rounding, rounding, and more rounding

I feel bad for not blogging more in the past week or so. I've honestly sat down and opened up a new post and then just stared at the blank screen with the blinking cursor waiting for me to start typing, but nothing exciting, new, or interesting comes to mind. I feel my life is boring. I've found myself in a routine, even though it will only last a month. It also doesn't help that I'm exhausted. I was on call this past weekend, which meant I worked a 1/2 day on Saturday and a full day on Sunday. My days have all mushed together since I've basically been working for 9 days in a row (minus my half day off on Sat)

Here's the usual routine:
5am - wake up
5:30 - start the drive to work, eat a snack in the car (PB&J, yogurt, dry cereal in a cup that I shake into my mouth)
6am ish - park and wait for the shuttle, because it is too darn cold and dark to walk the 2 blocks to the hospital
6:10 - start pre-rounding (go see my patients, exam, and write progress notes)
8 am - morning lecture, 2nd breakfast
9:30 - rounds with the attending
noon - lunch lecture
1-5 - discharge patients or admit new patients from the ED
5-5:30 - leave and go home
6 pm - arrive home - shower, eat dinner, study, relax a little, and sleep
REPEAT

That's medicine for you. I actually enjoy it most of the time, because they keep me busy. There is always something to do, which helps. But it is exhausting. I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm an intern and actually work more.
I feel like most of my day is spent walking around the hospital around and around - briefly visiting patients rooms or filling out paperwork. So now maybe you see why there isn't too much for me to write about. It's snowed here - my dad asked why I haven't taken any pictures - it's hard to take pictures when you get up before the sun and get home after it's already set.

So it's time for me to go. A little studying, then bed, and repeat. I'm looking forward to the weekend - I just want to sleep in until 8 am.

The Coat

I'm sad that my coat doesn't weigh quite what I predicted. My guess was at least 8lbs easy. You have to realize that at the end of an 11-12 hour day in the hospital my coat starts to become heavy and I can feel it in my neck and shoulders.
In reality my coat weighs nearly 5lbs. You see I'm still a student which means I really do not know nearly as much as I should. I need to have some resources on hand in my pockets for physical exam, note taking, reference materials, and something to read so I can learn and don't look like a lazy bum when there is nothing to do.
I realize that this post is a little random and partly out o
So....here we go.



Chest pocket:

• a good black pen
• 1 yellow highlighter
• a pen for looks because of the pink breast cancer ribbon that hangs over the edge
• beeper (aka electronic leash)
• 1 Maxwell's (which is a quick reference book for lab values, history taking, physical exam reminder, how to write notes, etc)
• a eye chart thingy
• little blue notebook

Left outside pocket:

• a stethoscope when it's not around my neck
• travel diagnostic kit (includes otoscope & opthalmoscope)
• a mini purell hand sanitizer
• reflex hammer
  

Right outside pocket:

• another pen
• pen light
• Ob/gyn wheel to figure out due dates and gestational age
• EKG yellow card - tells me how to read an EKG
• Pocket Medicine (a great great reference book with tons of info)
• car keys

Inside Left pocket:

• Pharmacopia (info about drugs - dosage, etc)
• Antibiotic reference book
• pack of gum

Right Inside pocket: - my personal pocket

• mini wallet w/ my drivers liscence and a few dollars
• granola bar
• cell phone
• piece of candy

TV Medicine

2nd day of inpatient internal medicine (adult medicine) down. Day 1 was ok, went by relatively quickly. I was lost most of the time and was almost assigned to a patient who was an ex-prisoner and had voluminous amounts of diarrhea. Instead today, I have been assigned to a patient in contact isolation due to possible infection with methicillin resistant staphlycoccus aureus (MRSA) and another patient under Tuberculosis (TB) precautions. What fun!

I also - feel like I'm acting in a TV medical show or playing the part of a med student in a movie. The team I am on consists of an attending (the boss lady), 2 senior residents, 3 interns (1st year residents) and 2 students (myself included). My day goes: 6am arrive at hospital, pre-round on the patients - which consists of visiting your patients, checking for any lab work or studies done since yesterday, examining the patient, and writing a note. 8am morning lecture. 9am rounds - go around to the entire team's patient's (not just my own) with the attending and visit all the patient's again. 12pm - lunch. 1-5 continue rounding if necessary, get pimped, etc. We walk about as a posse of 8. Most of the time 7 of us quickly walking to try and catch up to the attending or a handful of us searching for the patient's chart who we are about to see.

