I started my last year of residency on July 1, 2025. In the doctorhood quest, the days pass slowly while the years pass quickly. As time marches onward, I sometimes forget how far I’ve journeyed on my own doctorhood quest until an experience reminds me of where I’ve been.

This July I was reminded of where I’ve been when I had the opportunity to work with new third-year medical students. The third year of medical school is when future doctors start their clinical training – in other words, they leave the library and the classroom to enter the clinic and hospital. The third year of medical is a dramatic transition from learning theory to applying it.

I surprised myself this July as I answered third-year medical student question after question. No question was too hard – I could either answer by reaching into my mind or by easily referencing the resources I’ve come to consider my external brain. Not only did the answers come easily but so did the process. It was once hard for me to sort through patient data and make sense of it. It isn’t anymore. Work that felt overwhelming years ago – reviewing data, seeing patients, writing notes, and pitching medical ideas – is now second nature. Of course, I don’t know everything there is to know about medicine. I never will, which is one reason I love medicine. But, these days, it’s easy to identify gaps in my knowledge and easier to know where to find the answer. I know when to ask a colleague vs. ask a specialist vs. look the answer up myself.

I was a third-year medical student about 4 years ago. Now I supervise medical students of all levels. When I coach my students on how to improve the way they present patient information in verbal and written form, I’m reminded of how these things once were hard for me. As I help students review a new consult or a new admission, their questions and hesitancies remind me that I too once had the same uncertainties. These days when I work with medical students, it’s obvious to me that the process of learning medicine (student, then resident, then independent doctor) works. My own experience is a testament to that. I can’t wait to see what medical knowledge and healthcare wherewithal I’ll have after another 4 years of being a doctor. Stay tuned.