White Coatness

Simply being in medical school, wearing a white coat, and sporting a stethoscope changes the way people view you. I noticed this the second week of school when I had to find a patient for my Patient Care class to interview. I explained that I was a first year medical student (or rather, I had paid tuition for my first quarter just a week ago). But the patients implicitly trusted me, as if I knew what I was doing, and they agreed to whatever I requested. On my first day of preceptorship, the nurse asked me if I was already to be called "Dr. Chen." Uh, no. Not even in four years. I don't know what I'm doing. And I'm fairly certain I won't know four years from now. It's a weird sensation, as if somehow I have unknowingly (or rather, without realizing it) acquired some aura or magical power. People look at me differently. They treat me differently. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it is a transition that I cannot reverse. I do think I have begun to see the world in a different way. Perhaps the subject of a future blog.