I’ve said a lot of goodbyes over the past few weeks–classmates, old friends, family, exes, and now you, my dear readers. (Yes, yes, say it ain’t so!)

I started this blog almost 5 years ago (wow) to document the process of becoming a doctor, write about health policy, explain medicine, and provide an outlet to process and reflect on the things that I experienced. By all possible measures, I’d say it was a success.

The further I got into medical school, the harder it was to remember or understand what it’s like to be a patient–in terms of the knowledge and the experience. It’s hard to remember what it’s like not to know what a drug does, or the pathophysiology of CHF, or when a patient is ready for discharge. I think this is one of the biggest challenges we have to overcome–becoming doctors by definition requires us to enter a different space than our patients, yet we still must communicate and explain without trying to over- or under-simplify.

And along the way, I guess another goal was to show people that doctors are simply fallible humans that are, in the vast majority, trying their best, but are prone to the same flaws and errors and mistakes that all of us are. It just sucks that our mistakes have much bigger consequences. I will always strive for perfection in my practice of medicine, but know I will never achieve it. I wish more patients would realize this.

Thanks for all the comments, support, criticism, and linkage over the past 5 years. This book of my life is over, but who knows, you may see me again. My goals right now are to hit residency with a running start, learn New York, meet friends, find some love along the way, and if I find that I still have time to blog, perhaps I’ll be back. It’s been a great 5 years!

(I’ll be moving the archives over to http://grahamazon.com/over2/ in the next week or so.)

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