and flowers!
Love the Wieners!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Back to the Big City!
Last month I spent working in small town Arizona - near double-sized reflection of my small little hometown. Let me say that little place kept me busy and on my toes for those 4 weeks. I have learned and seen sooooooooooo much in my one month there - it has been amazing. I spent the month working with a group of 3 family physicians in their private practice. They deliver babies, do c-sections, and see their own patients in the hospital. Most days I would see any moms and babies in the hospital and then round on the sick patients in the hospital. After which the physician from the practice on call would come and review the patients with me. Then we would head off to clinic for the day - heading back to the hospital as needed to check on laboring patients or patients on the hospital floor. It was busy to say the least.
Since I wanted to gain as much experience as possible, I spent every night on call - mainly for the OB patients. Waiting for them to deliver. Let me tell you - those first few weeks, my sleep pattern was all awry. Even though OB was the most exciting part of the rotation, the best part though of the entire month was the continuity. I would see moms in clinic for routine OB checks, then in the hospital for delivery, and then a week later in clinic for their post-partum check along with the new little addition to their family.
It was the same for some of the patients that ended up in the hospital - I saw them in clinic, in the hospital for multiple days and then again for a hosptial follow up. That was a large part of why I went into family medicine - to see and care for patients over time.
The month was a breathe of fresh air - reminding me of the way family medicine can be practiced. To see family docs "doing it all."
I'm glad to be back in Tucson (and have been for 3 weeks - I'm a little delayed in my posting) - to be back with the people I care about, but I will miss my small town Arizona and their clothing optional hot springs. haha
Below pictures from a hike nearby where I worked!
Since I wanted to gain as much experience as possible, I spent every night on call - mainly for the OB patients. Waiting for them to deliver. Let me tell you - those first few weeks, my sleep pattern was all awry. Even though OB was the most exciting part of the rotation, the best part though of the entire month was the continuity. I would see moms in clinic for routine OB checks, then in the hospital for delivery, and then a week later in clinic for their post-partum check along with the new little addition to their family.
It was the same for some of the patients that ended up in the hospital - I saw them in clinic, in the hospital for multiple days and then again for a hosptial follow up. That was a large part of why I went into family medicine - to see and care for patients over time.
The month was a breathe of fresh air - reminding me of the way family medicine can be practiced. To see family docs "doing it all."
I'm glad to be back in Tucson (and have been for 3 weeks - I'm a little delayed in my posting) - to be back with the people I care about, but I will miss my small town Arizona and their clothing optional hot springs. haha
Below pictures from a hike nearby where I worked!
They liked me! My goodbye cake! :)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Revival of my blog
Sooooo for the majority of intern year my blog has been neglected. No real big surprise there. Well - I'm tired of that and so many other things. For most of the year I have just been go go go go. No time to look up, no time to take in a moment to breathe or even reflect on what has happened the past year. Seriously - I feel like I put my head down and just go through the motions. Knowing it's supposed to be tough, knowing I'm supposed to be pushed, to work harder than I've ever worked in my entire life.
Don't get me wrong there are some good times, patients I enjoy, etc. But it's the same - keep moving. Have fun when you are off, because they're won't be time for it later.
Well - I'm back. I've decided I deserve 5 minutes of me time everyday and my blog deserves a little TLC.
So here you go - post 1 of the revival of my blog.
While I was away on my rural rotations, Sarah came to visit and I took her to a local hot spot. That's where the attendings told me I had to take her. "It's one of the reasons people come here to visit." Ok I said.
The locale? Natural hot springs. The choice? A nicer place with tiled bottomed floors and chlorinated water or ... a hippie place where it's a more natural feel with free flowing water, private clothing optional rooms. Where did we go? The choice was easy!
Don't get me wrong there are some good times, patients I enjoy, etc. But it's the same - keep moving. Have fun when you are off, because they're won't be time for it later.
Well - I'm back. I've decided I deserve 5 minutes of me time everyday and my blog deserves a little TLC.
So here you go - post 1 of the revival of my blog.
While I was away on my rural rotations, Sarah came to visit and I took her to a local hot spot. That's where the attendings told me I had to take her. "It's one of the reasons people come here to visit." Ok I said.
The locale? Natural hot springs. The choice? A nicer place with tiled bottomed floors and chlorinated water or ... a hippie place where it's a more natural feel with free flowing water, private clothing optional rooms. Where did we go? The choice was easy!
Hippie Place - HERE WE COME!
Interested little gift shop - kind of reminds you of grandma's house.
Our little Asian themed hot spring room. That black painted PVC pipe would be the handrail to the steps inside the pool.
Sarah enjoying the hot spring. Ok - maybe more like a sauna. It was not the best planned out trip as it was 90 something degrees that day!
Now for the full effect - this is what the little rooms look like from the outside. Oh so nice!
More...um...yeah - you get the picture.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Small Town America
WoW! It's been over a month since I've blogged. And well, I've been working. 6 days a week, 12 hour days - doesn't leave much time for blogging. I got 8 days off in 2 months. Thankfully that stretch is over.
