Well, now that I've been on Peds for a month, I figured I should write something about it...
I L-O-V-E it!
My first three weeks I was on inpatient in the hospital and I think I have decided that the hospital is the place for me. I get SO bored in clinic...most of the patients are healthy, they do NOT need to be at the doctor. I understand the importance of being healthy and staying healthy, and especially for kids I understand "well checks", but they are the most boring things ever. People in the hospital need you. They are sick and there are usually a lot of things that need to be done for them. Things can change very quickly, and I like that. Keeps me on my toes.
Aside from being in the clinic right now, overall I am obsessed. The kiddos put me in such a good mood. I was getting so frustrated with the adults that caused a lot of their own problems and were not willing to fix them 70% of the time. The vast majority of the time, parents are trying to do what's best for their kids, and if you explain to them what they have to do most of them will do it. Most kids had nothing to do with the problems that they are having, and if they did (ex. they swallowed a penny) it is still pretty cute and funny, not frustrating and annoying.
My time has not been perfect: I had one patient "code" (not a true code since she still had a pulse...just "insufficient respiratory effort") twice in 1 week, some teenagers that were just whiners, and some pretty sad social situations to deal with, but just walking into the room with a kid I smile. Since I was considering psych, ED, or neuro, I can still do those but just with a peds concentration. OB doesn't have a peds specialty, but other than that all this experience does is sort of focus me to doing PEDS neuro or CHILD psych, etc. Unless I become a general pediatrician...then all bets are off.
This is a shocking development for me...I was CERTAIN going into this year that I did not want to do peds. This started to change on Family when I got so excited to see all of the kids every time. This rotation helped confirm that for me. I am not committing to peds (or anything else!) at this point, but it definately excites me!
12.05.2009
10.18.2009
Bland
Not too much exciting going on here...I was sick all of last week except Friday, when I went in and shadowed the OB/Gyn Nurse Practitioner. I had never seen a pregnant person as a patient before, so it was a great experience. Almost everyone we saw had something going on with them, like preterm labor or intrauterine fetal growth retardation, so that made it even more interesting. The only drawback was that since I was still a little sick and had no idea what I was doing, the experience was strictly shadowing; I didn't get to do anything on my own and didn't get to touch almost any of the patients (by the end of the day I did get to find the fundal height and fetal heartbeats on 2 women). I'm excited to see more! Other than that, boring week (sick), low-key weekend...not much to say! Ready to get back to work tomorrow. And to go back to the Primal Hour workout with D...yikes!
10.14.2009
Hooray!
1. When I called in to work this morning to say that I was not going to be able to come in, the person I talked with informed me that the physician I am working with has taken off til Monday! The physician later called me and said that she arranged with the Nurse Practitioner for me to work with her if I am feeling better before Monday. I am sure I will at least go in on Friday, tomorrow is questionable.
2. I found out that I did pretty well on my Internal Medicine Shelf exam that I took about 3 weeks ago...actually, WAY better than I thought I did! I thought there was a good chance I failed it and would have to retake it, but I was WELL above failing. NO CLUE how that happened, but I'm thankful! I may have done well enough to Honor the block if my clinical evaluations were good enough- to honor, I had to have done at or above the mean on the Shelf. I'm not sure what the mean is this year (it fluctuates), but I'm pretty close so we'll see if it was enough! My goal has been to get Honors in my clinical evaluations in all the blocks, and I didn't really think that I might Honor a complete block, especially Medicine, so this is pretty exciting! I find out my grade in 3-5 weeks. We'll see!
2. I found out that I did pretty well on my Internal Medicine Shelf exam that I took about 3 weeks ago...actually, WAY better than I thought I did! I thought there was a good chance I failed it and would have to retake it, but I was WELL above failing. NO CLUE how that happened, but I'm thankful! I may have done well enough to Honor the block if my clinical evaluations were good enough- to honor, I had to have done at or above the mean on the Shelf. I'm not sure what the mean is this year (it fluctuates), but I'm pretty close so we'll see if it was enough! My goal has been to get Honors in my clinical evaluations in all the blocks, and I didn't really think that I might Honor a complete block, especially Medicine, so this is pretty exciting! I find out my grade in 3-5 weeks. We'll see!
10.13.2009
Sick
So I lasted exactly 5 days in the FCM clinic before I got sick. That's pretty sad! I showed up to work on Monday feeling a little tickle in my throat, and the physician I am working with showed up feeling the exact same way. By 10am she had decided to take the afternoon and the next day off, and I was SO thankful because I was feeling much worse by that time. I was supposed to have lecture on Tuesday afternoon, but I was definately coughing and runny nose-ing all over the place and didn't want my classmates to get sick. I don't have a fever (I have been checking like every 3 hours), which is really good, but I am definately still sick. When I called in about lecture, the doctor said that if I am symptomatic I should definately NOT go into the clinic. Hmm...I'm thinking that might mean another day off tomorrow. Particularly because the physician I work with is pregnant...even though it sounds like she had exactly what I have, I do not want to be around her if she is feeling better and I am still feeling sick. Pretty sure we both caught it from the same kids that were in the clinic on Friday (4 kids in 1 exam room all hacking up their lungs and crawling all over me...yikes!). Hopefully I will catch most mild illnesses before I get onto Peds in a month so I'm immune by then! I'm NEVER sick so this is hard for me. I'm just glad there's no fever or else I would really be a baby and probably call my mom! Not really, but it would be pretty close. While I won't mind another day off, it is hard to miss even a couple of days when my rotation is only 5 weeks (or 25 work days) long...I don't want to miss out on anything! But the patients come first, and if I am putting them at risk for getting sick just by seeing me, that's not right. We'll see how I feel in the morning!
10.11.2009
Expansion
One week done with my FCM rotation. I actually like it more than I thought I would, which truthfully isn't that surprising. I didn't think I would like it, but had a feeling I would like it more than I thought I would, so I'm not surprised that I actually do like it, but it is weird. If that makes sense! I have been seeing 12ish patients a day, which is a LOT more than I have ever seen before. I am getting pretty speedy and usually have a pretty good idea about what is going on with the patients (and my ideas are actually usually right!), so it is encouraging. I have seen a number of kids ranging from 2 days to 15 years old, and I (VERY surprisingly) LOVE them. Now, they have all been very well behaved and cooperative, no crying or clinging to mom, so that is unusual, but I am very surprised to learn that I like working with them. I especially like working with teenagers, which I already knew. All in all, it was a good week; busy, productive, and educational.
D and I went to a Primal Hour workout with a trainer earlier this week...no weights, no boxing bags, just using your own body weight and a tire (like from a car) to run around or balance on. It was SO hard! I was sore the day after, but 2 days after I literally was dying! My feet and calves hurt SO bad! It was wonderful! I definately think we are going to go back; the class is twice a week at a time when we can both go. Since it is really fun as well as really hard, I think I will actually go and enjoy it, so it is definately worth the price. I'm excited for the next one!
Lastly, I heard from C around the middle of the week. He told me that his grandpa died and so "everything is on hold and family is flying in". Now, I have no idea why he needed to tell me that; the only thing I can think of is that he wanted to let me know that I might not be hearing from him for a few days and that that was the reason so I wouldn't be upset. I think that is a good thing...? So I guess since the funeral was this weekend I should expect to hear from him this week maybe? Not sure, all I know is I would like to hang out with him again, so I hope he calls, but I'm not exactly waiting around for it. We'll see!
D and I went to a Primal Hour workout with a trainer earlier this week...no weights, no boxing bags, just using your own body weight and a tire (like from a car) to run around or balance on. It was SO hard! I was sore the day after, but 2 days after I literally was dying! My feet and calves hurt SO bad! It was wonderful! I definately think we are going to go back; the class is twice a week at a time when we can both go. Since it is really fun as well as really hard, I think I will actually go and enjoy it, so it is definately worth the price. I'm excited for the next one!
Lastly, I heard from C around the middle of the week. He told me that his grandpa died and so "everything is on hold and family is flying in". Now, I have no idea why he needed to tell me that; the only thing I can think of is that he wanted to let me know that I might not be hearing from him for a few days and that that was the reason so I wouldn't be upset. I think that is a good thing...? So I guess since the funeral was this weekend I should expect to hear from him this week maybe? Not sure, all I know is I would like to hang out with him again, so I hope he calls, but I'm not exactly waiting around for it. We'll see!
