Thursday, April 22, 2010

Considering...

buying an iPod Touch. Not an iPad. No, I like to stay 2-3 years behind current technology, thankyouverymuch.

As for school, things are kind of blah right now. I am currently on Peds Ambulatory which means Heme/Onc clinic in the morning (that's kids with sickle cell anemia or lymphomas, leukemias, etc... for those who don't know) and then general Peds clinic in the afternoon.

I haven't enjoyed this week as much as my counterparts but that's all my bad. I just don't enjoy clinic, period. I'm sure it would be different if these were my patients that I'd seen before and built a relationship with but they're not. Plus, heme/onc is kind of depressing to me personally. The kids don't seem depressed at all for the most part. Even though they have fragmented lives, they are really resilient and have surprised me at how well-developed they are socially. I'm glad someone out there can do it, like my friend twotinyletters over @ http://twotinyletters.blogspot.com but it certainly isn't for me.

As far as general Peds clinic there's a lot of well-child checkups which are incredibly easy but these appointments drive me nuts. I feel like they're a waste of time. I know they're not, but I just feel worthless having made a parent take off work, come to the hospital, wait for an hour or longer, just so we can say - "Yep, baby looks great." There are certain things that need to be done, such as shots given, etc... but I guess it's more of a surgical mindset I have. I want a problem and a solution. I just want to get in there and fix something. I had the same issues in family medicine clinic. Drove me nuts every time I saw a chief complaint of "3 month f/u." These go something like this:

Me: "Hey Mr. Smith, how have you been the last 3 months?"
Mr. Smith: "Great, I have no complaints."
Me: "Good. See you in 3 months"

Now this is not how it actually happened. First of all these visits end up dragging on forever because they have to tell you about you know - their low back pain or that funny looking bump on their left toe that their cousin's aunt says is a spider bite because she knew a guy her 4th cousin twice removed works with that has the same thing on his exact same toe. I know this guy went to the lab for a routine blood draw. I know it's important to check his HbA1c. I know you want to see him when he's well so you can know when he's really sick. But still, these visits bother me. That's a big hangup of mine. Don't know where my malfunction is. Maybe I've got some kind of chromosomal translocation that predisposes me to clinic hatred? That's my excuse for now.

As far as studying, things have been incredibly lackluster in that department as well. The weather has been so beautiful and I've had a lot of projects going on around the house. All I want to do is PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!!!! I find myself reading things and not remembering them an hour later.

Figured out my learning type, finally, but not exactly what to do with it. I'm a mostly kinesthetic or tactile learner with some visual components. What's that mean? I learn by doing - or drawing a picture of something, etc... That means all those lectures I sat through, there's a reason I didn't get much out of them. All those books I try to read, worthless unless I find a way to incorporate the knowledge other than reading it. All the things I've gotten to do on wards - I'll never forget. Some of the suggestions for kinesthetic learners online are pretty comical though. Pretty sure I'd be "that girl" if I partook in a lot of these. They include:

* Take your notes and repeat them to yourself while walking. If you’re in a rush, walking faster or bouncing while you walk can sometimes help, though this method’s effectiveness might vary with subject. When space is limited (or you’re in a hallway awaiting a test), a few-step pace back and forth can suffice instead of a wide circling you might prefer when you have room.

*As crazy as this might sound, some people have their best results from this one: studying while yo-yoing. The motion and sound (the yo-yo has a type of buzzing sound while twirling on the string) make this method especially useful to audio-kinesthetic learners. If you try this one, you’ll probably find yourself walking while studying, as well.

Tips above are from http://www.dirjournal.com/guides/study-tips-for-kinesthetic-learners/


With that, I leave you to go pace around my house while yo-yoing and talking to myself.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Runner's Log + Peds Day 1

I'm a little delinquent on updating my running log. Ran 4 miles today, 2 miles Saturday in Kosy, and 4ish miles on Thursday. Finally getting into the swing of things. I think it's the gorgeous weather we've been having lately. Took Penelope with me today and ended up running into my cousin A going the opposite direction on the trail. She was very proud of my "technical gear" running shirts I believe she called them...

Today was Day #1 of peds. Everyone seems to really enjoy this rotation, so let's hope it can overcome a serious case of Spring Fever/I'm sick of living at the hospital/M3-itis. I'm not even at the hospital that much anymore and I still can't get away from that place fast enough. Everyone else seems to be feeling the same way fortunately... or is it unfortunately?

