exit neema the resident, enter neema the fellow

the past 48 hours has been momentous. yesterday, june 30, 2003, marked my last day of residency in internal medicine. today, july 1, 2003 was my first day as a fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine. i spent today learning the ropes at USC university hospital. it wasn't quite as stressful as i had feared and, yeah, it went over pretty well.

the funny thing is that after 4 years (well, 6 if you include third and fourth years of medical school) of essentially not liking what i was doing, i really enjoyed today despite the fact that it was all new, stressful and yet exhilirating. i like the ICU setting and i like taking care of critically ill patients. i guess it is about finding a niche that you like and i think i may have found it.