Who said this was going to be easy?

As I am sure every one who has every graduated from high school, college, graduate school, pharmacy school, or a residency (maybe more that one of all of these), I am not alone in receiving my fair share of advice about how my life and my job would be this next year. For those students out there thinking about residency, believe me...it will be one (or more) of the toughest and maybe most exciting years of your life. And, yes you will be exhausted by the end! So as I was finally finishing the second year of residency, several mentors told me, "don't worry, your first year of faculty after this will seem easy!" I was warned that things would pick up quickly after the first year or two and then be full swing after that, but that I should enjoy the "slow pace" in the beginning. All I can ask is "Where did those faculty members do their first years?", because I have hit the ground running here at BJD! Which, for someone who has not been used to blogging in the past, has put the task of writing about all of what I'm doing low on my exceeding long and ever growing To Do list.

These first few weeks have been a time of adjustment for both myself and the students. It is always interesting to see how students react to a new member of the faculty. We always get the "bad wrap" as the hard teacher because we have expectations and standards that may be different than what the students are used to or expect. Hopefully, the students will see that all our hard work is for their best interest.

So as the first month here at BJD is finishing up, I am settling in to my clinic and lab sessions, finding my way around the building, and learning that life as a first year faculty member is much more fast paced than I was advised. It is exciting and scary all at once to keep up with everything that needs to be done and I know even more will be added to my plate as the months continue. The comforting fact is I know that I love my students, patients and colleagues so I can take this all in stride.

My advice to all of you reading this...take all the advice you get with a grain of salt! ;) But, more importantly, find a career you love and you will be happy going to work everyday! I can definitely say that I am not bored. :)