As we celebrate this year's Nurses Week, I am reminded of the Hippocrates saying that the goal of medicine is "to cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always." This, too, I learn through daily example from the amazing nurses I work with.

Despite the difficulties of staying hale and hearty during the busiest few years of a physician's career, medical residents not only have a personal responsibility for their well-being but also an obligation to their patients to engage in the same healthy behaviors that they recommend.

As this is the season for spanking-new physician trainees to flood hospitals around the U.S., I decided to chronicle my own very first 24 hours as a doctor so the reader can get a better insight into this annual event.