pancreas.

Second rotation of the year: pancreatobiliary surgery = pancreas cancer. This service had been part of the larger GI surgery service when I was a third year medical student and was actually one of my favorite rotations in medical school. My experience as an intern was quite a bit more frightening, particularly when rounding alone with one certain attending. Unlike trauma, this is a small service with a relatively small number of patients whom we come to know very well. I tend to prefer rotations on which I can develop relationships with patients, so this was a welcome change from the high turnover trauma service. Learning to manage medically complex patients was another challenge on this rotation, made easier by the fact that fellows/chiefs typically give you the plan without necessarily asking for your opinion on management. However, there were a few times when I, being the only person on the floor, had an opportunity to try some minor interventions. Although I was rather traumatized by solo rounding with a particular attending in my first week on service, my kind fellow and chief shielded me rather well the rest of the month from that particular stresser. Number of times I went to the OR? Zero. Not much for the intern to do on robotic procedures. Then again, number of times I was forced to go to clinic? Zero. You win some, you lose some.