I must get more clever wih these titles but just wanted to check in and let everyone know I'm surviving! I just finished my fourth consecutive month of my alarm going off at 3:00 AM and carrying the call pager during the day and I am so excited. On call tonight, get off tomorrow morning and will get to spend time with my family watching the Super Bowl.
Monday starts my second rotation on Labor and Delivery. I am excited and a little scared all at once. It feels like so long ago since I've been there! It was just August but feels like 2 years ago. Here's the rotations conquered so far:
OB Receiving - days
Labor and Delivery - days
OBI - 3:00 AM rounding, scheduled c-sections
HO I - 3:00 AM rounding, carrying call pager
HO I - again
OB I - again
Next up is L and D, then Gyn (the sweetest rotation), then Clinic/Ultrasound, then OB Receiving days again and intern year is finished! It gets better every day. Most of the attendings trust you to do the things they know you're competent at. We did lose an intern at the end of August and it really increased the workload. He quit without much warning and threw our schedules into a tizzy - specifically the call schedule. Most of us get one weekend off a month. And it is a glorious weekend.
But enough about work. Otherwise things are fabulous. Kris and I bought new cars back in November and are in love with them. The animals are as good as ever, and we are still hanging in our little yellow house by the reservoir. Counting the days until intern year is over but happy to be where I am.
Showing posts with label intern year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label intern year. Show all posts
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Oh Hi
Oh hello... Did you think I'd forgotten about my little blog?
I haven't. Things have just been as crazy as I'd predicted they would be. I just finished my month of OB Receiving (aka pregnant lady ER) and I am so glad it's over. To give you an idea of how busy it was - I ate food 2x last month while at work and subsequently lost 8lbs in 31 days. I don't recommend this diet but at least I can fit into my clothes a little better on the 1 day off a week that I get to wear them!
Speaking of that one day off... Today is that day. You think I would be overjoyed, excited, thrilled but instead I am anxious and a little sad. Because I know it all starts over tomorrow and the clock is ticking. K is at work so I'm all alone. I have a million articles and book chapters I need to read, anatomy I need to review, etc... And of course a dirty house and fridge that need to be cleaned. I'm having a hard time shaking the "day off blues." So far I've found that certain bible verses as well as getting outside in the sunshine help so that's what I plan to do today. Clean a little, cook a little, go out for a walk or to work in the yard, and do a bit of reading. I've never been so inspired to read medical literature in my life. Mostly because the fear from being called out by an attending either in front of 30 people (this happened to me this week) or being kicked out of the OR or compromising patient care. Now journal articles about which antibiotic prophylaxis is best prior to surgery are absolutely thrilling to me. Because it helps me understand why we do what we do and alleviate any fear of not knowing about it when asked.
Earlier this week at board sign outs (where the night team tells you whats going on with each laboring patient on the board) there was an HIV+ patient. The attending then turns to me and asks when we usually induce these patients, what maneuvers we avoid, what dosage of medicine and for how long they need it prior to delivery, the vertical transmission rates, etc... I did not know. It was painful for everyone. I was encouraged to read the article. Which of course I went home and did as I was falling asleep. The next day I got asked what the transmission rates are without treatment and BAM! I spit it right back out at her. 25% thankyouverymuch :) So that was a good day.
But the thing is there's always another complicated patient, another article to read, another muscle to know the exact innervation and blood supply to, and that is why I have the day off jitters. Instead of enjoying today I'm worried about what I will be asked tomorrow.
Now that that pitiful rant is over, here's highlights from last month:
1. Seeing several women come in between 30-35 weeks desperately hoping to be in labor. I gave them each a serious talk on how their baby could be impaired if it was born this early. I don't think most of them cared.
2. Checking a cervix on an above-mentioned patient (around 34 weeks pregnant) and noticing something pink and rubbery and prophylactic in my hand when I withdrew it. Of note, the attending was in the room with me which made it even more hilarious and awkward.