10.05.2009
New
And it begins again! I am now on my Family and Community Medicine (FCM) rotation. I am working at an outpatient clinic that serves a number of underserved populations (illegal immigrants, refugees, poor, etc.). I just spent a couple hours there this afternoon to get oriented, and it was actually really fun! It is a very busy clinic, so I will need to move quick, and I'm sure I'll see a TON of patients scared about "pig flu", but I think I will enjoy it. The doctor I worked with today is very nice, and there are no residents or interns or other medical students which means lots of teaching time for me! Hopefully I can impress them!
I was able to get down to Tucson this weekend to see some friends from school who I have not been able to see for the past 10 weeks. It was really great to catch up with them; I am definately not going to let 10 weeks go by again without seeing them!
Lastly, I think my dates with C have come to an end. I didn't hear from him all last week and when I finally did it was "I think you're a sweetheart, but I don't know how compatible our lifestyles are. I want to take you out again, but I don't think going out drinking with me on the weekends is a good idea". So I'm not too sure what that exactly means; if he calls again and wants to go out, I definately would, but I think I have him pegged as a non-committal typical single 20-something. It has nothing to do with me...that is just his attitude right now, and if that's working for him then that's totally fine. I really hope we can be friends though, since I really do like hanging out with him and having someone outside of medicine to do things with!
That's all...hopefully I'll have plenty of time on FCM to do other things and blog about them!
I was able to get down to Tucson this weekend to see some friends from school who I have not been able to see for the past 10 weeks. It was really great to catch up with them; I am definately not going to let 10 weeks go by again without seeing them!
Lastly, I think my dates with C have come to an end. I didn't hear from him all last week and when I finally did it was "I think you're a sweetheart, but I don't know how compatible our lifestyles are. I want to take you out again, but I don't think going out drinking with me on the weekends is a good idea". So I'm not too sure what that exactly means; if he calls again and wants to go out, I definately would, but I think I have him pegged as a non-committal typical single 20-something. It has nothing to do with me...that is just his attitude right now, and if that's working for him then that's totally fine. I really hope we can be friends though, since I really do like hanging out with him and having someone outside of medicine to do things with!
That's all...hopefully I'll have plenty of time on FCM to do other things and blog about them!
9.29.2009
Wanderer
Wow, so many posts recently! Just thinkin a lot I guess, and I have much more time!
I've been thinking about what a rollercoaster my thoughts have been for the last while. I simultaneously hold two totally opposite opinions about something. I am excited and blase, angry and crushed, hopeful and downtrodden. I do not ever remember being this confused with myself in my whole life. I thought your 20's were supposed to be about finding yourself and loving your life and having everything just fall into place. I hope this is not my only opportunity for those things to happen because if so then the rest of my life will be like being on the ocean during a hurricane in a tug boat.
I just wish I knew what was going on most of the time. I wish I knew how I felt about everything that happened to me instead of being able to see both sides of any situation. I should know if something will make me mad or if I will think it is funny, but somehow I usually don't!
Someone asked me the other day what I like to do, and literally the words out of my mouth were "I don't know". Now, I would like to think that I do know, but I really needed to sit down and think about it. I like to read, I like to sleep, ..... yea, I don't know! I know that I am up for anything; I will go see a movie or go to the zoo or go for a hike or go out for a drink, but what do I, Heather, actually like? When I have nothing to do, what do I think to do? The answer to that is usually nothing; I usually just end up sitting around and watching TV or being lazy. And that's what it is, I am lazy. Because, again, once I get up and do some of those other things I usually have a great time. I just never think to do them or plan them. I don't know what I need to do to get some motivation; being in med school you'd think I had motivation but I guess I only have it academically.
This has been sufficiently long and random and kind of dumpy, so I think I'll quit. I just wanted to remember that I did feel this confused at one time in my life.
I've been thinking about what a rollercoaster my thoughts have been for the last while. I simultaneously hold two totally opposite opinions about something. I am excited and blase, angry and crushed, hopeful and downtrodden. I do not ever remember being this confused with myself in my whole life. I thought your 20's were supposed to be about finding yourself and loving your life and having everything just fall into place. I hope this is not my only opportunity for those things to happen because if so then the rest of my life will be like being on the ocean during a hurricane in a tug boat.
I just wish I knew what was going on most of the time. I wish I knew how I felt about everything that happened to me instead of being able to see both sides of any situation. I should know if something will make me mad or if I will think it is funny, but somehow I usually don't!
Someone asked me the other day what I like to do, and literally the words out of my mouth were "I don't know". Now, I would like to think that I do know, but I really needed to sit down and think about it. I like to read, I like to sleep, ..... yea, I don't know! I know that I am up for anything; I will go see a movie or go to the zoo or go for a hike or go out for a drink, but what do I, Heather, actually like? When I have nothing to do, what do I think to do? The answer to that is usually nothing; I usually just end up sitting around and watching TV or being lazy. And that's what it is, I am lazy. Because, again, once I get up and do some of those other things I usually have a great time. I just never think to do them or plan them. I don't know what I need to do to get some motivation; being in med school you'd think I had motivation but I guess I only have it academically.
This has been sufficiently long and random and kind of dumpy, so I think I'll quit. I just wanted to remember that I did feel this confused at one time in my life.
9.28.2009
Respite
Ah, intersessions week. This week I am in the classroom once again, 8-5, with no off hours, both last weekend and this weekend off, and basically no studying to do. This is going to be glorious! I worked out today, did laundry, etc. Nice to relax.
Unfortunately, my mind keeps going back to my test on Friday...eek, eek, eek! It was hands down the hardest test I have ever taken. Boards...psh! They have NOTHING on this Shelf. I am a VERY fast test taker usually, but I barely finished this exam; almost no one else I talked to finished. Granted, I was absolutely whipping through it and had no time to really think about any of the answers...it was pure gut feeling. Scary! It'll be quite a while before I hear back about how I did.
While Friday morning was scary, D and I went to a concert with our guy friends, M and N. Long story short, D and I ended up walking out of the concert alone, wandering around looking for the lightrail stop, getting talked to by a CREEPER, riding 40 minutes back, and then walking back to our apartment at 12:30am. Freakin' trip. And don't worry, M and N never texted us to make sure we got home ok.
Saturday night I hung out with C, his friends from high school, his brother, and some of his brother's friends. I had a pretty darn good time! I didn't know anyone there except C; he was not attached to my hip and I certainly wasn't going to follow him around like a puppy dog, so I was forced to socialize with these people. I forgot how much I like meeting new people and just talking; when I have my confident boots on it is SO fun. That is a part of me that died and I'm excited that it's coming back. It was intimidating, but I had fun. Trying to decide if it is good or bad that he took me to hang out with his friends and his brother...I think good because he's not making me a secret but maybe bad because he didn't want to hang out alone? I'm leaning more towards good. Hopefully we'll hang out again.
Unfortunately, my mind keeps going back to my test on Friday...eek, eek, eek! It was hands down the hardest test I have ever taken. Boards...psh! They have NOTHING on this Shelf. I am a VERY fast test taker usually, but I barely finished this exam; almost no one else I talked to finished. Granted, I was absolutely whipping through it and had no time to really think about any of the answers...it was pure gut feeling. Scary! It'll be quite a while before I hear back about how I did.
While Friday morning was scary, D and I went to a concert with our guy friends, M and N. Long story short, D and I ended up walking out of the concert alone, wandering around looking for the lightrail stop, getting talked to by a CREEPER, riding 40 minutes back, and then walking back to our apartment at 12:30am. Freakin' trip. And don't worry, M and N never texted us to make sure we got home ok.
Saturday night I hung out with C, his friends from high school, his brother, and some of his brother's friends. I had a pretty darn good time! I didn't know anyone there except C; he was not attached to my hip and I certainly wasn't going to follow him around like a puppy dog, so I was forced to socialize with these people. I forgot how much I like meeting new people and just talking; when I have my confident boots on it is SO fun. That is a part of me that died and I'm excited that it's coming back. It was intimidating, but I had fun. Trying to decide if it is good or bad that he took me to hang out with his friends and his brother...I think good because he's not making me a secret but maybe bad because he didn't want to hang out alone? I'm leaning more towards good. Hopefully we'll hang out again.
9.24.2009
Re-do
Hmm. Now that I have been thinking about this more, I think I thought my date went better than C thought it went. The more I microanalyze it the more I pick up on little signs that maybe it wasn't going as well as I thought. Just little comments he made or just a vibe I was getting. But then there were other signs that it was going pretty darn well...if I'm interpreting those signs right that is.
