Trauma ended with a buzz. My last day on Trauma started with an ICU patient going into asystole, followed by multiple failed attempts at intubation by every method you can imagine, and then my first cricothyroidotomy (alas, unlike on TV, I did not use a straw or the tubing of a pen). Most of the rest of the day was spent running around different ORs. Then the last memorable Trauma page of my second year: male circular saw to neck. It looked pretty much like what you would expect. Not only did he survive, Mr. Pez dispenser (as one nurse called him in typical medical gallows humor) looked better in the morning than I did as I finished another Trauma go-around.

Now I'm left with a couple of months of general surgery to finish off the year. The hours should be pretty long, but at least I'll get a day off here and there. I'll miss the wear and tear of the nightly South Side gun-and-knife show like, well, another hole in my head.