It has been a while since I've posted any countdowns or lists, so I bring to you the 7 reasons surgery and swimming are exactly the same. I encourage you to add to this list...
1. Four in the morning is considered an acceptable time to begin the day. Four is early, five is normal, and six is sleeping in. Three I just refuse to do. When I was in high school, I remember having to wake up at 4:11am to get to the pool exactly on time. Not a minute too early. I've never understood why we have to wake up so freaking early to get stuff done. In Surgery, it's because you have to start operating by 7:30 or 8am. Well, when I'm an attending, we'll start at ten! But getting home at midnight is as equally depressing as the pre-dawn wake-up.
2. Everyone falls asleep during class. If you're going to wake up at 4am or earlier, you aren't getting much sleep. One thing I like about surgery is it's go-go-go. Always moving, always working. But lectures and tutorials are sandwiched in between. The moment I sit down, my eyes start to droop. And I'm not the only one. Five minutes into a presentation, the interns' heads start to bob. The residents are pretty crafty though. In a big lecture hall, it can look like you are reading, but if you listen closely, you can hear a faint snore. The only difference between surgical lectures and college classes is I could straight up just skip the latter.
3. BEEEEEP, BEEEEEEP, BEEEEP!! Pagers beep, swimming clocks beep. They are both loud and annoying.
4. Everyone around you is just as crazy as you are. Swimmers are their own breed. I could walk onto any college campus right now and pick out who the swimmers are walking to class. Athletic gear, slightly slower pace, broad shoulders. The women have damp hair; the men have just bleached disgustingness going on. Med students are their own breed too, but surgeons are a cult. I shouldn't say too much, but spend enough time in the hospital and you'll know exactly what I mean.
5. You are always doing something incorrectly. I once talked to a sports psychologist who told me I was the quintessential trained rat in a maze. If you put a piece of cheese in the middle, I would run around the maze until I found it. Once I found the cheese, I would go back to that spot every time I was put in the maze. Even if there was no cheese, I would keep running to that spot, over and over again. So long as a piece of cheese was put in there once in a blue moon, I would keep running. She told me this is how I am with positive feedback and praise. I'll keep working for it. I'll bitch and moan when I don't have it, but I want that one piece of cheese, and I'll keep working for it, even if it's only thrown out every once in a while. This is the best way to get me to perform. All my best swim coaches understood this. This mentality is perfect for surgery. Most of the time you are meant to feel barely adequate, but every once in a while...
6. Everything is a competition. Whether its knot-tying or taco bell burritos, you want to be number one. Either the best surgeon, the fastest swimmer, or the burrito eating champion. And it's not just in the OR or the pool. Our annual swim team beer pong tournament at UNC was just as fierce as ACC Championships.
7. Nothing is more rewarding, but the grass is always greener on the other side. "I should've played tennis." I used to say that constantly (in fact, I still do). Swimming is like the worst sport ever. The hours are terrible, there's no career in it, chicks don't really dig it, and you completely lose out on a college experience. But at its best, there's nothing better. Beating UVA is still one of the greatest experiences of my life. A number of surgeons have told me that if they could go back and do it all over again, they'd be radiologists or dermatologists. But then you see them when a life is on the line, and they love it. They love the rush. They would quit if they could, but they can't. Addiction.
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