Passion for internal medicine

Sometimes I feel pretty out of touch with my general internal medicine skills. I still am a member of the American College of Physicians, and I browse through Annals of Internal Medicine every time it crosses my desk (I still think that it is one of the most interesting and well-written journals around. I especially love the "ACP Journal Club" section). But, really, 99% of what I do is straight-up oncology. Most of my internal medicine comes from my time on the wards, which is only a few weeks per year. So when I signed up to be a mentor for a group of third-year medical students who are doing their internal medicine rotation this month, I wasn't sure what I was in for. I was supposed to be a supplement to their ward team, and we would run through cases or go over interesting physical exam findings or look at X-rays together. I also critiqued their oral and written histories and physicals.

Much to my surprise, this has been one of the best experiences of my young faculty life so far. The medical students' enthusiasm for learning and for patient care is infectious, and it refreshed in me all that I loved about internal medicine in the first place (the long differentials, the overly elaborate interpretations of chem 7s, the emphasis of comprehensive past medical histories and medication lists. It's all great!). I have always thought that I would like to keep my internal medicine board certification up to date, and this has reconfirmed that for me. It won't be easy — just as most internists don't know much about oncology, I find as an oncologist I know relatively little about day-to-day internal medicine. I'll need to study hard. I might even not pass. But I intend to try.

So thank you, M3s, for a great month and for reigniting in me that passion that brought me to internal medicine in the first place. You made me proud to be an internist again.