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.
8.10.2009
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)