I am crazy. I'm sure that I am making way too big a deal about this...I mean who cares if he calls or not? It was one date, it happens all the time that first dates don't go on to second dates. It really is not a big deal. And on the other hand, just because I haven't heard from him at all today and he didn't end up coming over last night to go swimming (he was at his brother's and was planning on leaving at 10 but didn't end up leaving til later, he did tell me that part) does not mean it was a bad date. I think it just means that it wasn't a great date. Or he's just a player. Or, back to the beginning, I'm crazy and getting way WAY too detailed with this.
I don't have time for this! My test is tomorrow, I need to stop obsessing over everything except Internal Medicine topics. Bah!
I am crazy. I'm sure that I am making way too big a deal about this...I mean who cares if he calls or not? It was one date, it happens all the time that first dates don't go on to second dates. It really is not a big deal. And on the other hand, just because I haven't heard from him at all today and he didn't end up coming over last night to go swimming (he was at his brother's and was planning on leaving at 10 but didn't end up leaving til later, he did tell me that part) does not mean it was a bad date. I think it just means that it wasn't a great date. Or he's just a player. Or, back to the beginning, I'm crazy and getting way WAY too detailed with this.
I don't have time for this! My test is tomorrow, I need to stop obsessing over everything except Internal Medicine topics. Bah!
Transitions
First off, my test is tomorrow. I have been doing a number of practice questions and I think it will be alright. I just need to go with my gut on the questions and not think about them too hard. I'll just keep studying today and see how it goes tomorrow! Think of me around 8:30am!
Now onto the good stuff! My date the other night went surprisingly well. C is really nice and an easy conversation. D was telling me the other night (in a little pep talk haha) that I am good to talk to one-on-one because I can talk about a lot of interesting things...I know a little bit about a really wide variety of stuff. Well, C does too, so the conversation was good. Part of me still thinks that he was just being nice to me and trying to make me feel better, because he knows enough about me to know I need cheering up, but I guess only time will tell. He talked a lot about seeing me again, so I hope that happens, but again I can't help but be skeptical. Nothing so far, but I guess according to the dating rules it's a little soon. And he is definately a dating game player...probably why I feel so skeptical about the whole thing. I don't even know what the dating game is so it's hard for me to keep up. I'll definately be interested to see where this goes!
Now onto the good stuff! My date the other night went surprisingly well. C is really nice and an easy conversation. D was telling me the other night (in a little pep talk haha) that I am good to talk to one-on-one because I can talk about a lot of interesting things...I know a little bit about a really wide variety of stuff. Well, C does too, so the conversation was good. Part of me still thinks that he was just being nice to me and trying to make me feel better, because he knows enough about me to know I need cheering up, but I guess only time will tell. He talked a lot about seeing me again, so I hope that happens, but again I can't help but be skeptical. Nothing so far, but I guess according to the dating rules it's a little soon. And he is definately a dating game player...probably why I feel so skeptical about the whole thing. I don't even know what the dating game is so it's hard for me to keep up. I'll definately be interested to see where this goes!
9.22.2009
Bewildered
Naturally, it has come to the end of my time on this rotation and I haven't blogged at all. Sheesh.
This rotation has been alright. I had much less responsibility and got sent home before noon on more days than I can count...not that I'm complaining, since I have my Shelf exam to be studying for, but it was very unexpected. I didn't have to put much effort into my day to day responsibilities. Maybe that's because I finally got the hang of some things, but I still know close to nothing in the grand scheme of Medicine. And now it's over.
AC stayed much the same throughout. Always copying what I did (if I pulled out my book to look something up, he would rush to get his out...if I gave a handout with my presentation, he did too...if I was talking to someone, he would interrupt me and ask 5 times what I was talking about until I gave him the Reader's Digest version). Needless to say AC was taxing, but they did get a little better by the end. I hope AC does well in future rotations and learns to chillax a little bit.
My Shelf exam is in 3 days. I'm not that worried about it, and I hope that turns out ok. I've been studying, but only for the past 5 weeks or so. Again, hopefully that's enough.
Now something NOT about school...I have a date tonight. This is V-E-R-Y weird. I have never been asked on a date like that in my whole 23 years; I have always dated friends. I'm not expecting it to be great, and I have a feeling that the guy called me because he feels bad for me, but I just don't want it to be terrible. I have been concocting "worst-case scenario" scenes in my head all day and trying to decide what I would do if any of these things happened (ex. I fall and moon the whole restaurant...I get sweaty...the invariably awkward end of the evening). I'm freaked out. Period. I hate doing things that make me look stupid, and there is so much potential for stupidity tonight it is terrifying. I guess I will just have to "fake it til I make it" with confidence and comfortability. Whatever. Freaking scared. I'll be sure to write how it goes, no matter how late I get home (or early).
This rotation has been alright. I had much less responsibility and got sent home before noon on more days than I can count...not that I'm complaining, since I have my Shelf exam to be studying for, but it was very unexpected. I didn't have to put much effort into my day to day responsibilities. Maybe that's because I finally got the hang of some things, but I still know close to nothing in the grand scheme of Medicine. And now it's over.
AC stayed much the same throughout. Always copying what I did (if I pulled out my book to look something up, he would rush to get his out...if I gave a handout with my presentation, he did too...if I was talking to someone, he would interrupt me and ask 5 times what I was talking about until I gave him the Reader's Digest version). Needless to say AC was taxing, but they did get a little better by the end. I hope AC does well in future rotations and learns to chillax a little bit.
My Shelf exam is in 3 days. I'm not that worried about it, and I hope that turns out ok. I've been studying, but only for the past 5 weeks or so. Again, hopefully that's enough.
Now something NOT about school...I have a date tonight. This is V-E-R-Y weird. I have never been asked on a date like that in my whole 23 years; I have always dated friends. I'm not expecting it to be great, and I have a feeling that the guy called me because he feels bad for me, but I just don't want it to be terrible. I have been concocting "worst-case scenario" scenes in my head all day and trying to decide what I would do if any of these things happened (ex. I fall and moon the whole restaurant...I get sweaty...the invariably awkward end of the evening). I'm freaked out. Period. I hate doing things that make me look stupid, and there is so much potential for stupidity tonight it is terrifying. I guess I will just have to "fake it til I make it" with confidence and comfortability. Whatever. Freaking scared. I'll be sure to write how it goes, no matter how late I get home (or early).
9.09.2009
Hokay
I am SO sad that I didn't blog at all during my time at GS. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, ending with my being really glad I was on the team I was on at the time I was on it. The resident and attendings were very helpful, taught me SO much, and pushed me to do more and be more involved and read all the time. Even though I didn't get as much studying done as I should have (surprise, surprise), I feel like I learned SO, so much.
Now I am at a state-run hospital and it is a TOTALLY different experience. At GS everything was very relaxed and it was a very supportive environment; at MC my intern got yelled at to the point of tears in my first 2 hours there, everything is so rushed, and so far (end of day 2) I have not done one thing. I'm sure it's just because I'm new and I'm not sure if they understand that I have had 7 weeks of Medicine so far, but I'm, once again, absolutely bored to tears. The patients there are VERY interesting, but just following my resident around like a puppy is getting old fast.
There is another third year on my team from another school this time (I'll call them "AC"). This is a strange experience, as AC is already very competitive with me. It is to the point that if I stand on one side of the resident to watch what they are doing, rather than standing on the resident's other side, AC will squeeze inbetween the resident and I. AC has a different concept of "personal space" than I do and it is annoying always having to try to put more distance between AC and I. AC is always trying to one-up me, but since AC has only been on Medicine for 1 week, they are not doing a very good job in my opinion of trying to out-do me. This will be an interesting relationship to blog about; I'm curious to see how we work together, as AC will be there the whole time I am.
Now I am at a state-run hospital and it is a TOTALLY different experience. At GS everything was very relaxed and it was a very supportive environment; at MC my intern got yelled at to the point of tears in my first 2 hours there, everything is so rushed, and so far (end of day 2) I have not done one thing. I'm sure it's just because I'm new and I'm not sure if they understand that I have had 7 weeks of Medicine so far, but I'm, once again, absolutely bored to tears. The patients there are VERY interesting, but just following my resident around like a puppy is getting old fast.
