Tuesday, June 28, 2005

The mind? It's blank...

The end of the first summer session is upon me, and I find myself with a final exam this evening. I studied for a good eight hours yesterday, and I might be saturated. I feel a little bit like if I study for one more minute, I will scream. Hopefully, that feeling will go away sometime this morning because I would like to put in a few more hours before sitting down to take the exam. Sadly, once the exam is over, my mental health rotation will be over. And I will miss it.

It's amazing when something totally unexpected happens that sort of interrrupts the course that you think you are following. I went into nursing expecting to be an oncology nurse. I went into my mental health rotation expecting to hate it. However, it turned out that I loved it, and now I could see myself spending my days as a mental health nurse, instead of as an oncology nurse.

The human brain is an amazing thing. And as scientists find out more and more about the brain, they also find out more and more about what is causing mental illness. And then they are able to develop more and more drugs that can help control mental illness. Mental illness is no longer the mystery that it once was. We know more about brain chemistry and how it affects our mental health. For the science nerd in me, this is perfect. I love knowing how things work.

4 comments:

hazel said...

I have heard, through friends who have studied to be doctors and nurses, that rotations can dramatically change the direction you think you're going to go, just like it did for you. I think you might be able to expect a few more good fits from other rotations, too. surely this is why they do it. good luck!

Susan said...

Very nice! Can I be your first patient? LOL.

NME said...

How exciting to be blindsided by a new interest! That doesn't happen so much when we're adults. I hope you pursue it.

chick pea said...

hi.. i am a physician who came across your blog.. i was going to go into derm, but now am a resident in training in radiation oncology.... oncology is an amazing field... truely you see the human trooper spirit... rotations will change your views on life.. my psych rotation was also one of my favorites..good luck with your schooling.. mine is also neverending with exams, etc.. .:)