all over again; sleepless nights and a continuous hazy filled days. And I now have to find time to end my last residency shift on the 30th of this month, pack 3 years worth of life, 2 babies, and a wife, and travel to the ridiculously expensive Boston for my fellowship training. Of course, I have to wake up and start my new job with a’smile’ on my face as if I had a pleasant time between jobs and restful sleep. And this is all good news.

So then what can be the bad news. Well let’s say that I am 1 year away from full exposure. 1 year aware from facing patients who you spend years taking care of, only to turn face and join any malpractice happy lawyer. Is this what medicine has turned into? Instead of worrying about just optimally treating my patients, I have to worry about survival. I feel I have to be suspicious of every patient who walks through my door.

Confusion, fear, hesitancy. This is the medical world that awaits me.

Love, compassion, support. This is the home I leave every day for the world.