There is another third year on my team from another school this time (I'll call them "AC"). This is a strange experience, as AC is already very competitive with me. It is to the point that if I stand on one side of the resident to watch what they are doing, rather than standing on the resident's other side, AC will squeeze inbetween the resident and I. AC has a different concept of "personal space" than I do and it is annoying always having to try to put more distance between AC and I. AC is always trying to one-up me, but since AC has only been on Medicine for 1 week, they are not doing a very good job in my opinion of trying to out-do me. This will be an interesting relationship to blog about; I'm curious to see how we work together, as AC will be there the whole time I am.
8.22.2009
Rrrrrrrrring!
WAKE UP!
Wow, hello! The snooze is over! I have been on inpatient since Monday, and it is SO much busier/better than my outpatient experience was! My days usually run from about 6/6:30am-4:30/5pm. Then every 5 days my team (attending, resident, intern, me) is "on call", so we arrive at the hospital like normal at 6/6:30am but don't leave til noon the next day. I had call on Wednesday, and my team sent me home around 9:30pm, but I had to research about the patient that I got put in charge of so I was up til midnight, then woke up at 4:45am to get back to the hospital. Even thought I did get about 5 hours of sleep (maybe less, I toss and turn lately), I was tired come Friday (Thursday wasn't so bad, it caught up with me eventually though!).
We are on call again on Monday, but I can't stay overnight. I have lecture from 1-5pm on Tuesday that is mandatory, and I'm not allowed to get to the hospital at 6am Monday, leave there at noon on Tuesday, and still have to be at lecture on Tuesday afternoon...it interferes with duty hour restrictions. I can't be doing work/school stuff more than 30 hours in a row. But come my Saturday call I will be staying overnight AND not getting a day off that week (I work Mon-Fri, work all Sat until noon Sun, then work again Mon-Fri...phew!).
Needless to say I really like being more busy, but I still am only responsible for 1 patient at a time right now. So there is a LOT of reading time, which still throws me off. With the patient I had earlier this week that was fine because NO ONE had any idea what was going on (we finally decided autoimmune hepatitis with some unknown acute injury), but then they left the hospital against medical advice on Friday. So even though I got another patient on Friday, I'm still only at 1 patient. And the patient I got on Friday has something pretty straightforward (C. diff diarrhea), so hopefully I can get another patient on Monday...since we're on call I'm sure I will.
Medicine is a lot of sitting around and talking and looking things up on the computer, even for the resident and intern...not sure I really like that part. I just enjoy being with the patients and explaining to them what is going on with their body; my liver patient and family told me they really appreciated that I was going "above and beyond" to make sure they understood what was going on (even though I didn't really know much!) and told me not to lose my "awesome-ness". That made me feel pretty good.
Now I just need to get a little more motivation to study...I have started finally, but there is SO MUCH! Yikes!
Wow, hello! The snooze is over! I have been on inpatient since Monday, and it is SO much busier/better than my outpatient experience was! My days usually run from about 6/6:30am-4:30/5pm. Then every 5 days my team (attending, resident, intern, me) is "on call", so we arrive at the hospital like normal at 6/6:30am but don't leave til noon the next day. I had call on Wednesday, and my team sent me home around 9:30pm, but I had to research about the patient that I got put in charge of so I was up til midnight, then woke up at 4:45am to get back to the hospital. Even thought I did get about 5 hours of sleep (maybe less, I toss and turn lately), I was tired come Friday (Thursday wasn't so bad, it caught up with me eventually though!).
We are on call again on Monday, but I can't stay overnight. I have lecture from 1-5pm on Tuesday that is mandatory, and I'm not allowed to get to the hospital at 6am Monday, leave there at noon on Tuesday, and still have to be at lecture on Tuesday afternoon...it interferes with duty hour restrictions. I can't be doing work/school stuff more than 30 hours in a row. But come my Saturday call I will be staying overnight AND not getting a day off that week (I work Mon-Fri, work all Sat until noon Sun, then work again Mon-Fri...phew!).
Needless to say I really like being more busy, but I still am only responsible for 1 patient at a time right now. So there is a LOT of reading time, which still throws me off. With the patient I had earlier this week that was fine because NO ONE had any idea what was going on (we finally decided autoimmune hepatitis with some unknown acute injury), but then they left the hospital against medical advice on Friday. So even though I got another patient on Friday, I'm still only at 1 patient. And the patient I got on Friday has something pretty straightforward (C. diff diarrhea), so hopefully I can get another patient on Monday...since we're on call I'm sure I will.
Medicine is a lot of sitting around and talking and looking things up on the computer, even for the resident and intern...not sure I really like that part. I just enjoy being with the patients and explaining to them what is going on with their body; my liver patient and family told me they really appreciated that I was going "above and beyond" to make sure they understood what was going on (even though I didn't really know much!) and told me not to lose my "awesome-ness". That made me feel pretty good.
Now I just need to get a little more motivation to study...I have started finally, but there is SO MUCH! Yikes!
8.10.2009
Snooze
I'm back to boredom unfortunately. My morning clinic was cancelled today and tomorrow. This afternoon I spent talking about golf and traveling to Europe and driving tickets with two attendings while the fellows saw all the patients. This is my last week on outpatient, and I have to say that I'm glad. I enjoy the specialty clinics, but even there I am a little bit bored. I hate to say that and it seems like I just complain about EVERYTHING lately, but that's really how I feel about it. This is just not as exciting as I hoped it would be yet. I'm sure that by the middle of next week I will be kicking myself for complaining about having such a lax schedule, but it is just killing me right now.
When I'm not in school I should be studying. I don't really want to, so I'm not, but I feel guilty doing anything else, so mostly I just sit around. And that's boring. I had a huge talk with D last night about how I think I have become a boring person. There are a lot of things that I want to do, but I am either too lazy or too boring or too cheap or too busy or too whatever to pursue them. I shouldn't put things off because I fully believe in living for today, but I just feel SO guilty doing things that aren't school related when I know I have school things to be doing. Hopefully I can find some balance here soon because if not I will either fail out of school or be doomed to being the most boring person on earth.
When I'm not in school I should be studying. I don't really want to, so I'm not, but I feel guilty doing anything else, so mostly I just sit around. And that's boring. I had a huge talk with D last night about how I think I have become a boring person. There are a lot of things that I want to do, but I am either too lazy or too boring or too cheap or too busy or too whatever to pursue them. I shouldn't put things off because I fully believe in living for today, but I just feel SO guilty doing things that aren't school related when I know I have school things to be doing. Hopefully I can find some balance here soon because if not I will either fail out of school or be doomed to being the most boring person on earth.
8.01.2009
Making Progress
This week got progressively better in terms of my schedule. It culminated with seeing 4 patients in 1 day at my normal clinic, which was definately a record. That was a lot more fun than what I had been doing thus far. It was only simple things, like checking blood pressure meds and Alzheimer's meds (that lady was so sweet, reminded me of my grandma), but it was fun to have things to do. And the patients were funny too. The guy whose blood pressure I was checking decided he would flex his arm without me knowing, so the blood pressure needle started jumping all over the place. I panicked, but then I realized what he was doing and had a good laugh.
I spent another day in hem/onc and really enjoyed myself. I was allowed to do basically everything on my own- look up the patients on the EMR (electronic medical record), see the patients, report to the attending physician, and write my note into the EMR. I also got "pimped" (aka asked questions by the attending, ex. what is the differential diagnosis for macrocytic anemia...something I should know but only knew part of), so it was a great experience.
Overall in the school department it was a good week. Hard to believe that I only have another 2 weeks of outpatient before my life is taken over by inpatient!
I spent another day in hem/onc and really enjoyed myself. I was allowed to do basically everything on my own- look up the patients on the EMR (electronic medical record), see the patients, report to the attending physician, and write my note into the EMR. I also got "pimped" (aka asked questions by the attending, ex. what is the differential diagnosis for macrocytic anemia...something I should know but only knew part of), so it was a great experience.
Overall in the school department it was a good week. Hard to believe that I only have another 2 weeks of outpatient before my life is taken over by inpatient!
7.27.2009
Did I miss something?
I have now been through one week of clinicals, and I never expected to be so bored. Most of the patients cancelled for the outpatient clinic that I am at, so I saw a total of 1 patient. In a whole week. Um, what? Things got better on Friday, where I saw 2 patients in the podiatry clinic. I got to trim someone's toenails, which was pretty sweet.
Today I was at the hematology/oncology and cardiology specialty clinics. I saw probably 5 patients in the morning and 4 patients in the afternoon. It was mostly observational, but that is more like the load that I was expecting.