It's not quite as bad as it seems, but I do feel like I've been placed on set. Scrubs, House, etc. My attending is really nice - even though she pimped us today. My senior residents are even better, they occasionally whispered or mouthed an answer to me. I was assigned homework tonight, but that's ok.
That's my day for the next month - shuffling about the hospital.
I'll also be learning a lot. These patients have multiple problems going on all at once and have med lists that are the length of my arm! There's still a part of me that is excited to be on my medicine rotation. I'm hoping that all of the stuff I learned last year will finally start to stick.

Next time on "It's all craziness" - the weight of my white coat and all the things that hide in my pockets!

:( no snow :(

I'm breaking a promise, because the weatherman was wrong. It did not snow as much as was predicted, so I have no pretty pictures to post for you. The snow has covered the ground, but the dirt and grass still peak through - the clean pure beauty is not there.

In the meantime, I have been working on trying to figure out my 4th year schedule. The golden year of medical school. The year I have been waiting for, since my acceptance to medical school. The reason why this year is so wonderful is due to the fact that are very few tests, 4 months worth of electives, and 2 months of vacation! And the best part is that I might be able to do away rotations in California!

I had more to write and somehow it has slipped my mind. So I'm going to run and will write more when it returns to my mind. ta ta for now!

MIA

I'm back. Not that I really went anywhere. I spend the last week sitting in a lecture hall for nearly 9 hours a day in what must have been close to pure boredom. This coming Monday I will be starting my rotation in Internal Medicine. But for now - I get to relax, try to stay warm, figure out what I am doing 4th yr, clean, do laundry, and...enjoy the snow!!!!!!! Last night it snowed and there is supposed to be more coming later today/tonight. I can't wait! Snow makes everything appear clean and prisitine, truly a little winter wonderland. Pictures to be posted later, after I have changed out of my P.J.'s and make it outside of my warm room.

A reader

Have you ever noticed how people seem to either be readers or not. It's one of those dichotomies where not too many people fall in the middle. You either seem to love reading and see books out to read just for fun or ... you're not a reader and you've maybe read a handful of books because of school, but you're not making a trip to the bookstore anytime soon.

Personally, I'm a reader. I love books. I love the smell of old paper. The smell that seems to permeate the air in quiet corners of a library or a book that has yellowing of the pages on the edges due to time spent on a shelf. This personal characteristic or quality was instilled in me as a child. I grew up reading every night before bed. That was part of my parents routine and easily became a part of mine. Also, my parents would always buy me books. The rule was that as long as I read them, my parents would never refuse to buy me books. Sadly, I no longer have as much time to read for fun. I try my best during breaks and time off to squeeze in a novel or two. I'm looking forward to eventually being able to reinstate the habit of reading every night.

Traveling to far away lands, back in time, or to made up worlds - all due to my imagination and the words on a page. Books are probably the one reason I don't mind flying alone. Saturday I returned to Hershey and per my usual routine. I read and slept on the plane and would wake to read some more and then sleep some more. At the airports I wander a bit and then read. Reading is my portal to another time and place - rather than sitting in an airport ... just waiting.
Sat I read an amazing book, "Water for Elephants." It was the perfect book for my long 15.5 hr trek back to Hershey. This was the type of book where I kept turning the pages, excited to find out what came next. It was one of those books where you reach a certain point and you know you have to finish it before you fall asleep that night. I love that!
All you readers out there know what I'm talking about. And for those non-readers, maybe you just haven't found the right book.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable New Year!
It's that time of year when we are supposed to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the future year and what it may hold.
In the past year, I've learned a lot - about both medicine and life. I guess it's part of growing up. And even though I tend to look ahead and try to make plans for my future - there is really no way to know what the future holds.
So here's to another year that I'm sure will be full of surprises and to me trying to enjoy just being where I'm at (even if it is at the bottom of the medical world hierarchy).

And of course you can't bring up the subject of the New Year without mentioning New Year's Resolutions!
Here are a few of mine - a little silly perhaps, but at least a place to start.

1. Not to use a plastic or paper bag at the grocery store all year.


2. Floss at least 3 times a week. I know, I know I could be more ambitious and go for everyday, but hey I'm trying to be realistic here and 3x's per week is a lot better than I'm doing now!



3. Eat less sweets and more vegetables.