Created by Train Horns
But after listening to that sound for a few seconds, I wish my eardrums were a little more...mature. Ouch!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
aging
Just when I think I'm getting old, I find a test that tells me I'm not quite there yet.
But after listening to that sound for a few seconds, I wish my eardrums were a little more...mature. Ouch!
But after listening to that sound for a few seconds, I wish my eardrums were a little more...mature. Ouch!
finishing the race
With only one more measly little test standing between me and M4, I thought I'd take a few moments and reflect back on the year. This year has probably been one the most amazing, interesting, and fun year of my life. For years I've "wanted to be a doctor" but now I'm actually living it. Sometimes it's not all it's cracked up to be. But most of the time, it is.
OB/Gyn: Young, young moms. Feeling like I should have 4 kids by now. Funny names: Tisamiracle, Fairy, you name it. Catching a couple babes myself - they're so slippery! Lots of bodily fluids. Practicando espanol todos los dias. Gyn-onc surgeries: boring boring boring. Big women, big tumors. Sweet residents, but babycatching is not on my to-do list anymore.
Family Med: Little mix of everything. Clinic hours and lots of free time. Variety of residents. Do I want to do this when I grow up? Maybe, maybe not. Derm and sports injury procedures. Prevention. "Touchy feely" stuff and disparities in healthcare.
Peds: Cute kiddos. Bardstown with grandma and grandpa, running, making them dinner and eating bacon. Learning so much about pediatric medicine and about Dora the Explorer. Don't forget Hannah Montana - the most popular halloween costume. Well child checks over and over and over. Sick kids in the hospital get better, get toys, and go home. Kids aren't drinking, smoking, and eating themselves to death. Kind, gentle residents. Maybe I want to do this, kids are so cute. Or will I get sick of well-children? Should I specialize?
ER: Busy. Life-threatening. Minute-to-minute. Algorithms and ACLS. Teamwork. Shiftwork. Too high-stress and boring at the same time. Fun to watch, lots of stories.
Medicine: A little of everything. My first dying patient - liver failure from alcohol. MRSA endophthalmitis, hospital-acquired infections, kidney failure. Managing disease states as well as preventing them. Women's clinic felt like a treat each week. VA old men and their stories - they love it when you smile. So much to learn, I will never know it all. Maybe I can try. Now this might be what I want to do.
Psych: Consult service. Addicts are people too, and sweet young women at that. Bipolar girl who thinks she has AIDS and talks to her dead father, then storms out on me. Depressed cutter transgender man shows me the plastic hidden in his shoe that he did not use to cut himself all week. Really talking to patients. Talking to families. Lots of talking. I want the best for them but they don't want it for themselves.
Neuro: Brainy docs, literally. Love diagnosis even without treatment. Patient who was eating Easter dinner on the back porch, walked inside and suffered a massive stroke, never to respond again. Funny words for not funny things: aphasia, hemiagnosia, etc. Curiosity and zebras.
Surgery: Dreading this all year, but suprisingly not bad. Plastics, ENT, VA. Cool residents, "doing stuff" in the OR is actually fun. Learning to sew, tie knots. Learning about what's important in trauma, and in life. Patients who say "you saved my life."
I don't really know any other way to sum up the year. It was all so overwhelming...in so many ways. I can say pretty confidently that it has been the best year of my life, which leads me to believe I have picked the right profession. I have had so many rich experiences this year and I can't believe our 3rd year has come to a close. I remember being M1/M2 and seeing those wise old M4s lounging around the hospital...now I am one of them! And this time next year, we'll all be doctors! It's sort of unreal....
OB/Gyn: Young, young moms. Feeling like I should have 4 kids by now. Funny names: Tisamiracle, Fairy, you name it. Catching a couple babes myself - they're so slippery! Lots of bodily fluids. Practicando espanol todos los dias. Gyn-onc surgeries: boring boring boring. Big women, big tumors. Sweet residents, but babycatching is not on my to-do list anymore.
Family Med: Little mix of everything. Clinic hours and lots of free time. Variety of residents. Do I want to do this when I grow up? Maybe, maybe not. Derm and sports injury procedures. Prevention. "Touchy feely" stuff and disparities in healthcare.