3. Getting to show several women in their first trimesters who were worried they were miscarrying their cute little healthy babies with heartbeats right where they should be.
4. Getting frustrated with patients who keep going back to abusive households.
5. Having a baby born in OB Receiving my 2nd week. (I had checked her an hour before and told the nurses to get her up to Labor and Delivery, just so you know...)
6. Having a G11P10 (gravida 11 para 10 - she's on her 11th pregnancy with 10 living children) labor silently and almost have a baby in OB Receiving
7. Doing several circumcisions on cute little baby boys. I really enjoy these!
Highlights from this Week:
1. Delivering several babies!!! (4 or 5?)
2. Scrubbing c-sections and getting to sew fascia and skin :)
3. Scrubbing into 1 placental abruption section and 1 uterine rupture section. The rates of uterine rupture are less than 1% and I got to see it in my first week on Labor and Delivery
I suppose I'm off to clean, read, get outside, and try to cheer up. Hope the rest of you are having a marvelous Saturday!
I haven't. Things have just been as crazy as I'd predicted they would be. I just finished my month of OB Receiving (aka pregnant lady ER) and I am so glad it's over. To give you an idea of how busy it was - I ate food 2x last month while at work and subsequently lost 8lbs in 31 days. I don't recommend this diet but at least I can fit into my clothes a little better on the 1 day off a week that I get to wear them!
Speaking of that one day off... Today is that day. You think I would be overjoyed, excited, thrilled but instead I am anxious and a little sad. Because I know it all starts over tomorrow and the clock is ticking. K is at work so I'm all alone. I have a million articles and book chapters I need to read, anatomy I need to review, etc... And of course a dirty house and fridge that need to be cleaned. I'm having a hard time shaking the "day off blues." So far I've found that certain bible verses as well as getting outside in the sunshine help so that's what I plan to do today. Clean a little, cook a little, go out for a walk or to work in the yard, and do a bit of reading. I've never been so inspired to read medical literature in my life. Mostly because the fear from being called out by an attending either in front of 30 people (this happened to me this week) or being kicked out of the OR or compromising patient care. Now journal articles about which antibiotic prophylaxis is best prior to surgery are absolutely thrilling to me. Because it helps me understand why we do what we do and alleviate any fear of not knowing about it when asked.
Earlier this week at board sign outs (where the night team tells you whats going on with each laboring patient on the board) there was an HIV+ patient. The attending then turns to me and asks when we usually induce these patients, what maneuvers we avoid, what dosage of medicine and for how long they need it prior to delivery, the vertical transmission rates, etc... I did not know. It was painful for everyone. I was encouraged to read the article. Which of course I went home and did as I was falling asleep. The next day I got asked what the transmission rates are without treatment and BAM! I spit it right back out at her. 25% thankyouverymuch :) So that was a good day.
But the thing is there's always another complicated patient, another article to read, another muscle to know the exact innervation and blood supply to, and that is why I have the day off jitters. Instead of enjoying today I'm worried about what I will be asked tomorrow.
Now that that pitiful rant is over, here's highlights from last month:
1. Seeing several women come in between 30-35 weeks desperately hoping to be in labor. I gave them each a serious talk on how their baby could be impaired if it was born this early. I don't think most of them cared.
2. Checking a cervix on an above-mentioned patient (around 34 weeks pregnant) and noticing something pink and rubbery and prophylactic in my hand when I withdrew it. Of note, the attending was in the room with me which made it even more hilarious and awkward.
3. Getting to show several women in their first trimesters who were worried they were miscarrying their cute little healthy babies with heartbeats right where they should be.
4. Getting frustrated with patients who keep going back to abusive households.
5. Having a baby born in OB Receiving my 2nd week. (I had checked her an hour before and told the nurses to get her up to Labor and Delivery, just so you know...)
