And we're officially a PGY2! (life update)

Okay, so I became a PGY2 (post-graduate year 2) resident on July 1, but my life has been super busy since then! I had just about the worst move of my life thanks to Lenora's of Philadelphia (they actually get great reviews elsewhere, but here are some poor ones -- if you are at all inclined to use these folks then e-mail me first!). Fortunately, my parents made it all better by putting their noses to the grindstone for most of the next 10 days to get me settled in my new place.

They left me with just a few things to do after they left (bookshelf, coffee table, curtains) and surprise surprise, I haven't made any further progress. I still need to post pictures of the transformation, I know! I hit the ground running during residency and haven't spent much time attending to life details beyond laundry & paying bills. I'm just grateful we managed to install a faucet that accommodates the Danby portable dishwasher, which has drastically changed my life for the better.

I may still be curtainless (relax, I do have shades!) and awaiting arrival of my wooden bed frame from somewhere in Appalachia, but I did get a new Jamis road bike! It's entry level but works very well for me and I have been riding in a park near my rotation site with a couple of fitness-minded attending physicians. My attending jokes that's I'm not really riding because I'm barely sore after 12-18 miles, but I swear I'm riding as hard as I can! All signs point to me being a lot more cardiovascularly and musculoskeletally fit today than I was three weeks ago! I admit I have a hard time pushing myself to ride harder/faster/stronger for very long stretches but I'm working on that.

I've also started hiking on some of my days off. My new home is close to a vast array of gorgeous trails just waiting to meet my feet! Since I don't know too many people in the area I joined several groups of outdoor adventurers through Meetup.com. So far, I have met several nice & fun folks on the hikes. The only fishyness so far came from a guy who e-mailed me the same day he joined the site with an offer to show me "more private" hikes starting with a waterfall/swimming hole. I'll stick with the group, thanks!

In medical training news, I just got my Step 3 scores back and now officially qualify for my very own medical (non-trainee) license! With great gifts come great responsibility. I have to thank my favorite mentor (again) for reminding me how dumb it is to postpone board exams. I studied intensively for a few days, trusted internship to prepare me for the rest, and was not disappointed.

Finally, I love my residency program! I'm learning so much and everyone associated with the program is truly awesome. I'm also SO grateful to have completed what amounted to a sometimes brutally hard intern year. As I learned on my very first PGY2 call shift, my program prepared me well to be the only in-house physician (with phone backup, whew!) covering ~150 beds. Overnight call aside, I am reminded many times daily how lucky I am to have gained solid internal medicine training.

That's all for now -- I'm headed out with a new acquaintance for another 15 miles on the bike! All this activity makes me feel almost athletic.