6 more weeks.

Bring it.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Runner's Log

2.25 miles; 20 minutes - around da neighborhood

My fellow partners and I started on Gyn Onc today. However... the only gyn onc attending is out of town all week and we have 1 patient who is just hanging out and waiting to be discharged. All this adds up to a pretty slim workday. I won't post the hours I actually worked today for fear that a few of my classmates might actually assassinate me.

Anyways, all that free time lead to lots of time to exercise my credit card at Wal-Mart and Academy Sports. I finally got some proper running shorts (Cousin A, are you proud?) I have been wearing old Soffe cotton shorts from high school and sometimes even tennis skirts to run in for the last few years. Terrible, I know. Also got some moisture-wicking shirts. T-shirts are probably the worst thing you can wear to run in (besides maybe a sweater?) because they trap all that hot air and moisture and just don't let go but I wear those a lot too. Maybe all this new gear will improve my running times. Ha ha. Also got a new Nike + system since my last one bit the dust and got lost.

I'm going to have to pack my lunch for the next 2 months to justify all the money I spent to run today :)

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Running Log

4.0 miles; ~1 hr. Beautiful day!!!

Trying to do at least 30 miles this month. Gotta break down the big goal into smaller goals.

Big Decisions

Well folks, a decision has been made. I am going to do Ob/Gyn. I know this might be a shock for a few of my classmates who read.

I went into OB/GYN thinking I would love it immediately. Then I was overwhelmed by their language made entirely of abbreviations. Ex: "Mrs. S is a 37 yo AAF G5P4 here to r/o PROM, h/o PreE, DM; GBS+" It goes on and on. There are tons of abbreviations. I also was intimidated by the deliveries and afraid of screwing something up. I got nervous that I couldn't feel the dilation of the cervix, etc... I started thinking about malpractice insurance and focusing on all the bad in order to talk myself out of it as a career option.

Now the last 2 weeks I've gotten a bit more comfortable, learned the lingo (mostly), and finally learned how to correctly do a bimanual pelvic exam (your fingers go BEHIND the cervix and push up), and seen some incredible surgeries.

During one of the surgeries this past week I just so wanted to be the one digging in and doing the work. It was a fibroid removal aka "myomectomy" and it was amazing. Plus, they use a ROBOT to do surgery - a robot!!!

The other pros on my pro/con list I made:
*no incredibly detailed H&Ps to be taken; just a general PMH, PSH, and then detailed OB/GYN history which consists of a few precise questions. When I was considering Internal Medicine the though of having to do thousands and thousands of detailed H&Ps over the years made me want to jump off a cliff. Those patients' medication lists alone are enough to turn me away. (For those of you not in the medical profession, H&P is the entire medical history and physical exam performed on people when they're admitted to the hospital. It takes me anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on how sick the patient is and gets really old asking people the same questions over and over again.)

*surgeries! I've started really enjoying the OR (as long as I remember to eat before I go in so I don't get all hypoglycemic and cranky) Plus, most of these surgeries are SHORT (aka less than 3 hrs) and there are just fewer surgeries to perfect compared to general surgery. But still, you get to be a surgeon - you're just a surgeon with dangly earrings (amiright Ewok???) Ha ha. Threw that in just for you. I've found that when I don't know our schedule for the next day I find myself really hoping it's a surgery day and not clinic. There are only 2 specialties where that's an option. Ob/Gyn and General Surgery. So that really narrows it down.

There's more pros than this, I just can't think of them right now. There's also some cons of course but a lot of those are true for all specialties. The main difference is malpractice insurance. I'm pretty sure the amount that Ob/Gyns make is more than enough to cover that and live comfortably though, so I'm not worried about it. I'm often quite surprised to see how much people in my class freak out over their future income and paying back loans. I mean honestly - I've never seen a POOR doctor who doesn't have enough to support their family. And since I'm not the type that's going to buy a new BMW every year I really don't stress about it. We could be in a lot worse shape people!

Anyway, now that I've gotten that out I feel better. Think I'm about to drink some coffee, go for a run in the sunshine, and then get ready for a Crawfish Wedding Party for a very special friend of mine. Have a great Easter weekend everyone!

P.S. - My running total for March was 15 miles. Geez. I think that puts me at around 45ish miles run for the year. I'm going to have to pick it up this month if I want to hit 300 by 2011...