Citation

Eichbaum Q. J. Gen. Intern Med. 2010; 25(12): 1379-1380.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11606-010-1455-1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

It is evening in early winter as I pull into the parking lot of McLean Hospital to begin my first night on call as a medical student in psychiatry. McLean, the country's top psychiatric hospital, is situated on 200 acres of woodlands in a suburb on the outskirts of Boston. Gusts of wind scoop up handfuls of fallen leaves, tossing them against the luminescent sky and creating a glitter of black particles against the yellow-gray light. I step from my rusting Honda onto the ice-glazed tarmac. Crows splotch the barren trees like a Rorschach test--a fitting image, I muse, for a psychiatric institute. This acclaimed institute counts among its alumni the likes of Anne Sexton and Robert Lowell. I cross the parking lot and head towards the brick emergency building.I sweep through the double glass doors of the entrance, through a waiting area filled with commotion, and make my way towards the front desk.The senior resident I have been assigned to work with sits at the desk in pale green scrubs,...

Language: en