The thing that I am most annoyed about is how much lecture I have. I thought that was over, but no, last week I was in lecture probably 12 hours. That is WAY too much for me! It will get less and less I think as the year goes on, but it sucks for now.
I think I am missing something in terms of what studying I am supposed to be doing. I have to take a national exam at the end of this 10 week block (so 9 weeks left) that is supposedly pretty difficult, and I should be studying now while I have time, but I'm just confused about what I'm supposed to study and what is worth my time. Just a little lost. Not scary lost, but lost nonetheless.
Lastly, I miss my grampy. He is in a SO much better place and I am extremely glad that his suffering is over, but his death makes me miss him and my gramy so much more than I expected. I'm not sad, exactly (for the reasons I just said), but there is just so much about them I feel like I never knew. I was lucky to have them for so long.
Today I was at the hematology/oncology and cardiology specialty clinics. I saw probably 5 patients in the morning and 4 patients in the afternoon. It was mostly observational, but that is more like the load that I was expecting.
The thing that I am most annoyed about is how much lecture I have. I thought that was over, but no, last week I was in lecture probably 12 hours. That is WAY too much for me! It will get less and less I think as the year goes on, but it sucks for now.
I think I am missing something in terms of what studying I am supposed to be doing. I have to take a national exam at the end of this 10 week block (so 9 weeks left) that is supposedly pretty difficult, and I should be studying now while I have time, but I'm just confused about what I'm supposed to study and what is worth my time. Just a little lost. Not scary lost, but lost nonetheless.
Lastly, I miss my grampy. He is in a SO much better place and I am extremely glad that his suffering is over, but his death makes me miss him and my gramy so much more than I expected. I'm not sad, exactly (for the reasons I just said), but there is just so much about them I feel like I never knew. I was lucky to have them for so long.
7.06.2009
It begins!
First and foremost, my grandpa is still hanging in there and has made some improvements. It is nice to know that he is feeling a little bit better.
My first day of school was today. It was a lot of boring, get-to-know-you sort of things, but I did get my first pager! Yay! I'm sure after about a week I will want to throw the dang thing out the window and have it get run over, but for now I'm excited about it! I wanted a pager SO bad when they were cool back in like 6th grade, and now I finally have one. 12 years later and I'm finally a cool kid!...or probably not.
My first day of school was today. It was a lot of boring, get-to-know-you sort of things, but I did get my first pager! Yay! I'm sure after about a week I will want to throw the dang thing out the window and have it get run over, but for now I'm excited about it! I wanted a pager SO bad when they were cool back in like 6th grade, and now I finally have one. 12 years later and I'm finally a cool kid!...or probably not.
6.30.2009
Vacation...?
It has been exactly 2 weeks since I took my test, and it has not exactly been the nice, relaxing 2 weeks I wanted. I start school on Monday, so I don't have much more time to get relaxation in and I'm busier than ever! It is NEVER going to end!
I tried to go to PA for a few days right after the test. About 30 hours after I got to the airport in Phoenix I made it to my destination. Not fun. One major migraine later and I only had a day and a half left there! My aunts made sure I had fun though, taking me and my grandma to the Peninsula to eat and on my last day going canoing in the lagoons! That was so fun. I braved my fish phobia to get in the boat, and as long as I didn't look too hard into the water (it was super murky) I had an AWESOME time and a great workout. If I lived there I seriously think I would go every day.
After I got back to Phoenix I immediately drove down to Tucson to see some friends from school and pack up the apartment. After talking to my friends, I am SO SO glad that I isolated myself for boards study. Apparently at least 10 people have postponed their test and are taking it this week...talk about last minute! These people had already been studying for at least 7 weeks when I took my test 2 weeks ago, and then they postponed it some more. Insane! It would have freaked me out had I known that, so I'm very glad I didn't. I really hope they end up doing ok!
Now I am officially moved into my apartment in Phoenix with D! I am THRILLED that we are living together again, it is like no time has passed since college. I have spent the past few days painting with my mom and sister and so far the place looks great. I am still unpacking (the moving truck dropped all my stuff off on Saturday), but to be fair I am just spending so much time painting there is very little time for boring boxes.
Lastly, please pray for my grandpa. He has had a fever for a few days (I guess it is a little better today though) and has stopped swallowing. He has also been talking to my grandma (who died about 8 months ago) almost every night. This might be the end of a very, very long period of poor health for him, so please keep him in your prayers.
I tried to go to PA for a few days right after the test. About 30 hours after I got to the airport in Phoenix I made it to my destination. Not fun. One major migraine later and I only had a day and a half left there! My aunts made sure I had fun though, taking me and my grandma to the Peninsula to eat and on my last day going canoing in the lagoons! That was so fun. I braved my fish phobia to get in the boat, and as long as I didn't look too hard into the water (it was super murky) I had an AWESOME time and a great workout. If I lived there I seriously think I would go every day.
After I got back to Phoenix I immediately drove down to Tucson to see some friends from school and pack up the apartment. After talking to my friends, I am SO SO glad that I isolated myself for boards study. Apparently at least 10 people have postponed their test and are taking it this week...talk about last minute! These people had already been studying for at least 7 weeks when I took my test 2 weeks ago, and then they postponed it some more. Insane! It would have freaked me out had I known that, so I'm very glad I didn't. I really hope they end up doing ok!
Now I am officially moved into my apartment in Phoenix with D! I am THRILLED that we are living together again, it is like no time has passed since college. I have spent the past few days painting with my mom and sister and so far the place looks great. I am still unpacking (the moving truck dropped all my stuff off on Saturday), but to be fair I am just spending so much time painting there is very little time for boring boxes.
Lastly, please pray for my grandpa. He has had a fever for a few days (I guess it is a little better today though) and has stopped swallowing. He has also been talking to my grandma (who died about 8 months ago) almost every night. This might be the end of a very, very long period of poor health for him, so please keep him in your prayers.
6.16.2009
Distracted
Tomorrow is the day. I am freaking out that I'm not really freaking out. I think I am just so ready to get it over with.
A kitten found its way into our garage and I found it on Saturday night (I heard it meowing for probably 10 minutes before I got up to go check it out...I thought it was the TV!). I have NEVER owned a cat before, and neither has anyone in our family, so we really had no idea what to do with it. I didn't know how long it had been in the garage, and didn't know if it was even old enough to have cat food, so I gave it a little bit of milk from a medicine dropper and called it a night. The little buddy stayed in a huge cardboard box with some rags. The next morning I got up SO early to check that it was still alive, and then decided to see if it wanted some tuna. It loved it. SUPER long, cute, detailed story short, we took him to the vet on Monday and he is about 6 weeks old, a boy (sadly, I honestly was not sure...his little balls have not dropped yetand he wouldn't let me get a really good look!), and healthy as can be. What a lucky guy! He is now living in our bathroom (the only room without a million nooks and crannies for him to hide in...we learned the hard way when he found his way UNDER our entertainment center and we had to move the whole thing to get him out) until we find him a new home. I would take Zyrtec every day if I could keep him, but it's just not too realistic.
Maybe this is why I'm not worried about the test...I'm too preoccupied with my cute kitty! Although when I think about it too hard I get kinda concerned that I have not studied even CLOSE to as much as I was supposed to these last 4 days. But, I keep taking practice questions online and I'm doing great, so I guess I'll just wing it?!? Man it will be SO SO nice to be done! Then I can play with the kitty all the time and not feel guilty :)
P.S. We named the cat Dr. David Suzuki (my sister is in biology right now and they have watched a TON of movies made by him...I actually remember watching the same movies!Anyways, she is obsessed with him.), but we call him Zuki or Zuk for short because Dr. David Suzuki is a mouthful for such a little guy.
A kitten found its way into our garage and I found it on Saturday night (I heard it meowing for probably 10 minutes before I got up to go check it out...I thought it was the TV!). I have NEVER owned a cat before, and neither has anyone in our family, so we really had no idea what to do with it. I didn't know how long it had been in the garage, and didn't know if it was even old enough to have cat food, so I gave it a little bit of milk from a medicine dropper and called it a night. The little buddy stayed in a huge cardboard box with some rags. The next morning I got up SO early to check that it was still alive, and then decided to see if it wanted some tuna. It loved it. SUPER long, cute, detailed story short, we took him to the vet on Monday and he is about 6 weeks old, a boy (sadly, I honestly was not sure...his little balls have not dropped yetand he wouldn't let me get a really good look!), and healthy as can be. What a lucky guy! He is now living in our bathroom (the only room without a million nooks and crannies for him to hide in...we learned the hard way when he found his way UNDER our entertainment center and we had to move the whole thing to get him out) until we find him a new home. I would take Zyrtec every day if I could keep him, but it's just not too realistic.
