Sorry for the absence from the blog world. The last few days of my surgery rotation were hectic with tests and practical exams, compounded by a quick visit to see family out east and constant worry about the people I love most. Alas, I finished the rotation mostly unscathed and with more questions about my future than ever. 

I started psychiatry this week. To switch from surgery to psych is kind of like switching from Biden to Palin. Skill and answers on one side, a lot of funny words and fuzzy data on the other.  

Most of my patients are textbook patients. They have delusions that they are being framed by the doctors for a murder they didn’t do. Little people walk into their rooms and hand them their glasses. They hear voices all night long that keep them up. They feel misunderstood. 

However, as interesting as these patients are, the patient that I am most intrigued by is a man suffering from major depression. I first noticed him when I observed a music therapy session where he picked all Simon and Garfunkel songs to create the soundtrack of his life. Unlike the other patients who created their soundtrack based on the actual song titles, this man chose the songs based on their meaning and theme. Later that evening, I had some down time and decided to sit with him. With an easy lead in…”how ’bout those Cubs”…we were off running. We talked about politics (he is a democrat who too is dumbfounded by Sarah Palin), memorable baseball games, and how to swing the “family-room” nightly TV vote in the hospital so that he could watch the debate instead of the Cubs. We talked for over an hour and it felt like mere moments. Perhaps the most interesting part of the night was when he asked me what my role was in the hospital. He thought I was a nursing student, and looked quite surprised to hear I was a medical student. (Sadly) I think he couldn’t believe that someone on the core medical team was willing to spend that much time with him. 

I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something about him that is so intriguing, and I just hope with every bone in my body that he can turn this around. It’s also the first time since I’ve started this whole med school thing that I think I’ve actually made a difference in somebody’s life. His face lit up this morning when he saw me.

I guess if I had to name the song that’s playing in my soundtrack right now, it would be “Song for the Asking”

“Here is my song for the asking
Ask me and I will play
So sweetly, I’ll make you smile”