Prior to November 30th, most of my nights were spent reviewing, studying and praying to pass the national licensing examination. I would come home from whatever rotation I was on, eat “dinner” and then proceed to complete whatever remaining paperwork that needed to be done from the rotation. After all that was done, I would spend whatever was left of my free time attempting to study, or feeling guilty and anxious that I was not studying when I was doing something to keep me sane. This routine was may daily life for approximately six weeks prior to November 30th. Needless to say, it took a few days of complete and total relaxation for it to fully hit me that the exam was over and that I would not have to think about pig diarrhea (hopefully) ever again.
Similarly, mid-way through the large animal ultrasonography rotation, which I took a week after boards, I realized that when I went home I would not have to download my notes on feline hyperthyroidism and review the ways to treat it. I could go home and review cases from the day, read up on something I am *actually* interested in, or just do…nothing. It was a very relaxing rotation after that realization.
Most importantly, I have also found that the stress of trying to do “well” on rotations has subsided and that I feel more free to ask questions that I might have early been too afraid to ask for fear of looking dumb. It has been a wonderful experience in the post-boards experience, albeit confusing on what to actually spend my time doing at first.
