Belated: New pack leader and living out of a suitcase

#1. Family Medicine

Now the outright leader of the pack, and by quite a large margin. This transition happened over the span of the last couple months as I got exposed to these specialties and realized how much I would not be ok with (a) losing knowledge, and likely interest, in many aspects of medicine, and (b) to essentially devote my life to one particular section of a specialty. Even seeing the R3s/R4s in things like Internal Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery already forget some basic principles that I think make you a good doctor is not something I want to end up being (of course, they are incredibly smart in what they do).

Secondly, the flexibility of Family Medicine is unparalleled. I will in all likelihood chase extra training in Emergency Medicine to work at the very least part-time for a while. And maybe hospitalist and sports medicine training are down the line too. Just the fact that all these options are possibilities that I could chase whenever I'd like makes me excited. Funny enough, the actual concept of basic Family practice is not something I'm excited about, but I do enjoy talking to people, being involved in their lives and am an advocate on more than just prescriptions and routine advice. I think it' something I could be good at.

I wouldn't even know what to rank second at this point. Maybe Internal Medicine if I really enjoy it in Toronto. Funny enough, I'd probably shoot myself if I matched to the FRCPC Emergency specialty so I might not even rank that. My main question at this point is how I'm going to rank - primarily by location or by specialty? Given recent events, location is now more important to me than before, but we'll see what happens in the next few months.

 

Nomad life

See my map HERE

Sydney and Cape Breton have been great to me. It really has felt more like a vacation than another elective. It's astounding how some parts of the island look like they came straight out of those postcards or ads for the Maritimes, and then you realize you're standing there. Those giant rocks. Those waves that crash against the shore. I've wanted to step out on those rocks and have the waves just crash on the same rock I sit on, but it's probably not the safest idea in the world. The smell has really gotten to me though. Now, I'm normally a guy with a pretty awful sense of smell but every time I step outside and I can smell the salty ocean air, it's just something else.

Crab has been the best thing I've eaten here, probably because it's in season. The lobster was unfortunately a bit disappointing but it was still tasty.

I'll leave you with some photos. Halifax is next, and then my southern US trip with some of the guys.

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