6. Having a G11P10 (gravida 11 para 10 - she's on her 11th pregnancy with 10 living children) labor silently and almost have a baby in OB Receiving
7. Doing several circumcisions on cute little baby boys. I really enjoy these!
Highlights from this Week:
1. Delivering several babies!!! (4 or 5?)
2. Scrubbing c-sections and getting to sew fascia and skin :)
3. Scrubbing into 1 placental abruption section and 1 uterine rupture section. The rates of uterine rupture are less than 1% and I got to see it in my first week on Labor and Delivery
I suppose I'm off to clean, read, get outside, and try to cheer up. Hope the rest of you are having a marvelous Saturday!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Oh Dear
It's starting to hit me that I will in fact be a real life doctor person very, very soon. Technically I will be a doctor May 27th once I am handed my diploma but I will not see any patients until July. So in my mind it doesn't really "count" until then.
I am on plastic surgery this month and just happened to be in the Women's and Infants' hospital yesterday for some oncoplastic breast reconstruction cases. Of course I ran into several of my soon to be fellow Ob/Gyn residents and attendings. PS - this is much more fun now that I know they like me - they really, really like me! *spoken in the voice of Sally Field winning the Oscar.* As I've said before - when you're working with these people and trying to make a good impression it's difficult to enjoy your time with them. At least that's the case for me anyway. I was always trying to appear eager but not annoying, helpful but not overbearing, funny but not inappropriate, etc... It's a tight-rope act and you never quite know what small move can make you lose your balance - and influence people's opinions about you.
Anyway, it was all happy times and "hey, what are you doing here?" type conversation and then one of the residents asked if I had my schedule yet. They were in the lounge.
THE SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT YEAR OF MY LIFE WAS IN THE LOUNGE!!!!!!!!! 10 FEET AWAY!!!!
So of course I run in and pick one up. Here is what our intern year will consist of:
2 months of Gynecology (clinic, hysterectomies, post-menopausal bleeding, fibroids, etc...)
2 months of Labor and Delivery (12ish hour shifts of delivering babies :))
2 months of Clinic (clinic M-F, different every day)
2 months of "Dober" (this means Days OB Receiving aka the "pregnant lady ER", also is shiftwork)
1 month of OB I (scheduled c-sections, high risk clinic, rounding on PPROMers and postpartums)
1 month of HO I (house officer I - you carry a pager that beeps ALL THE TIME. You also do circumcisions, round on postpartums, etc...)
1 month of ADU (this means antenatal diagnostic unit. It's where they do the high tech fancy ultrasounds and amniocentesis)
1 month of ER (this is the regular adult ER. All OB residents love this rotation because you get 2 weeks off this month.)
Now that you know what those months are like, I will tell you that I was most terrified of starting out on Days OB Receiving. It's a busy, busy place. Essentially any pregnant lady that comes into the hospital starts out there. Also, not pregnant ladies, but ladies that think they might be pregnant. And gyn patients. Pretty much any Ob/Gyn patient starts there. Then I have to see them and decide if they go up to the Labor and Delivery Suite to deliver, go back home, get set up in clinic, get worked up for an operation, etc... It gets very busy and it gets backed up. And people can see how many patients you have even in the lounge 2 floors up. It's on a computer monitor. And they say things like - "Wow, OB receiving is really filling up." Oh dear. So without further ado, here's my own personal schedule:
July - Days OB Receiving (cue the screaming lambs)
August - Labor and Delivery Days
September - OB I
October - Gyn A
November - Clinic
December - HO I
January - ER
February - Labor and Delivery Nights
March - Gyn A
April - ADU
May - Days OB Receiving
June - Clinic
So I thought that was bad. Then I looked down at my dear fellow intern who I'm closest to in our class and she starts out on Labor and Delivery!!! In the past they didn't let interns run the L&D unit until we'd been doctors for a full 6 months. They're throwing us into the fire this year though.