Now I've moved on to small town america. How would one describe Willows, CA?
population ~5,000-6,000 people
1-2 main streets (4 stop lights)
Wal Mart, Starbucks, and fast food
anything else?
Where I am at for the next 4 weeks - Safford, AZ
population ~9,000 people
2 main streets (>4 stop lights)
Super Wal Mart, Starbucks - inside a Safeway, and fast food
hospital and medical center where family docs do it all!
I am at the start of my rural family medicine month is Safford, Arizona, a near equivalent to Willows, just a little bigger. The cool thing here is that family docs do everything. Today was my first day and it included: inducing labor, rounding on patients in the hospital, going to clinic, seeing a patient in the Emergency department, admitting 2 patients to the hospital, and now waiting for the deliver to happen.
Crazy?!!!!
I'm hoping this busy trend keeps up and I'm able to do and see a lot.
The house I'm staying at doesn't have internet, so I may not be able to upload photos until after I get back to Tucson.
Now I've moved on to small town america. How would one describe Willows, CA?
population ~5,000-6,000 people
1-2 main streets (4 stop lights)
Wal Mart, Starbucks, and fast food
anything else?
Where I am at for the next 4 weeks - Safford, AZ
population ~9,000 people
2 main streets (>4 stop lights)
Super Wal Mart, Starbucks - inside a Safeway, and fast food
hospital and medical center where family docs do it all!
I am at the start of my rural family medicine month is Safford, Arizona, a near equivalent to Willows, just a little bigger. The cool thing here is that family docs do everything. Today was my first day and it included: inducing labor, rounding on patients in the hospital, going to clinic, seeing a patient in the Emergency department, admitting 2 patients to the hospital, and now waiting for the deliver to happen.
Crazy?!!!!
I'm hoping this busy trend keeps up and I'm able to do and see a lot.
The house I'm staying at doesn't have internet, so I may not be able to upload photos until after I get back to Tucson.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Racing Wieners?!
The Wienerschnitzel Nationals are coming to Tucson - March 3rd. Not sure if I can make it, but I'm sure Buster would be able to win.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Back to work
I've been back for two weeks now from vacation. That first week back seems so very tough. By the end of last week, I was zonked- I felt so completely drained. Saturday night I went to bed at 9pm and slept in until 7:30am. Heck, I was happy that was 10 hrs of sleep.
Right now I'm on inpatient medicine - which means that I work in my base hospital and take care of adults who are in the hospital for various problems - ranging from shock to heart attacks, from pneumonia to osteomyelitis (bone infections), from diverticulitis to altered mental status, from deep venous thromboembolism to urinary tract infections and everything in between. It is interesting to say the least. It is one of our harder rotations, but also one that I learn A LOT nearly everyday.
I was going to take the time in this post to share with a quick view of what an average day is like, because if you've ever been a patient or a visitor of a patient in a hospital - you are probably wondering where is the doctor?
I wake up between 4:45-5:00 am, let the dogs outside before Penny decides to pee in the house. Feed the dogs bfast. Shower (or not if I did the night before), throw on some scrubs, grab a quick bfast then head out the door by 5:30-5:40. Sign out (which is where the night doctor tells us if any significant events happened overnight with our patients. Then 6:15-6:30ish we look at any new labs online, vital signs, etc and go see the patients. We meet at around 8:00-8:30 and round with the attending. (This schedule is what happens in a teaching hospital where there are residents - in other settings some of these steps are removed and many physicians still run clinics during the days while they check in on their patients either in the mornings or evenings). Rounding consists of us presenting the patient's to our boss. Going over the new problems, what we are doing to fix the problem, physical exam, etc. This is where a lot of our teaching happens. After rounds, the we go back to put orders - such as changes in medication, diet, new tests needed, etc.
In the afternoon we work on getting discharge paperwork finished. There is A LOT of paper work that has to be filled out to get patient's discharged from the hospital. In addition, we often have to act like detectives trying to track down old medical records or call pharmacy's to find out the dose of patient's medication, because.... well - they often don't know what their medications are or if they know the meds, they don't know the doses, etc. We also call consults if we need a specialist opinion, follow up tests, and admit new patients that come in from the emergency department or the clinic. Which surprisingly can keep us busy all afternoon. In addition - nurses are calling asking questions. Each time the phone rings - I think to myself silently, please let me able to answer this question. My knowledge is growing, but I still have a LOOOONNNNGGGG way to go.
This keeps us busy all afternoon until evening signout at 5pm, where we tell the night team what to watch out for, who to follow up with, etc. That takes us until 5:30-6pm and thus there is your 12 hour day x 6 days a week. Whew - let me tell you it wears on you and man am I tired by the end of the week.
