I'm not sure what it is about the east coast, namely New York City and Boston, but the majority of the people I interact with seem to be quite image conscious. This is probably confounded by the fact that I interact with a lot of well-paid nurses, nurse practioners, and doctors, but it's definitely there. Some of the ladies on our service have positively massive diamond engagement rings, only one of which I could potentially see myself liking even remotely. People carry handbags as a statement, not as a means to cart around stuff. Here I was, foolishly assuming that handbags were to cart around books for the subway, chapstick for the lips, the wallet, the keys, and various other sundry items. This is not the case; in fact, one of my co-workers has a large Coach bag in which she keeps a smaller bag. The smaller bag is for all of her things; the Coach bag is for...something. I have a really nice purse that I like. It's a decent size, it's black, classic looking, practical. And it was on sale at Macy's. Compared to my coworker's bags, it's a non-event. I'm fine with this, although recently I've started carting around my purple backpack from undergrad just to see the looks on their faces.

The handbags aren't the only sign of this image consciousness. I am not used to seeing people look so well put together all of the time. I don't necessarily mean within the hospital; there's a professional aspect to that mode of dress. I mean when I'm wandering around Boston in a daze. Precisely ripped jeans paired with an Abercrombie t shirt and a little jacket slung just so. Women who have their hair perfectly styled to go to the grocery store. People who refuse to wear things that aren't some name brand. Everyone has an image in mind that they're trying to project.

This extends beyond the realm of clothing and accessories. On Tuesdays, I meet with a group of medical students from around the country, all of whom are participating in this "learning research while doing research" thing. The first day, the lecturer told us that simply by being in this room, we were setting ourselves apart from our classmates, making ourselves more competitive for residencies. This is probably true but it still struck me as odd. He seemed to focus on the program as a method to boost our CVs as opposed to an opportunity to learn some cool things while visiting a strange place. He spent a decent amount of time sharing with us that he thinks he got where he is today solely because way back when, he participated in this program and got an awesome letter of recommendation. While that might be true, I hate that he insinuated that our classmates who chose to travel, life guard, or sleep on the beach were dumb.

I am enjoying my time on the east coast, but I would be lying if I said that I wanted to stay here.