Peds: Cute kiddos. Bardstown with grandma and grandpa, running, making them dinner and eating bacon. Learning so much about pediatric medicine and about Dora the Explorer. Don't forget Hannah Montana - the most popular halloween costume. Well child checks over and over and over. Sick kids in the hospital get better, get toys, and go home. Kids aren't drinking, smoking, and eating themselves to death. Kind, gentle residents. Maybe I want to do this, kids are so cute. Or will I get sick of well-children? Should I specialize?
ER: Busy. Life-threatening. Minute-to-minute. Algorithms and ACLS. Teamwork. Shiftwork. Too high-stress and boring at the same time. Fun to watch, lots of stories.
Medicine: A little of everything. My first dying patient - liver failure from alcohol. MRSA endophthalmitis, hospital-acquired infections, kidney failure. Managing disease states as well as preventing them. Women's clinic felt like a treat each week. VA old men and their stories - they love it when you smile. So much to learn, I will never know it all. Maybe I can try. Now this might be what I want to do.
Psych: Consult service. Addicts are people too, and sweet young women at that. Bipolar girl who thinks she has AIDS and talks to her dead father, then storms out on me. Depressed cutter transgender man shows me the plastic hidden in his shoe that he did not use to cut himself all week. Really talking to patients. Talking to families. Lots of talking. I want the best for them but they don't want it for themselves.
Neuro: Brainy docs, literally. Love diagnosis even without treatment. Patient who was eating Easter dinner on the back porch, walked inside and suffered a massive stroke, never to respond again. Funny words for not funny things: aphasia, hemiagnosia, etc. Curiosity and zebras.
Surgery: Dreading this all year, but suprisingly not bad. Plastics, ENT, VA. Cool residents, "doing stuff" in the OR is actually fun. Learning to sew, tie knots. Learning about what's important in trauma, and in life. Patients who say "you saved my life."
I don't really know any other way to sum up the year. It was all so overwhelming...in so many ways. I can say pretty confidently that it has been the best year of my life, which leads me to believe I have picked the right profession. I have had so many rich experiences this year and I can't believe our 3rd year has come to a close. I remember being M1/M2 and seeing those wise old M4s lounging around the hospital...now I am one of them! And this time next year, we'll all be doctors! It's sort of unreal....
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thongs and Freedom
I just realized that I've been writing in this blog all year and I hardly ever mention anything about my rotation group.
I need to say, that I am extremely lucky that Pam emailed me last year and asked if I would be in their group. I had been secretly nervous for months that I wouldn't find anyone to rotate with me because I hung out with all the PhD kids (and they're all doing research this year). I was afraid that I would be stuck with a group of students that were loud, unfriendly gunners and I would have a horrible year and hate every minute of it.
Lucky for me, I got placed in group C2 with Pam, Suganya, Sarah R, Sarah W, DeAnna, Mark, Adam, and Alan. They are some of the most awesome people I know! My group is really laid back (no gunners!), really helpful, and really just overall good people. I have had an amazing and wonderful year, and I owe a lot of it to them. I know that if I need help that any one of them would be more than willing to help me, and that when I need someone to listen, there's always someone willing. 3rd year has lots of ups and downs, and it has been really great to share those ups and downs with such a fantastic group of people.
I already thought they were great, but the girls of C2 went over the top and decided to throw me a surprise bachelorette party - and it was awesome!!
We went out after our surgery quiz for a "girls night" - we were just going out to get some Mexican food and celebrate the almost-end of the year. But when I got there things started to get fishy. Pam made me put on a hawaiian lei, a pirate's eyepatch and hoop earring, and a flashing pink tiara. Then, they told me that I was kidnapped for the remainder of the evening and not to eat too much Mexican food because there was more to come.
What silly girls! We played goofy bachelorette party games, played pin the tail on the Christopher (complete with Chris' face plastered to a cartoon donkey body), and even had a PINATA filled with all sorts of delicious chocolate! There was a spice cake, flowers, balloons, crepe paper, and unmentionables hung all around DeAnna and Sarah's house! They also got me a CURIOUS GEORGE ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. How awesome! I had so much fun and couldn't even believe they bought me presents too! They seriously threw one fantastic party. I had so much fun and can't even begin to thank them for the great time that I had.