Maybe this is why I'm not worried about the test...I'm too preoccupied with my cute kitty! Although when I think about it too hard I get kinda concerned that I have not studied even CLOSE to as much as I was supposed to these last 4 days. But, I keep taking practice questions online and I'm doing great, so I guess I'll just wing it?!? Man it will be SO SO nice to be done! Then I can play with the kitty all the time and not feel guilty :)
P.S. We named the cat Dr. David Suzuki (my sister is in biology right now and they have watched a TON of movies made by him...I actually remember watching the same movies!Anyways, she is obsessed with him.), but we call him Zuki or Zuk for short because Dr. David Suzuki is a mouthful for such a little guy.
6.06.2009
Home stretch...
In exactly 11 days this whole thing will be over. I can't believe there actually IS an end...it feels like I've been doing this forever and will continue to do it forever. But no, in a week and a half, it will be over, for better or for worse, and then I get to wait 3-6 weeks to get my score.
It has been kind of up and down this week. Some days I felt like I had at least heard of the things I was studying and felt good about it and excited to learn, and sometimes I was so frustrated and confused and clueless that it sucked. On those days I usually took 2-3 20min naps right on my book in the library. I literally just passed out. I don't have many more days that that can happen though. I study new things Mon-Wed, have Thursday off, take a full length practice test on Friday, review EVERYTHING for 3 1/2 days straight, and take the test on Wednesday. I'm sure I'll be too keyed up and have too much to get through in those last few days to be able to sleep.
The problem with this test is that I have to study for so long before I take it. I do NOT remember things long term very well...3 days is fine, but weeks is a major problem. So at this point, I am forgetting a lot of the things that I already learned, and it is definately showing in my practice test scores. Hopefully I can get through everything in the 3 1/2 days I have to review, and hopefully I learned it well enough whenever I studied it this past month to have it come back pretty quick, but I'm concerned. Nothing I can really do but keep plugging along!
It has been kind of up and down this week. Some days I felt like I had at least heard of the things I was studying and felt good about it and excited to learn, and sometimes I was so frustrated and confused and clueless that it sucked. On those days I usually took 2-3 20min naps right on my book in the library. I literally just passed out. I don't have many more days that that can happen though. I study new things Mon-Wed, have Thursday off, take a full length practice test on Friday, review EVERYTHING for 3 1/2 days straight, and take the test on Wednesday. I'm sure I'll be too keyed up and have too much to get through in those last few days to be able to sleep.
The problem with this test is that I have to study for so long before I take it. I do NOT remember things long term very well...3 days is fine, but weeks is a major problem. So at this point, I am forgetting a lot of the things that I already learned, and it is definately showing in my practice test scores. Hopefully I can get through everything in the 3 1/2 days I have to review, and hopefully I learned it well enough whenever I studied it this past month to have it come back pretty quick, but I'm concerned. Nothing I can really do but keep plugging along!
5.31.2009
Walking Dead
I. Am. So. Over. It.
This past week was incredibly unproductive, and this next week does not look to be off to a good start. The fact that libraries are closed (or not open long enough) on Fridays and this last Monday (Memorial Day) really screws with me. Then tomorrow I need to pick up my mom from the airport, which cuts a good hour to hour and a half out of the day. Doesn't sound like much, but when you spend 12 hours a day studying, not to mention all those other things like eating and showering (and walking in the morning when I can get myself out of bed), a couple hours is HUGE. So my day will be shortened tomorrow, and I am already behind (for the first time) from last week. There is literally no time to catch up (again, see the length of my day).
To cap it all off, I did the worst that I have done so far on my practice tests this Saturday. I take 2 sets of questions that cover only the material I have done the past week, and then 1 set of questions that is cumulative over everything I have done. I did terrible on the 2 tests over the last week and pretty well on the cumulative. What does that mean? Basically, it means that I didn't study well at all this last week and that the weeks prior I learned it so well it's still with me (at least that's what I think it means). That is very frustrating. How much will one bad week affect my score? The education department at school says not to worry when you get behind (because you will) or when you progressively do worse on the practice exams (because you will), but I just can't help it. I had such good momentum and I've lost it and there's no time to get it back. I guess I'll just have to let it go. So frustrating. And I still have 2.5 weeks left. Ugh.
A positive note: my brother's baseball team blew EVERYONE out of the water by winning their conference (they were the bottom seed) and getting a bid to regionals (their first in 45 years and the only team this year to have a less than .500 record- they had lost more games during the season than they had won). They were the bottom seed in that regional as well. After an embarrassing loss the first night to the #1 seed (#2 in the country), they again defied the odds by beating the #2 and #3 seeds to earn a rematch with the #1 seed tonight. Currently they are getting embarrassed again, and they won't win, but they did SUCH a great job...so much better than anyone expected of them. My brother did amazing versus the #2 seed, and was doing great tonight against the #1 seed (until they left him in WAY longer than they normally do and it kind of went downhill...oops). I'm really proud of him and I hope this earns their team some respect.
That's all for tonight. Definately keep praying for me that I find my motivation again. These last two weeks are so crucial...ugh ugh ugh.
This past week was incredibly unproductive, and this next week does not look to be off to a good start. The fact that libraries are closed (or not open long enough) on Fridays and this last Monday (Memorial Day) really screws with me. Then tomorrow I need to pick up my mom from the airport, which cuts a good hour to hour and a half out of the day. Doesn't sound like much, but when you spend 12 hours a day studying, not to mention all those other things like eating and showering (and walking in the morning when I can get myself out of bed), a couple hours is HUGE. So my day will be shortened tomorrow, and I am already behind (for the first time) from last week. There is literally no time to catch up (again, see the length of my day).
To cap it all off, I did the worst that I have done so far on my practice tests this Saturday. I take 2 sets of questions that cover only the material I have done the past week, and then 1 set of questions that is cumulative over everything I have done. I did terrible on the 2 tests over the last week and pretty well on the cumulative. What does that mean? Basically, it means that I didn't study well at all this last week and that the weeks prior I learned it so well it's still with me (at least that's what I think it means). That is very frustrating. How much will one bad week affect my score? The education department at school says not to worry when you get behind (because you will) or when you progressively do worse on the practice exams (because you will), but I just can't help it. I had such good momentum and I've lost it and there's no time to get it back. I guess I'll just have to let it go. So frustrating. And I still have 2.5 weeks left. Ugh.
A positive note: my brother's baseball team blew EVERYONE out of the water by winning their conference (they were the bottom seed) and getting a bid to regionals (their first in 45 years and the only team this year to have a less than .500 record- they had lost more games during the season than they had won). They were the bottom seed in that regional as well. After an embarrassing loss the first night to the #1 seed (#2 in the country), they again defied the odds by beating the #2 and #3 seeds to earn a rematch with the #1 seed tonight. Currently they are getting embarrassed again, and they won't win, but they did SUCH a great job...so much better than anyone expected of them. My brother did amazing versus the #2 seed, and was doing great tonight against the #1 seed (until they left him in WAY longer than they normally do and it kind of went downhill...oops). I'm really proud of him and I hope this earns their team some respect.
That's all for tonight. Definately keep praying for me that I find my motivation again. These last two weeks are so crucial...ugh ugh ugh.
5.27.2009
Zoom!
This month has gone by SO quickly. 3 weeks from today I take the boards, and that is so soon. At the same time, I can't believe I've only been studying for 2 1/2 weeks, it feels like this is all I have ever done. I put in a lot of time to be SUPER organized before my studying started, and for me that has really paid off. It keeps me on track and actually makes the studying kind of enjoyable.
What I do NOT enjoy is people with poor library etiquette. Now, most of the time I study at a high school library that is also a branch of a public library. I understand that there will be high school kids in there a lot of the time, and that they can be very talkative and loud. I was willing to deal with that. What I wasn't prepared for was the teachers who don't realize that the library is not the cafeteria nor a classroom. Whisper! When did it become okay to have a full volume conversation in a library?? Maybe I have been in college campus libraries for too long, but if you uttered a peep on some floors of the Creighton or U of A library, you would get many stares of death. No such stares here (unless you count me staring at these noise-y's). I actually got up and left the library today because one teacher was being so loud. Unbelievable.
Anyways, I'm about half way through...pray that I can make it through!
