Yesterday was our “shelf exam study day”, but due to my school’s leasing office not being open on weekends, I had to instead use it to move everything I own down to Metropolis for my Monday morning rotation.
This involved: ~8 hours of driving, 1 rented vehicle, 0 legal parking spaces, 1 missing student ID, 2 irritated security guards, 7 illegal parking jobs, 13 trips to and from a vehicle parked as far as 3 blocks away from actual building, 2 warnings from security, 1 near traffic accident, 1 ruined pair of shoes, and 4 hours of sleep.
Also, tomorrow we have our shelf exam, which while not something I am overly concerned about, is also not.. exactly.. something for which I have spent any time whatsoever studying.
(Oh, and a reflective writing paper on the biopsychosocial model/patient-centered communication? I guess? I mean, I haven’t actually looked at the requirements or anything, it’s totally not due for another two hours.)
(Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve reached a cruising altitude on this rotation. The captain has turned off the “Cool Disinterest” light, so you should now feel free to Mildly Panic about the cabin.)
I suspect my preceptor could tell I was stressed out / delirious / on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown, as after giving me my end-of-rotation feedback (which was good! Hooray!) he let me go home early.
(Is “let me” the right phrase? Because he did that awesome rare thing preceptors do when they know your “Oh, no, it’s okay – I’m happy to stay!” is just obligatory bullshit you have to say as a med student, so they ignore your half-hearted protestations and basically order you to leave.)
Anyway, I just got home and got this email from him:
[Action Potential],
Unsolicited and probably unnecessary advice: one beer and a good night’s sleep on the eve of an exam are better preparation than studying.
Nice working with you.
[Preceptor].
PRIMARY CARE FOREVER.
Action Potential 
I love people like him.
He sounds awesome. I feel like he deserves cookies or flowers or at least a “thank you, you’re awesome” e-mail.
Now THAT is a great preceptor…I will be like him one day…
Glad to hear that others nearly go through 1st schizophrenic breaks while ending/beginning rotations. After 9 residency interviews, a trans-Atlantic flight, and finding an apartment on the days leading up to the 1st day of my renal rotation my preceptor asked me why I didn’t have the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine on me. I told him I wasn’t sure which box it was in as I had just moved last night, “No excuse”. Right. Moving from one country to another is no excuse for not knowing exact location of Oxford Handbook.
Your preceptor sounds awesome. Thank goodness there are people like him in the world.