I am sure going to miss these gals when we part ways next year!! <3
I need to say, that I am extremely lucky that Pam emailed me last year and asked if I would be in their group. I had been secretly nervous for months that I wouldn't find anyone to rotate with me because I hung out with all the PhD kids (and they're all doing research this year). I was afraid that I would be stuck with a group of students that were loud, unfriendly gunners and I would have a horrible year and hate every minute of it.
Lucky for me, I got placed in group C2 with Pam, Suganya, Sarah R, Sarah W, DeAnna, Mark, Adam, and Alan. They are some of the most awesome people I know! My group is really laid back (no gunners!), really helpful, and really just overall good people. I have had an amazing and wonderful year, and I owe a lot of it to them. I know that if I need help that any one of them would be more than willing to help me, and that when I need someone to listen, there's always someone willing. 3rd year has lots of ups and downs, and it has been really great to share those ups and downs with such a fantastic group of people.
I already thought they were great, but the girls of C2 went over the top and decided to throw me a surprise bachelorette party - and it was awesome!!
We went out after our surgery quiz for a "girls night" - we were just going out to get some Mexican food and celebrate the almost-end of the year. But when I got there things started to get fishy. Pam made me put on a hawaiian lei, a pirate's eyepatch and hoop earring, and a flashing pink tiara. Then, they told me that I was kidnapped for the remainder of the evening and not to eat too much Mexican food because there was more to come.
What silly girls! We played goofy bachelorette party games, played pin the tail on the Christopher (complete with Chris' face plastered to a cartoon donkey body), and even had a PINATA filled with all sorts of delicious chocolate! There was a spice cake, flowers, balloons, crepe paper, and unmentionables hung all around DeAnna and Sarah's house! They also got me a CURIOUS GEORGE ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. How awesome! I had so much fun and couldn't even believe they bought me presents too! They seriously threw one fantastic party. I had so much fun and can't even begin to thank them for the great time that I had.
I am sure going to miss these gals when we part ways next year!! <3
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
urban dictionary
I've been looking up a lot in the dictionary lately.
Have you ever Urban dictionary-ed your name?
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=katie
They make us Katie's out to be a pretty awesome bunch, if I do say so myself.
:)
Have you ever Urban dictionary-ed your name?
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=katie
They make us Katie's out to be a pretty awesome bunch, if I do say so myself.
:)
D-day
Do. Not. Get. Sick.
Today is July 1. Beginning today, everyone in training at the hospital is officially new to their post. Medical students just became interns. Interns just became Residents. Chiefs just became attendings. Everybody is new. Especially the interns. Often, they are new to being an MD, new to this hospital, maybe even new to this time zone.
It's a little intense. To quote many of my peers, coworkers, and observers in the vicinity, today was just "one big clusterfuck."*
Another example (and one I find particularly entertaining): Two of my classmates are on UK medicine wards. Interns on medicine typically split up the patients between themselves and write a SOAP note on every patient. SOAP stands for Subjective (what the patient says), Objective (what the data/labs say), and Assessment/Plan (what your assessment of the problems are and what you're going to do about it). One intern today said "What goes in the assessment and plan?" then followed up by asking "Do I have to write one of these every day?"
I think dumb questions are okay sometimes, but sometimes I think you should just figure it out yourself, or at least err on the side of caution until you figure something out.
Oh dear.
I repeat: Don't get sick.
Today is July 1. Beginning today, everyone in training at the hospital is officially new to their post. Medical students just became interns. Interns just became Residents. Chiefs just became attendings. Everybody is new. Especially the interns. Often, they are new to being an MD, new to this hospital, maybe even new to this time zone.
It's a little intense. To quote many of my peers, coworkers, and observers in the vicinity, today was just "one big clusterfuck."*
*clusterfuck (plural clusterfucks) (vulgar) A chaotic mess that might be compared to group sex, in which participants are so intertwined and intermingled that they might penetrate each other rather than their intended target. Its more precise usage describes a particular kind of Catch-22, in which multiple complicated problems mutually interfere with each other's solution. The looser usage, referring to any chaotic situation, probably prevails. Thanks, wikitionary. You learn something new every day, huh?
Another example (and one I find particularly entertaining): Two of my classmates are on UK medicine wards. Interns on medicine typically split up the patients between themselves and write a SOAP note on every patient. SOAP stands for Subjective (what the patient says), Objective (what the data/labs say), and Assessment/Plan (what your assessment of the problems are and what you're going to do about it). One intern today said "What goes in the assessment and plan?" then followed up by asking "Do I have to write one of these every day?"
I think dumb questions are okay sometimes, but sometimes I think you should just figure it out yourself, or at least err on the side of caution until you figure something out.
Oh dear.
I repeat: Don't get sick.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
midterms
Unfortunately, the super awesome long post I was planning to write is unavailable until I get some more work done. This should hold me over for now:
Only one more month of 3rd year! Woohoo! And...less than a year until MD! I can't even believe it. It's exciting but scary. Probably more scary right now.
Speaking of scary, surgery midterm is Monday. Shouldn't be that scary except that I haven't studied for it almost at all yet. I say "yet" because that's the plan for today. That, and about two hundred other things. Did you know that I'm getting married in less than four months? Holy Cow!
And with marriage comes...engagement pictures! We finally got them back from the photographers and are SO happy with how they turned out. They put some up on their blog which you can find here:
http://www.varlandphotography.com/blog/2009/06/chris-and-katie-engaged-part-i/
and most of my favorites are found here:
http://www.varlandphotography.com/blog/2009/06/chris-and-katie-engaged-part-ii/
Chris is in Trinidad this weekend shooting Kateri and Karl's wedding. Technically their third wedding, hopefully after this they can consider themselves really married. Chris also has our engagement proofs that he's been tinkering with during his long flights/layovers on his way to Trinidad. He promised me he would try to post some of them today while he's staying at the fancy wedding resort, and I will direct you to them as soon as I can! Get ready!
Anyway, not much is going on here on the homefront except for my to-do list that keeps growing bigger by the minute. Studying needs to take precedence, but there's a ton of cleaning that needs to be done and working out so I can still fit in that dress I tried on months ago and numerous other things but I'm so tempted to go enjoy this sunny weather! I'm also obsessed with checking my email because that's the only way I can get in touch with Chris, so that's also a bit of a problem...
Well I suppose I'll try to go finish reading the outline of the book (before reading the book and the First Aid and the questions and the answers...and then reviewing it all before Monday morning! eep!) and maybe if I can finish that I can take my book outside and read a little. I need to get my daily (more like weekly) dose of Vitamin D, anyway.
Only one more month of 3rd year! Woohoo! And...less than a year until MD! I can't even believe it. It's exciting but scary. Probably more scary right now.
Speaking of scary, surgery midterm is Monday. Shouldn't be that scary except that I haven't studied for it almost at all yet. I say "yet" because that's the plan for today. That, and about two hundred other things. Did you know that I'm getting married in less than four months? Holy Cow!
And with marriage comes...engagement pictures! We finally got them back from the photographers and are SO happy with how they turned out. They put some up on their blog which you can find here:
http://www.varlandphotography.com/blog/2009/06/chris-and-katie-engaged-part-i/
and most of my favorites are found here:
http://www.varlandphotography.com/blog/2009/06/chris-and-katie-engaged-part-ii/
Chris is in Trinidad this weekend shooting Kateri and Karl's wedding. Technically their third wedding, hopefully after this they can consider themselves really married. Chris also has our engagement proofs that he's been tinkering with during his long flights/layovers on his way to Trinidad. He promised me he would try to post some of them today while he's staying at the fancy wedding resort, and I will direct you to them as soon as I can! Get ready!
Anyway, not much is going on here on the homefront except for my to-do list that keeps growing bigger by the minute. Studying needs to take precedence, but there's a ton of cleaning that needs to be done and working out so I can still fit in that dress I tried on months ago and numerous other things but I'm so tempted to go enjoy this sunny weather! I'm also obsessed with checking my email because that's the only way I can get in touch with Chris, so that's also a bit of a problem...
Well I suppose I'll try to go finish reading the outline of the book (before reading the book and the First Aid and the questions and the answers...and then reviewing it all before Monday morning! eep!) and maybe if I can finish that I can take my book outside and read a little. I need to get my daily (more like weekly) dose of Vitamin D, anyway.
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