From Dayton to San Antonio...

So I'm halfway done with my Air Force Rotations! :-)  The Wright-Pat AFB rotation was an overall great time! I'm not just saying that because it is my first choice for residency, it really was probably the best rotation I have had yet. It wasn't a crazy county ER by any means, but I think that really had it's advantages. It wasn't so over my head that all I could do was watch. I was able to handle pretty much everything that walked through the door and it really helped me mature from just taking history and physical exam, to managing the patient from start to finish independently (in most cases).  It forced me to think more like a resident and that made me learn A LOT. Not only that, but this was the first rotation where I felt the staff really put effort into giving the med students a great experience. I really felt like they cared about us rather than using us as work horses.  They, meaning the residents AND attendings, really made me feel welcome and like they genuinely wanted to help me. At a lot of rotations, it somewhat feels like they look down on you, sort of like a fraternity/sorority and you're the new pledge (not that I would know since i wasn't in either lol, i just think thats what it would be like). Dayton isn't really the most appealing city, but I would go there for the EM program to learn from these awesome people. I feel like i fit in better there.

So all that being said, I'm in San Antonio now!! I've been here for 2 days. Today was my orientation day and all I can say is this is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from the Wright-Patt program/ base.  This base, Lackland AFB, is where all all of the new enlistees get trained. Every enlisted person comes through Lackland AFB for what's called, Basic Military Training. It's essentially "boot camp" for the Air Force. So naturally, there's lots of young airmen around here learning the ways of the Air Force. Because this is a big "training" base, they do pretty much EVERYTHING by the book. The rules for pretty much EVERYTHING are highly enforced, almost to a fault.  It's not a bad thing necessarily, it is just crazy how 2 bases can be so different from one another. I haven't felt so scrutinized as far as uniform wear, proper military customs and courtesies, since i was in ROTC. I had heard that it was different here, I guess this is what they meant.

So today was a long and pretty frustrating day. Orientation consisted of running around to various offices to complete all the in-processing paperwork. In true military fashion, nobody knew what the heck was going on and it was highly disorganized and made no real sense to me. (as much as this goes against every fiber of my being, i had to just accept it and not ask why).  This was what made it very frustrating for me. Here I am running around all morning getting confusing documents signed, getting totally random immunizations and lab tests (polio, HIV, and tDap???).  I, along with 30 other students are given "priority" over anybody else who needs vaccination or tests because we "need" these done today. This is what really got me...There was an active duty MSgt who sadly had to wait for about 3 hours to get his vaccines and documents signed for his Humanitarian trip to Haiti, which he is leaving for TOMORROW, because we all had "priority". Really Air Force??? Since when does my rotation take precedence over a mission to a third world country to provide medical aid??? This along with a few other frustrating events today really took me back to the part of the Air Force that I struggle with. There's often a HUGE disparity between doing what makes sense/most efficient and what the Air Force sees as best practices. Some of the time, it seems like the AF does the opposite of what makes sense. I have some theories for why this is, but that's not really the point. Today I was reminded of exactly why I struggled to get released from the Air Force to attend med school and it almost felt like I was meeting my old enemy, beaurocracy. Obviously, today wasn't nearly on the same scale, but it was a quick taste of what that was like, and i DO NOT miss it. So I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining about the Air Force, because I'm certainly not. Some days I struggle with balancing the positive and negative, especially when I have a frustrating day like today. It pains, ESPECIALLY when things make no logical sense, to just "do what I'm told" without asking the question of why.  I know this is the way of the Air Force at times, but it's an ongoing struggle that I'm not sure i'll ever get over.  I love the air force, it has only brought me great things, but some days, as with everything in life, I get a real good reminder of the things I don't love as much. Maybe that's why it's the military, it has inherent sacrifices. As much as I don't like doing it (because it doesn't really matter at this point), these really frustrating days make me wonder how different my life would be without the AF. I honestly have no idea.

Anyway, i've heard people say "some days you are the windshield, and some days you're the bug"...today I was the bug :(  BUT, tomorrow is another day. And maybe being the bug sometimes makes the days when we're the windshield that much better! :)

I'm def going to be a windshield tomorrow!