To train or not train - yet

Tweet

I just recently passed the physician licensure examination last August 2010. Had I decided to undergo residency training immediately, I would have applied there and then and started training last September. But I decided to take a year off and enjoy myself for a while. You see I missed out on a lot of things when I was in medical school and internship. It's like losing a social life for 5 years of gigantic books and sleepless duties. I missed out on family reunions, christmas celebrations, birthdays, family travels and vacations. I once spent Christmas eve in the Emergency room Pediatric department with 7 kids vomiting all around. That's not how I wanted to spend my Christmas. But it was all part of becoming a doctor. So I sacrificed a lot and having passed the licensure examination is a great reward to it all. But now I realized that time really does fly. I can still remember the month of October when it was just starting. When my "vacation" was just officially starting. I get to travel almost every month to whatever country or place I love. I get to sleep late and wake up late. And now we're almost halfway through January. Time does fly. The problem is I know I have to think about my future. I really want to train more and apply for residency and hopefully get accepted and become an internist someday. But the more I sulk in my vacation, the more I lose my drive to study and undergo training. Applications won't start until September. I know it's still a long time for me to think and decide. But time flies. Before I know it, half a year would have gone and I'm still undecided. I've been warned about losing the motivation to train and to study further if I ever take a year off. That's natural, because I am enjoying my life right now. The fact is, I envy my friends who are in training right now. My batchmates who didn't take a break and continued with residency immediately. Whenever I get to talk to them, I have this profound admiration of them. It's like they've grown so much in terms of knowledge and skills. But I also have this aching desire in the back of my mind that tells me to take things slow and extend my vacation. Because I have so much planned for myself in terms of getting my life back, if you know what I mean. I really don't know what I'm driving at here. I just want to get that out of my system.