What I do NOT enjoy is people with poor library etiquette. Now, most of the time I study at a high school library that is also a branch of a public library. I understand that there will be high school kids in there a lot of the time, and that they can be very talkative and loud. I was willing to deal with that. What I wasn't prepared for was the teachers who don't realize that the library is not the cafeteria nor a classroom. Whisper! When did it become okay to have a full volume conversation in a library?? Maybe I have been in college campus libraries for too long, but if you uttered a peep on some floors of the Creighton or U of A library, you would get many stares of death. No such stares here (unless you count me staring at these noise-y's). I actually got up and left the library today because one teacher was being so loud. Unbelievable.
Anyways, I'm about half way through...pray that I can make it through!
5.15.2009
Whoa.
Life is more than a little crazy right now. I have my days planned out by the hour (at times even by the minute) and it's exhausting but I feel oddly centered and calm about it. We'll see if that continues tomorrow after I take 1/2 of a mock test. It's the first one I'm scheduled to take, and it doesn't matter how well you think you know the stuff if you can't answer the questions they ask. Wish me luck!
4.30.2009
The End
Yesterday was officially my last day of classes and tomorrow, after my final, my second year will be over. This is just unbelievable to me. It feels like college is SO far in the past, but these last two years have been a complete and total blur. I hope the next few years of my life don't go as fast! (Well, since they will be so stressful, maybe I hope they DO go fast, but then my 20's will be gone! Wow, I can't even think about that. Moving on...)
Yesterday I sat in the seat I have sat in for 2 years and took a look around. Everyone that goes to class was in their seat, and it was so weird to think that I won't be able to look across the room and see the same people in the same spots anymore. With about 30 of us going up to Phoenix for next year, the next time we will all be together will be Match Day in March of 2011 and then Graduation. I'm SO SO excited for Match Day, almost entirely because I want to know what specialties people end up going into.
Now don't get me wrong, I am THRILLED that the "basic science" years are over, that I no longer have to sit in a chair for endless hours a day, that I have no more histology labs, that there will be no more packages of notes. I have long said that if I had to do another semester like the last two years, I would drop out. But, it is freakin' scary. Most of my friends have been adults for a while now, with jobs and/or houses and/or kids. Even though I will still be paying (way too much, thanks to the economy) to learn next year, it will be the closest I have been to the real world, and that is intimidating.
Yesterday I sat in the seat I have sat in for 2 years and took a look around. Everyone that goes to class was in their seat, and it was so weird to think that I won't be able to look across the room and see the same people in the same spots anymore. With about 30 of us going up to Phoenix for next year, the next time we will all be together will be Match Day in March of 2011 and then Graduation. I'm SO SO excited for Match Day, almost entirely because I want to know what specialties people end up going into.
Now don't get me wrong, I am THRILLED that the "basic science" years are over, that I no longer have to sit in a chair for endless hours a day, that I have no more histology labs, that there will be no more packages of notes. I have long said that if I had to do another semester like the last two years, I would drop out. But, it is freakin' scary. Most of my friends have been adults for a while now, with jobs and/or houses and/or kids. Even though I will still be paying (way too much, thanks to the economy) to learn next year, it will be the closest I have been to the real world, and that is intimidating.
4.27.2009
Curves
I am constantly amazed at the curve balls that happen in life. Usually, they couldn't happen at a worse time. They inevitably happen either when things are going really well or when life is so busy there is no time to deal with them. I NEVER remember this many curves in my life before I was in med school. And now, naturally, I don't have the time or energy to deal with them. The really, really scary thing is that my life is going to get exponentially busier and busier probably until I retire, but for the next 10 years for sure.
What a freakin' trip.
What a freakin' trip.
4.24.2009
Parties and Moving and Tests, Oh My!
Man, these next 10 days or so are B-U-S-Y!
First off, there are a ton of going-away, last-time-the-class-will-be-together-til-graduation parties. I haven't really gotten out there and done things outside of school with a lot of my classmates over the last 2 years, and I'm apparently trying to make up for that in the next week! There are just so many people to see and so many fun things to do.
Next, I have to pack up most of my apartment by May 3rd, which is when I will be going up to Phoenix to live with my parents and study for boards and when an incoming first year will take over my apartment for the next 8 weeks. There is a lot of packing to do and really nowhere to put my stuff at my parents'. It will be interesting to see where I cram it all in.
Oh yea, and I have a final on May 1st. It might be a bad thing, but school is really the last thing on my mind right now. I think the test will be very straightforward, but that doesn't really make up for the fact that I have done NO studying since this class started at the beginning of the month. But with all these other things going on, who has time to study!?!
First off, there are a ton of going-away, last-time-the-class-will-be-together-til-graduation parties. I haven't really gotten out there and done things outside of school with a lot of my classmates over the last 2 years, and I'm apparently trying to make up for that in the next week! There are just so many people to see and so many fun things to do.
Next, I have to pack up most of my apartment by May 3rd, which is when I will be going up to Phoenix to live with my parents and study for boards and when an incoming first year will take over my apartment for the next 8 weeks. There is a lot of packing to do and really nowhere to put my stuff at my parents'. It will be interesting to see where I cram it all in.
Oh yea, and I have a final on May 1st. It might be a bad thing, but school is really the last thing on my mind right now. I think the test will be very straightforward, but that doesn't really make up for the fact that I have done NO studying since this class started at the beginning of the month. But with all these other things going on, who has time to study!?!
4.18.2009
Med School's Got Talent!
Last night was the 3rd Annual American Medical Students Association (AMSA) Talent Show. Being an exec member for AMSA, my job was to coordinate the dress rehearsals and tech/lights stuff. While 100% of ticket sales went to a great cause (the Commitment to Underserved People, or CUP, program), and it turned out GREAT, the show was WAY more of a hassle than it should have been! From having a hard time recruiting acts, to having acts drop out, to getting last minute acts to fill in (myself included...played the flute with 1 days notice after not playing for 5 years. Whoa!) to people not showing up for rehearsals to hidden fees for renting the auditorium, the pre-show drama was huge. The day of, again people were late, acts were changed last minute, the show started late, SO many people showed up we had to print more programs (a good thing!)...the little hits just didn't change! However, now that it is all over and done with, I definately think it was a success. We raised over $500 for CUP...more than they raised last year! All the people that performed were seriously talented (singing, belly dancing, harp playing, a musical skit spoofing some of our professors) and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. But I sure am glad it's over! Now onto planning my next event...a sorority luncheon in 2 weeks!
4.15.2009
Scheduling
So I've found out most of my schedule for next year! I don't know which hospitals I will be at yet, but here is what I know:
June-August: Internal Medicine (inpatient and outpatient)
September-October: Family & Community Medicine
November-December: Pediatrics
January-March: Psychiatry/Neurology
April: Elective
May-June: Surgery/OB/Gyn
I will find out more specifics later (if I start with Psychiatry in January or with Neurology in January; same idea for Surgery and OB/Gyn in May), but I'm excited to even have this! This was not my first choice of schedule, but there are a lot of good things about it. I don't have Medicine and Surgery back to back (all the other scheduling options did; they are the 2 most difficult and time-consuming), I have Medicine and Surgery in the summer (so when I have to be awake at 4 or 5am the sun might be up), I have Family in the fall (I'm thinking of going out of town for that session and it won't be too cold in the fall), etc. I can't wait to find out what hospitals I will be at...I find out in about 3 weeks! Yay!
June-August: Internal Medicine (inpatient and outpatient)
September-October: Family & Community Medicine
November-December: Pediatrics
January-March: Psychiatry/Neurology
April: Elective
May-June: Surgery/OB/Gyn
I will find out more specifics later (if I start with Psychiatry in January or with Neurology in January; same idea for Surgery and OB/Gyn in May), but I'm excited to even have this! This was not my first choice of schedule, but there are a lot of good things about it. I don't have Medicine and Surgery back to back (all the other scheduling options did; they are the 2 most difficult and time-consuming), I have Medicine and Surgery in the summer (so when I have to be awake at 4 or 5am the sun might be up), I have Family in the fall (I'm thinking of going out of town for that session and it won't be too cold in the fall), etc. I can't wait to find out what hospitals I will be at...I find out in about 3 weeks! Yay!
4.12.2009
Easter!
