Ride along for recognition

Today, I substituted one of my subinternship Emergency Medicine shifts with an ambulance ride-along. The hospitality of the Fire Department staff and the willingness to let me partake in all aspects of the prehospital care was refreshing. It was quite the reversal from the usual hospital hierarchy of doctor, nurse, and somewhere in the abyss... medical student. I make it sound like I deserve a big pat on the back for sitting in classes passively and studying diligently in the library. While others were mastering the admittedly more difficult task of juggling real jobs, children, mortgages, crashing stocks, etc. I was selfishly attending to my 8 years of schooling. The point is that despite my recognition that "medical student" shouldn't evoke universal respect, it is flattering when others subscribe some value to you for having made it in medical school.