So, my phone case is falling apart. It's almost two years old (like my phone), and has been shedding little rubber pieces for about six months. The bottom half is now so shredded that I have taped it back together with catheter tape so it doesn't totally separate from the phone. I've thought about getting a new case, but a) I'm not sure they make my phone case anymore, and b) I'd rather just get a new case when I get a new phone. Which will probably be when my phone stops working. Hooray!
Anyways! Here's some advice for dressing like a champion during your internship.
1) You need more scrubs than you think you do.
I, too, thought five sets of scrubs would be sufficient. I was wrong. Figure out whatever your longest stretch of workdays in a row will be (five days? eight days? eighteen days?), and multiply that number by 1.5. You should go get at least that many sets of scrubs.
2) Your scrubs should be the right kind of scrubs.
Simply put, your scrubs should not suck. If your internship is like my internship, you will spend upwards of 15 hours per day in your scrubs on a regular basis. The best kind of scrubs are:
- Comfortable
- Well-fitting
- Easily washable
- Dark in color
- Constructed with numerous pockets
Your scrubs should not be falling down or intimately hugging your ass cheeks (unless you're into that). You should be able to sprint, squat, and turn a cartwheel in your scrubs without a catastrophic wardrobe failure.
Sometimes you can find the right kind of scrubs inexpensively at thrift stores, or purchase them used from friends who do not need them anymore. Or, if you and your internmates are dramatically gaining and/or losing weight during your internship*, you can swap scrubs with each other.
3) Acquire some super-comfy long-sleeved shirts to wear under your scrubs.
These will keep you warm on chilly days, serve as an extra layer of protection against cat scratches/Shar Pei fur, and (if you are not particularly buxom) potentially allow you to not wear a bra, which on its own is a major win.
4) Your shoes should be amazingly comfortable.
I have this pair of flats that I wear almost every day:
Four months in, these shoes are already profoundly scuffed/worn. They are unlikely to survive my internship as anything other than "kicking it with my buddies" shoes, whereas they originally began as "fancyish flats". This is totally okay - they are beyond comfy, and that is what matters.
I advise you to find your pair of amazingly comfortable shoes. It will make a world of difference!
5) Get a watch. An analog watch. With a second hand.
Your phone is not your watch. Okay, I know your phone can act as your watch, but an actual watch is way easier. I challenge you to get out your phone and access the timer app to count the fetal heart rate in the pregnant bitch while one hand is holding the dog and the other is ultrasounding.
6) Get an easy-to-care-for haircut.
Friends, I am of the opinion that your haircut during your internship should be maximally simple. Go for the kind of haircut that allows you to spend 30 seconds or less on your hair in the morning. Why? Because...if you spend 30 minutes each morning straightening/curling/styling your hair before work, that is 30 minutes that you are not sleeping. Sleeping is better**.
My haircut is a short, vaguely androgynous alternative lifestyle haircut that requires exactly zero styling products, complicated maintenance, or extensive fussing. I shower, dress, vigorously rub my head with a towel, and go to work.
You can have low-maintenance long hair as well - I did in vet school. I mostly rocked a ponytail, French braid, or bun.
Good luck, fellow interns! Remember, if you have the right scrubs and all the comfy extras, wearing scrubs every day is kind of like getting to go to work in pajamas. Except...not.
*This happens, apparently - probably because we all have different stress responses re: food and exercise, and internships are really stressful.
**Unless the straightening/curling/styling is comforting to you in some way, or is your daily self-care moment. As Autostraddle would say, you do you.