And because I got so scared once I saw this schedule I did something I thought I wouldn't do. I started studying last night. For intern year. Just the things I knew I would use - like the first line of treatment for UTIs in pregnancy, and exactly what tests to order when you suspect Gonorrhea or Chlamydia. And steps to ruling out preterm labor.
Overall I'm pretty thrilled with my schedule. The "easier" (ha ha) months are interspersed pretty well with the more challenging ones. Now I am just anxious to see the call schedule. And wondering if the hours will change for any of these blocks...
I am on plastic surgery this month and just happened to be in the Women's and Infants' hospital yesterday for some oncoplastic breast reconstruction cases. Of course I ran into several of my soon to be fellow Ob/Gyn residents and attendings. PS - this is much more fun now that I know they like me - they really, really like me! *spoken in the voice of Sally Field winning the Oscar.* As I've said before - when you're working with these people and trying to make a good impression it's difficult to enjoy your time with them. At least that's the case for me anyway. I was always trying to appear eager but not annoying, helpful but not overbearing, funny but not inappropriate, etc... It's a tight-rope act and you never quite know what small move can make you lose your balance - and influence people's opinions about you.
Anyway, it was all happy times and "hey, what are you doing here?" type conversation and then one of the residents asked if I had my schedule yet. They were in the lounge.
THE SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT YEAR OF MY LIFE WAS IN THE LOUNGE!!!!!!!!! 10 FEET AWAY!!!!
So of course I run in and pick one up. Here is what our intern year will consist of:
2 months of Gynecology (clinic, hysterectomies, post-menopausal bleeding, fibroids, etc...)
2 months of Labor and Delivery (12ish hour shifts of delivering babies :))
2 months of Clinic (clinic M-F, different every day)
2 months of "Dober" (this means Days OB Receiving aka the "pregnant lady ER", also is shiftwork)
1 month of OB I (scheduled c-sections, high risk clinic, rounding on PPROMers and postpartums)
1 month of HO I (house officer I - you carry a pager that beeps ALL THE TIME. You also do circumcisions, round on postpartums, etc...)
1 month of ADU (this means antenatal diagnostic unit. It's where they do the high tech fancy ultrasounds and amniocentesis)
1 month of ER (this is the regular adult ER. All OB residents love this rotation because you get 2 weeks off this month.)
Now that you know what those months are like, I will tell you that I was most terrified of starting out on Days OB Receiving. It's a busy, busy place. Essentially any pregnant lady that comes into the hospital starts out there. Also, not pregnant ladies, but ladies that think they might be pregnant. And gyn patients. Pretty much any Ob/Gyn patient starts there. Then I have to see them and decide if they go up to the Labor and Delivery Suite to deliver, go back home, get set up in clinic, get worked up for an operation, etc... It gets very busy and it gets backed up. And people can see how many patients you have even in the lounge 2 floors up. It's on a computer monitor. And they say things like - "Wow, OB receiving is really filling up." Oh dear. So without further ado, here's my own personal schedule:
July - Days OB Receiving (cue the screaming lambs)
August - Labor and Delivery Days
September - OB I
October - Gyn A
November - Clinic
December - HO I
January - ER
February - Labor and Delivery Nights
March - Gyn A
April - ADU
May - Days OB Receiving
June - Clinic
So I thought that was bad. Then I looked down at my dear fellow intern who I'm closest to in our class and she starts out on Labor and Delivery!!! In the past they didn't let interns run the L&D unit until we'd been doctors for a full 6 months. They're throwing us into the fire this year though.
And because I got so scared once I saw this schedule I did something I thought I wouldn't do. I started studying last night. For intern year. Just the things I knew I would use - like the first line of treatment for UTIs in pregnancy, and exactly what tests to order when you suspect Gonorrhea or Chlamydia. And steps to ruling out preterm labor.
Overall I'm pretty thrilled with my schedule. The "easier" (ha ha) months are interspersed pretty well with the more challenging ones. Now I am just anxious to see the call schedule. And wondering if the hours will change for any of these blocks...
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