Fake It 'Til You Make It

My intern year is rapidly drawing to a close (*gulp*), as evidenced by the fact that we now have NAMES of the people who are going to take our place. Which is, on the one hand SO FREAKING AWESOME, but on the other, absolutely terrifying. (For me, and probably for them - I'm remembering back to me one year ago).

This year is passing quickly, and while I do know that I must be learning something (I have not, after all, been called aside for any uncomfortable conversations), it is very hard to empirically judge this. We're not getting tested, for one. Which, don't get me wrong, is probably the number three reason why it is Great To Not Be A Student Anymore... but it also takes away the one concrete way we knew that we were Making It. Pass the test? You learned!

Lacking the concrete tests, I seem to have adopted the mannerism of just Faking It, and Being Cheerful (the more professional version of the Smile and Nod).

And it seems to be working! I consistently get, if not stellar, at least perfectly decent and occasionaly great, evaluations. Evaluations, by the way, are really the only empiric way we have to know if we're doing okay, however subjective they may be. Empirically subjective - what a great oxymoron!

You're an oxymoron.

So. This is the advice that I would like to pass on to those coming after me: show up, work hard and have fun. That's the guts of what I've learned this year - well, that and maybe a bit about pediatrics. It may (and for me often does) feel like you're faking it. But as long as you keep smiling and don't actually fake the important things, you'll make it just fine!

But then, what do I know? Anybody got a test for this??