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.

3 comments:

R said...

I can see you yo-yoing with one hand, gardening with the other while in your mind you are thinking about VA-J-Js and how to operate on them!

frylime said...

go to the VA for your ipod touch...i toured the canteen today and they totally have TONS of apple items, all duty free!

Anonymous said...

Earlier I thought differently, thanks for an explanation.