Everyone says this. "I wish I took a few more [weeks] off." But no one ever does it. EVER. Everyone in my residency said, "Man, as soon as this $hit's over, I'm gonna go backpacking through New Zealand," or stuff like that, but no one ever did. (Everyone also says, "I'm interested in international medicine," on their application to residency, and then no one ever does a g*d-damned thing about it.) Everyone just started working immediately after residency--and I mean immediately, like July 3rd or 6th.
Well, I did take more than a few weeks off after residency. Try four months. I traveled through Eastern Europe, South America, and a bit of sub-Saharan Africa. Every prospective employer has grunted when he sees this on my resume. Even after mailing in my CV, people always reply with, "How do you account for the time between 7/06 and 11/06 when you were not working?" (Even the folks at state licensing agencies ask this.) It's not good enough to reply with, "I'm doing that thing that everyone talks about doing and never does... you know, taking time off to travel and see the world."
So when I hear people say, "My advice to you interns, since I'm older and have more experience than you, is that you take time off before starting work as an attending; I sure wish I had," I can't help but scoff at them. Sure, take time off. Like anyone in the medical profession knows how to do that.
We all wish for a lot of things. I wish I looked like Jennifer Connolly. But that don't make it so.
