A change is going to come

As of today I:

-am an official, real live, MD

As of today I will no longer:

-drive past spray painted camels on my way to work (they're painted orange so cars can see them)
-be force fed endless cups of turkish coffee during morning report
-be greeted by my attendings with a kiss on each cheek
-have to clarify with my patients if their wife is a first or second cousin (or a first or second wife for that matter)
-have a majority of patient conversations translated from Arabic to Russian to Hebrew to English (or some variation thereof) and back
-be able to pretend I don't understand when attendings make uncomfortable comments about how my srubs fit
-be the cute chick with an accent
-live in a country where drive-through doesn't exist
-live in a town where 90% of restaurants daringly offer sandwiches, salads, quiches, pastas, pizzas, steak, fish, sushi, asian noodles, and hummus on a single menu
-be a medical student ever again


But I will try to continue:

-seeing each patient as an unkown, without prejudice or preconceptions
-to treat the patient in the way they would like to be treated, not the way I decide is best for them
-remembering that even someone who looks just like me comes with their own personal culture that I must try to discover, understand, and respect

Taking a two week moving vacation and then the new adventure begins. . .