In Training Exam, Year One

Today I took my 200 question ASCO In Training Exam for oncology. This is my fourth year taking an In Training Exam of some sort. The past three years it was for internal medicine. Today's test was an assessment of how much I've learned during fellowship over the past 8 months. With each question stem, I pictured the patients I had cared for this year with the disease in question. What did I do for those patients? That made coming up with the right answer a lot easier. It's amazing how much I've seen and done in 8 months!

It's equally hard to believe that in just four short months more, I'll be a second year heme/onc fellow. Next year will be the start of my fellow continuity clinic where I will be the primary hematologist-oncologist for my own set of patients. That both seems exciting and intimating. It'll be exciting to take on more responsibility and independence. Yet, it will be intimidating to guide and care for people who are facing one of the hardest challenges in a lifetime: cancer.  I know this will push me to work hard to understand the health history of each of these patients inside and out so that I can make the best recommendations for their care.

I am thankful for my training program and the opportunity that I have to learn to be a hematologist-oncologist. It's truly a privilege that I do not take for granted.

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