Graduating From The July Effect

This is the first year in almost 40 years that July 1st is just Canada Day. As a medical student, resident in training, academic physician, and for almost 20 years in charge of some aspect of the training program, July 1st was the first day of a new year. There was a time when it was the year that counted the most, so much more so than the changing of the calendar. As I inch towards retirement, I have taken a step back from a job with more headaches than rewards and found one that is slower paced, with more collegiality and less in the way of day to day drama. There are things that I miss about being involved with a training program, specifically the trainees themselves, and I have made an effort to seek out some options to do a little bit of that, but today it strikes me that July is just not what it used to be to be, and I can even consider taking the weekend off sometime soon. That was never an option when I was in charge of the incoming residents--it was their first and most terrifying day of work, after all. The only problem is that I am not in love with traveling in the heat of the summer (maybe there were things about my old job that really did suit me!). In any case, it is complicated to change what you do, especially when you did it as long as I did, but it is also important to plan for a future with more leisure and today it feels like I am taking one more step in that direction.