· · · · ·

Reintroduction and Welcome to 2022

Ah, another new year! I have to say, I’ve been ready for you 2022. While our New Years Eve plans got absolutely destroyed by the new wave of the pandemic, I am still astounded at the ups and downs of 2021 and truly look forward to another *new year*. And if you are wondering, let me start off by saying I AM THAT GIRL, a gal truly energized by the idea of a new year. I make resolutions I never keep. I buy planners I never touch. I dream dreams that don’t get past the brief planning phases. And yet, I ADORE it. I’m never upset that I don’t do a single thing on my list or accomplish one of my resolutions. I make them under the impression they will never happen. I simply like the idea of a deep inhale and exhale into something “new”. Therefore, I love the new year.

It’s not lost on me that I started the new year getting my first dose of the COVID vaccine and ended the year huddled up in my house because of the newest wave of the pandemic. In a sickening way, it’s comical. Anyone else? I mean wow, the pure and idealistic joy I felt thinking that the pandemic might almost be over with vaccinations only to have that be so far off base… you have to laugh a little. While it’s a complex topic, I refuse to let the reality of COVID still very much being a “thing” in 2022 muddy the incredible leaps and bounds we have made in the scientific and medical field this year. Congrats, friends.

With that being said, let me neatly list a few things I’ve learned in 2021 (though let me remind you, the learning process was not nearly as neat and far more emotionally labile):

  1. I learned that you can in fact travel (we’re talking fly to a different state) 40% of the weekends in a year. It’s exhausting but absolutely doable.
  2. I learned that your mid-late 20s are made up of one engagement announcement after one pregnancy announcement after one job promotion announcement after one hundred other engagement announcements after another.
  3. I learned that exhaustion in my life outside of work (Read: traveling 40% of weekends) will always rear its head in my work. Because of this, and because of my career choice (caring for people, daily, in a very intentional setting where THEY are in fact encouraged to bring THEIR exhaustions to the table), it is absolutely imperative to fight for work-life balance.
  4. I learned that having a hairdresser that I consistently go to every time I get my haircut is one of the smallest and sweetest joys I have felt since moving to Texas.
  5. I learned that making friends as an adult really does take effort, and just like I scheduled working out for the week, I literally had to schedule “try to find friends” time. But it worked! Ya girl got herself some friends! What a gift people are.
  6. I learned that The Sex Lives of College Girls is the best show I’ve ever watched. And you can in fact sit down for 5.5 hours and finish the season in one fell swoop.
  7. I learned that listening to The Newsworthy podcast every single morning of the year was a really fun resolution that I actually kept without even realizing it.
  8. I learned that a “hard” workout can take <20 minutes, and it is my preferred method of working out now. Oh, I also learned I LOVE 10K races. These two sentences certainly don’t remain true at the same time.
  9. I learned that things are not neat, tidy, or shiny most times. Therefore, I wish this list had 10 items but it’s only going to have 9. C’est la vie!

So, what do I want 2022 to look like?

A lot of the same! I hope to remain enamored with my job, my coworkers, my patients, and my vocation. I hope to continue to put time and effort into my relationships with friends and family. I hope to continue to utilize therapy to learn why the good things in life feel good and the bad things in life feel bad. I hope to cook 1 new recipe a week (already haven’t done this at all!) I hope to produce writing that is both educational and thought provoking. I hope to remain gentle and kind to my body and my brain. And quite frankly, I hope to get a dog (friends that know me, please text my boyfriend, thanks xoxo).

Finally, a re-introduction:

My name is Marisa and I am a human first, Physician Assistant second, and lover of really good conversation and sarcasm. I am pursuing what I consider my vocation- serving uninsured and underserved patients at a small primary care community clinic in Texas. It is an absolute honor to be a small part of their stories, and it’s a gift I don’t take lightly. Just as I study clinical medicine daily (newest treatments for diabetes, updated guidelines for osteoporosis management, etc) I am also intentional about “studying” humanness. This requires, well, living life! Reading books, listening to stories, feeling feelings! It is my job as a provider to work on bettering my ability to sit with a patient and actually make them feel safe, loved, and seen. I’ve created this space online for two reasons. First, I hope to provide educational content about the PA profession in hopes it helps students and new providers feel confident during those big seasons of decision and transition. Second, I hope to provide a space to share the realities of a life in medicine, particularly the earth shaking monotony of the patient-provider relationship, as I believe there is so much to “write home about” in this career. I am constantly in awe of the patients I work with, and I don’t doubt you feel the same! We all pursue medicine with a slight “calling”; rarely does one stumble into it. It takes intention and care and thought. I hope I can provide a space to help us all remember why we do this in the first place; in doing so, I hope it deepens all of our experiences as we walk through our calling.

Cheers!

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *