4th year

I just did one of the Jillian Michaels 20-minute workouts and am POOPED (so my brain's not quite working right) but I wanted to say a couple things

1) Weddings aren't really THAT bad... we got some things sorted out (at least to some degree) so there's not as much drama. Seriously, I don't do drama.

2) Being a 4th year is awesome. AWESOME. At least on this rotation. I know things, and I can actually help, and I knew some stuff that none of the residents did! (Thanks, ENT rotation!) sweeeeet!! More to come on this topic later...

3) I like the med-peds folks. A lot. They're well-rounded, friendly, and super smart (The kind of person I want to be!!). I just really don't want to do a 4-year residency of wards wards wards ICU wards (clinic) wards...etc.

4) Going to meet with the new priest for coffee soon... don't really know how I feel about him. Either way I think he's doing our wedding so I'm going to have to get used to him!

Well I'm not sweating all over the place anymore (seriously, if you want a workout, it's called 30-day Shred and it is the hardest and most complete 20-minute workout I've ever done!), so I'd better change clothes. Wish me luck!

the truth about weddings

Apparently, weddings are about the parents of the bride giving her away, and have nothing to do with the actual bride or groom.

Maybe now I can see why we've been having some disagreements.

email bloopers

Christopher Simmons is apparently a popular name. He just got this email:

"Hey Chris
Hope you had a great weekend! I don't know if you have talked to geoff or not recently but my groin is doing much better! I have a doctor appointment tomorrow afternoon but I was wondering when you'll be in so that I can possibly come in wednesday, thursday, or friday. Hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks,
H----"

The funny thing is, Chris doesn't know this person. Neither does he know "geoff." But we're both glad she's doing well. He wrote back:

"Sorry H----, I think you have emailed the wrong Chris on this one. Alas, best of luck with your groin!
Cheers,
Chris"

Advice for a 3rd year

Note: I wrote this note a few weeks ago (back before I went on vacation and deep fried my brain) after reflecting on the past year and all the experiences I've had. It may not be the most well-written piece of information ever, and maybe the advice isn't even that good, but I figured it was worth posting anyway. You don't have to take my advice - you don't even have to read it if you don't want to! :)

This past year has probably been the most fun I've ever had. I've worked hard, played hard, and been successful (so far...match day will be here before we know it!). I hoped to attend "scut monkey day" which is more formerly known as the now-4th years unofficial orientation to 3rd years to give advice, tours, and general guidance and assurance to the class below us. I've been thinking about what advice I have--what I would do over this year if I could. I've made a semi-dorky little list of things I would recommend to anyone starting 3rd year, as well as advice I hope to keep in mind next year and for years to come. It's a little hokey and I feel sort of like I wrote the same thing over and over, but hopefully you get the point.

On studying

• At least for me, getting enough sleep is about equal to a few good hours studying, so don't cram. It's not worth it.
• That being said, coffee is your friend too.
• Know your patients. You will hear that over and over again and it's hard to do at first but read about their conditions and take a thorough H&P if you can even if you don't have to. It's so much better to learn by talking with real people instead of reading it in a book or in a chart. I will never forget my patient who had a thyroidectomy and had post-op hypocalcemia because I got to tap on her face and see Chovstek's sign.
• Talk to other students about books, study materials, tests, and just about everything. It helps to find some people with whom you can share books, notes, and learn about which attendings to avoid. For example, I was recommended this website in the beginning of the year by a study buddy and it’s helped me breeze through most of the surgery quizzes.

On learning in general

• First, and most importantly - learn and do everything possible. This is the only time in your life where you're the VERY BOTTOM of the totem pole. Use that to your advantage and ask the dumb questions, get people to show you the basics as well as the details.
• Help with as many foleys, paracentesis, IV lines, etc as possible. Write prescriptions for your residents to sign. Ask to do these things, because they often forget to ask you if you want to do them. And trust me, it will help you in the future! One little tip for those at the VA: they have some awesome software with "how to" for many procedures and "patient info" packets on almost every subject imaginable. Try to find those because they're aweome.
• Similar to the first two: Practice. Do a physical exam on everybody so you get a sense of what normal is. You may not think you need to, but why not? You may even find a clue that no one else has.
• There will be patients that you don't like. Learn something about yourself from them.
• There will be patients that need you. You, unlike the doctors, can spend time talking to them (or their family) that no one else has time to do. On psych I spoke with one girl's mom almost every day about her fears for her daughter, and I really felt like I made a difference. It's a great feeling - it's the reason we all wanted to become doctors, right?
• As hokey as it sounds, try to make everything a learning opportunity.

On personalities

• You're probably going to be ignored quite often. Try not to take it personally. Everyone is under pressure, especially the interns. If you're irritated because you've been watching them enter orders for an hour, remember that you're not their top priority (they're trying to keep from killing their patients, not trying to make sure you go home early)
• "Is there anything else I can help you with?" is always a valid question and equivalent to "Can I go home?" but in a nice way. Hopefully they will take the hint.
• There are definitely career options you will realize quickly that you are not interested in. Still, learn what you can from them, because even if you would never in a million years do neurology, you may have a patient with MS, or with a history of stroke, and you need to know what they're dealing with.
• Don’t be shy. This is really hard for me but you must go out of your comfort zone and show enthusiasm and interest.
• Spend time with your loved ones, no matter how busy you are. Having a social support group is important for patients but is just as important for you. Without Chris and my parents I don't know where I would be today!

Finally, one of the biggest keys to success is to be on time, act interested, and smile. Smiling not only puts patients at ease, but interns, residents, attendings, and everyone else too. and enjoy it. This is your opportunity to learn - with real people, but no real responsibility. Use it to your advantage. Oh, and HAVE FUN!

Surprise Cake!

My friend, Sarah R., is having a birthday on August 11, but we decided to throw her a surprise birthday party today (just to keep her on her toes!). Everyone will be headed different directions for the next few months as we start planning out our futures and important things like that, so I was pumped we could get together one last time.

Guess who volunteered to make a cake?! :)

Pam (the surprise-party-thrower) suggested something chocolate, or with cherries, so I found a delicious-sounding recipe for a chocolate/cherry cake that basically uses a can of cherry pie filling + almond extract instead of oil. The cake smelled AMAZING and it was hard for me not to chomp down on it right away.

I had originally planned to make a delicious frosting to put on the cake, then cover it up in fondant to make it all pretty. But after I made the decadent Hershey's Cocoa Frosting recipe, I decided I really couldn't cover up that deliciousness with a bunch of fondant. (and it was the icky fondant that you buy from Michaels, too, not even the yummier marshmallow kind)

So, what to do with all the extra fondant? Why not make a little Sarah herself?!

I think it turned out pretty delicious, and I'm going to wait to post this until after the party! :)
Pictures to come soon. Of this cake and the train cake, because I'm lame and forgot to post them.

I'm Katie, I'll be your tour guide this evening

Apparently the BlogGods heard my post, and I didn't get sick. I just felt yucky for a couple mornings, and then it passed. Sweet.

Anyway, the last week or so I've been standardized patient-ing to study for Step 2 CS. It's this big, scary test, where you have to see 12 patients for 15 minutes each, then write a doctor note about your encounter, tell them what you think is wrong and the tests you want to do. You run a lot of tests. I wouldn't really do them in real life, because it is wasteful healthcare to run tons of tests when you're already sure of the diagnosis, right? The complaints were fairly straightforward (lots of "my ___ hurts" type thing), and I felt like it went OK.

Hopefully. US medical students have approximately a 96% pass rate, so I'd better freaking pass.

Basically this is a test to weed out foreign students who haven't quite mastered the English language, or those people who are jerks, and probably for those people who aren't good at acting.

Anyway, enough about the tests. My mom, dad and I went down to Atlanta to take this test (not included in the $1000, mind you) and we attempted a little sightseeing while down there. It was sort of a pathetic attempt, but an attempt nonetheless.

• We visited stone mountain, which was some random big mound of granite in the middle of trees, in the middle of Atlanta. Apparently there was a lot to do there for 1) kids, 2) hikers, and 3) people when it is not raining. It was pouring off and on so it was sort of a bust.
  
• While I was taking the test my parents tried to go to the Jimmy Carter museum (I was sort of thankful they did that without me because as hard as I try I continue to loathe US history). Unfortunately the museum is closed for renovations until October, but apparently if you rap on the windows and doors they will give you a free book and some 1/2 price passes to come back. (This was according to a random lady on the sidewalk, not my parents, until they found out she is actually the curator of the museum.)
• So, instead of the museum, my mom and dad went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, where my dad used his "photo skillz" to take ~150 pictures of flowers. Supposedly it was a nice place.
• The day after my test, I had really wanted to go to the Coca-cola museum because I'd heard lots of things from it. We actually drove over to where it was supposed to be (after checking two maps AND the Garmin) and walked around only to find out that they moved 2 years ago and obviously we were dumb tourists who just paid $5 for parking to go nowhere. So we tried to go to this place called The Underground while we there, because supposedly it's all historic and full of little shops and restaraunts and everything. Except it was all on lockdown at 9:15 in the morning.
  
• So, we left there and went to the World of Coke. It was pretty fun - there was tons of coke memorabilia, art, and advertising. There was only a little about the actual history of coke, which I would have appreciated more of. Then you got to taste-test 63 flavors of coke from around the world. SIXTY THREE. I should have known that was a mistake. They actually weren't "coca-cola" flavored, which made me sad, they were more like Fanta, Nestea, and fruity drinks. My favorite was Greece's Pineapple Fanta (like a fizzy pina colada! yum!) and the absolute WORST was Beverly from Italy. It was SO disgusting, bleh!
  

After trying 63 flavors of syrupy-sweet carbonated beverages I decided it was probably a good time to take a bumpy, windy car ride home. Ugh, stomachache! My parents didn't seem quite as affected by this disturbing concoction churning in our stomachs, but we eventually got some lunch to settle it down a bit and made it home safe and sound.

Now, I'm just lounging around before doing the 5 MILLION wedding planning things that I need to get on, like, now. I'm sort of ready to just elope. Maybe I'll play Chris' new Wii sports resort instead. ;)

sick

Seriously? WHY do I have painful cervical lymphadenpathy, a sore throat, and stuffy nose?

1) It is JULY 22. Summer!
2) It is my only 2-week vacation this ENTIRE year.
3) It's not even allergy season.
4) I have two relatively large and pretty important exams (you know, so I can graduate medical school) in less than a week.
5) This is the only time in the past year that I HAVEN'T been around sick people.

Life isn't fair.