Career change.

Right now I am doing an Emergency Medicine rotation which brilliantly includes an ambulance ride-along as part of the curriculum. In St. Paul the first-responder ambulances are manned by the St. Paul Fire Dept, so the end result was that I got to hang out with real live firefighters.

I have always idolized firefighters. One of my favorite toys as a kid was a pseudo-remote control fire engine with flashing lights and sirens that when turned on made brave circles beneath the dining room table. They are a profession that really only seems to do good. They put out fires, they work as a team, they rescue people and they are known for liking dalmatians.

At the station my first question was -- can I also ride on the fire truck even though I'm here for the ambulance?

The answer was yes.

"I mean -- you never hope for fires," the captain started, "but if tonight is one of the nights that has a fire, I hope it's tonight so that we can get on on the engine."

From there it was a childhood dream filled. Every nozzle and lever was explained to me on the fire truck. The cooking rotation was explained to me. The different hoses were shown to me and explained. I got to see all the different axes and implements of destruction, I got to sit in the fire truck.

I slid down the fire pole -- which most fire stations totally have.

And then in the field the impossible happened -- the captain turned to me and said,

"You know, I'm not sure what is going on here, but do you think she needs to come into the hospital?"

It was like that seen in the movie where the pupil final bests the master. My first thought was "don't cry in public," and my second thought was:

"Yes -- she definitely does need to come in."

Retrospectively, of course I am more equipped to make meticulous medical decisions than firefighters. But these guys were so cool that I couldn't wrap my mind around them caring what I thought.

In between dispatch calls we hung out, ate lasagna and watched the baseball game and talked about blue collar stuff.

What I need to find is joint MD / firefighter residency program. That way I could learn to be the kind of doctor who specializes in also riding in fire trucks, eating lasagna and watching baseball.