I really like Easter...I don't really feel like it's Spring until Easter! I love going to church and getting dressed up in pretty pastels/Spring-y colors and seeing all the little kids running around! Today I saw something that I do not EVER remember seeing on Easter before. Probably 1/4 of all the people in church were wearing BLACK (maybe an exaggeration, but it was a LOT)! And not just black shoes or a black sweater, but head-to-toe black! You should wear black on Good Friday, not on Easter! It really took the Easter mood right out of me. So if you're reading this, don't wear black on Easter...it makes people sad!
Next year, my mom and I have resolved to wear hats on Easter, like the ladies in the South do (thanks, Southern Living magazine, for reminding me that doing that is traditional by running a whole article about Easter bonnets!). We saw a couple people wearing hats today, and I just think they're so fun, and there is no more appropriate time to wear them than Easter. Hey, now that our whole family is too old for Easter Egg Hunts, we need to do something to make the holiday more fun!
Next year, my mom and I have resolved to wear hats on Easter, like the ladies in the South do (thanks, Southern Living magazine, for reminding me that doing that is traditional by running a whole article about Easter bonnets!). We saw a couple people wearing hats today, and I just think they're so fun, and there is no more appropriate time to wear them than Easter. Hey, now that our whole family is too old for Easter Egg Hunts, we need to do something to make the holiday more fun!
4.08.2009
I feel like I'm in elementary school...
...because the power went out this morning in the middle of my first lecture! Literally one second I was writing what the lecturer was saying on my notes, and the next it was completely dark in the classroom, in the hall, etc. I'm not clear if the power outage was in just the medical school area of the hospital or the whole hospital (they're connected), but either way it was awesome. After a few minutes a generator kicked in and turned on one light in the hallway, but that didn't do too much good. So our lecturer (who is also the block director, thankfully) cancelled all of our morning classes so we weren't just standing around waiting for something to happen.
Another great thing happened yesterday in our Cancer grades being released (finally!). I have a system while I'm taking a test of trying to guess what my final score will be. I put a star next to questions I am TOTALLY guessing on, and a little dot next to questions that I'm not 100% positive about, but I made an educated guess. I figure if I miss all of the questions I starred that would be the highest my score will be, and if I miss all of the stars and all of the dots that the lowest my score could be. Based on this system, I was worried about this last exam...I had a lot of dots and stars. However, when the grades came out, I did better than my best guess. That is a first, usually I am pretty good at judging my performance, but it was a very pleasant surprise.
I feel like all I talk about is school, so I will try to post about something else next time...
Another great thing happened yesterday in our Cancer grades being released (finally!). I have a system while I'm taking a test of trying to guess what my final score will be. I put a star next to questions I am TOTALLY guessing on, and a little dot next to questions that I'm not 100% positive about, but I made an educated guess. I figure if I miss all of the questions I starred that would be the highest my score will be, and if I miss all of the stars and all of the dots that the lowest my score could be. Based on this system, I was worried about this last exam...I had a lot of dots and stars. However, when the grades came out, I did better than my best guess. That is a first, usually I am pretty good at judging my performance, but it was a very pleasant surprise.
I feel like all I talk about is school, so I will try to post about something else next time...
4.06.2009
Back to it...
Ok, so I'm back. Long last two weeks, that's for sure.
I had my Cancer final on March 27th...and the grades are still not posted! This is longest we have ever had to wait for grades to go up. The test was computerized, and they release the grades to our online profiles, so you'd think it would take about 2 seconds. Sometimes it takes 2 days or so because they actually evaluate every question (if a certain percentage of the class missed the question, it is thrown out as a bad question) to calculate our actual grade, but 10 days is ridiculous!
Then it was spring break...yay! I spent the first few days in Phoenix hanging out with my family, and then I came back to Tucson to be in my friend Amanda's wedding on April 3rd. It was a VERY busy Thursday and Friday, getting everything set up and navigating some tempers, but the wedding was beautiful, the bride looked amazing, and I am really glad that I got to be a part of it and help out (because honestly, I'm not sure it would have gone off without my help!). I can't wait to see the pictures.
Lastly, I went to Las Vegas for the weekend to see my brother play baseball and again hang with the rest of the fam. He pitched GREAT (I wish he would have stayed in the game longer...maybe then they would have won! It was a heartbreaking 4-3 loss after extra innings), and I was SO glad to get to see him play; it had been too long. We stayed at Wynn (we got a great deal), and I gambled for the first time. Just slots, but it was fun! My mom and I played with a $200 credit the hotel had given us, and we turned $0 real dollars into $130. So I guess technically we lost $70, but as far as I'm concerned we started out with nothing, so it was a good day! It was hard to be in Las Vegas (I hadn't been there in a while, and it brought up some tough memories), but the baseball games were a nice distraction.
I am starting Advanced Topics, which is basically a class that puts together a lot of what we learned in the past 2 years in clinical pictures and also includes board reviews. It will be tough and probably discouraging when I realize how much I have forgotten, but I hope it's helpful in the end! Only 4 weeks left! Whoa!
I had my Cancer final on March 27th...and the grades are still not posted! This is longest we have ever had to wait for grades to go up. The test was computerized, and they release the grades to our online profiles, so you'd think it would take about 2 seconds. Sometimes it takes 2 days or so because they actually evaluate every question (if a certain percentage of the class missed the question, it is thrown out as a bad question) to calculate our actual grade, but 10 days is ridiculous!
Then it was spring break...yay! I spent the first few days in Phoenix hanging out with my family, and then I came back to Tucson to be in my friend Amanda's wedding on April 3rd. It was a VERY busy Thursday and Friday, getting everything set up and navigating some tempers, but the wedding was beautiful, the bride looked amazing, and I am really glad that I got to be a part of it and help out (because honestly, I'm not sure it would have gone off without my help!). I can't wait to see the pictures.
Lastly, I went to Las Vegas for the weekend to see my brother play baseball and again hang with the rest of the fam. He pitched GREAT (I wish he would have stayed in the game longer...maybe then they would have won! It was a heartbreaking 4-3 loss after extra innings), and I was SO glad to get to see him play; it had been too long. We stayed at Wynn (we got a great deal), and I gambled for the first time. Just slots, but it was fun! My mom and I played with a $200 credit the hotel had given us, and we turned $0 real dollars into $130. So I guess technically we lost $70, but as far as I'm concerned we started out with nothing, so it was a good day! It was hard to be in Las Vegas (I hadn't been there in a while, and it brought up some tough memories), but the baseball games were a nice distraction.
I am starting Advanced Topics, which is basically a class that puts together a lot of what we learned in the past 2 years in clinical pictures and also includes board reviews. It will be tough and probably discouraging when I realize how much I have forgotten, but I hope it's helpful in the end! Only 4 weeks left! Whoa!
3.20.2009
First Post!
So I have decided to start a blog...amazing! Things in my life get SO crazy with school that I felt it would be easier for everyone to keep up with me if I could post my stories in one place. I have never been much of journal-keeper, as I think it takes too long to write...maybe typing will be better! I love looking back at things I have written, on the rare occasion it happened, and hopefully this will be a way for me to have more memories to look back at.
At this point, I am not even worried about my last 6 weeks of school...it's what starts on May 11th that I'm nervous about. Boards. Every second year med student (or any doctor, for that matter), knows exactly the little drop in my stomach that happens whenever I hear that word. For those that don't know, every med student has to take this exam after the end of second year, which covers all the material from my first two years, in order to go on to third year and be a doctor. It is 5 1/2 weeks of studying and then the big test...June 17th. People who know me well know that I do NOT do long term study well...I hardly do short term study well. This has been a major hurdle these past two years, but med school is nothing compared to studying for boards. 5 1/2 weeks, 6 days a week, 10 hours per day. Oh. My. Gosh. Not sure what I'll do; totally ready for it to be the worst 6 weeks of my life and I'm just praying that I can get through it.
At this point, I am not even worried about my last 6 weeks of school...it's what starts on May 11th that I'm nervous about. Boards. Every second year med student (or any doctor, for that matter), knows exactly the little drop in my stomach that happens whenever I hear that word. For those that don't know, every med student has to take this exam after the end of second year, which covers all the material from my first two years, in order to go on to third year and be a doctor. It is 5 1/2 weeks of studying and then the big test...June 17th. People who know me well know that I do NOT do long term study well...I hardly do short term study well. This has been a major hurdle these past two years, but med school is nothing compared to studying for boards. 5 1/2 weeks, 6 days a week, 10 hours per day. Oh. My. Gosh. Not sure what I'll do; totally ready for it to be the worst 6 weeks of my life and I'm just praying that I can get through it.
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