Tomorrow I promise a fun blog post that will be sure to make you smile :)
I wake up between 4:45-5:00 am, let the dogs outside before Penny decides to pee in the house. Feed the dogs bfast. Shower (or not if I did the night before), throw on some scrubs, grab a quick bfast then head out the door by 5:30-5:40. Sign out (which is where the night doctor tells us if any significant events happened overnight with our patients. Then 6:15-6:30ish we look at any new labs online, vital signs, etc and go see the patients. We meet at around 8:00-8:30 and round with the attending. (This schedule is what happens in a teaching hospital where there are residents - in other settings some of these steps are removed and many physicians still run clinics during the days while they check in on their patients either in the mornings or evenings). Rounding consists of us presenting the patient's to our boss. Going over the new problems, what we are doing to fix the problem, physical exam, etc. This is where a lot of our teaching happens. After rounds, the we go back to put orders - such as changes in medication, diet, new tests needed, etc.
In the afternoon we work on getting discharge paperwork finished. There is A LOT of paper work that has to be filled out to get patient's discharged from the hospital. In addition, we often have to act like detectives trying to track down old medical records or call pharmacy's to find out the dose of patient's medication, because.... well - they often don't know what their medications are or if they know the meds, they don't know the doses, etc. We also call consults if we need a specialist opinion, follow up tests, and admit new patients that come in from the emergency department or the clinic. Which surprisingly can keep us busy all afternoon. In addition - nurses are calling asking questions. Each time the phone rings - I think to myself silently, please let me able to answer this question. My knowledge is growing, but I still have a LOOOONNNNGGGG way to go.
This keeps us busy all afternoon until evening signout at 5pm, where we tell the night team what to watch out for, who to follow up with, etc. That takes us until 5:30-6pm and thus there is your 12 hour day x 6 days a week. Whew - let me tell you it wears on you and man am I tired by the end of the week.
Tomorrow I promise a fun blog post that will be sure to make you smile :)
Friday, February 4, 2011
Vacation Recap
My vacation is slowly coming to an end. Ok, not slowly - but rather quickly. That's how it always seems while on vacation.
After my medical lesson for this vacation - I got to slip away for a little while.
Lake Tahoe was the destination. Cold crisp air and beautiful views!
This was Sief's first visit to Tahoe as well as his first time hitting the slopes. As the smart girlfriend, I stuck him in ski school for the day. He received professional level instruction as well as patience. :)
After my medical lesson for this vacation - I got to slip away for a little while.
Lake Tahoe was the destination. Cold crisp air and beautiful views!
This was Sief's first visit to Tahoe as well as his first time hitting the slopes. As the smart girlfriend, I stuck him in ski school for the day. He received professional level instruction as well as patience. :)
Sief getting his rental boots fitted. Cousin Nate behind him.
Ready to hit the slopes!
Love the view from the top of the hill. Beautiful Lake Tahoe. A site that never gets old. Not much snow though.
Ski school. Can you tell which one is Sief?
They no longer have the rope tows I was used to as a kid in ski school. Instead now, they have moving rubber mats that they can stand on.
The next day we decided not to go skiing again. The hills were icy the day before and we felt it was better not to push Sief's new skills too far too fast. Falling on ice is not fun. Instead we went on a mini hike down the street from my aunt and uncle's house to Zephyr Cove.
The drive home. It snowed the night before we were supposed to leave. Ugh...we missed a great day of skiing. I tell myself that it was snowing and windy on the mountain and that I would have been freezing.
Got in a lot of reading time on the drive back, as well as on the drive to and from San Francisco. There's nothing like a good book - the kind where you get lost for hours on end. Eagerly reading, not wanting to wait to find out what happens next.
Next stop on the vacation trail was San Francisco. A quick overnight trip, mainly for the opportunity to eat good dim sum.
Penny got to go with us. Lucky girl. There wasn't any way she was going to miss out on an opportunity to be pampered in the big city! Pictured above, is Penny at the little doggie station in the lobby of our hotel. There was water, little doggie treats, and milk bones. Penny doesn't like milk bones. She was polite at only took a treat if I gave it to her.
Penny was not a huge fan of the city. Too many loud noises. On our first walk, every 3-5 seconds she would turn around to make sure I was still there. And a man with a shark puppet on his hand asked if he could eat her! No wonder she was scared.
Dad and Mom at union square - snack time! The closest patch of grass for Penny to do her business.
Now we can't miss wine hour in the hotel. This was before a most delicious dinner with my Uncle Russ and Aunt Sharon at a French-Japanese fusion restaurant in Japan town.
Penny got a fancy dinner too! Dinner in bed :)
And...vacation not's over until I meet the newest member of the family. Little Ruby Jo.
Edwina got a new puppy. Ruby with her red dress on!
Isn't she adorable?!
Penny trying to play with her new found friend. poke, poke - let's play Ruby.
There were more babies to meet!
Baby Trent's cutesy little feet. Trent is Sara McGrew (formerly known as Sara Hall's) little one.
Trent 4 weeks and Carter Couto at 7 months. So cute with their matching outfits.
Sooooo cute.
Do you think Penny was jealous?
I fly out tomorrow and am back to work on Monday. Unless of course you count packing, driving (well riding) to Sacramento, and navigating the airport with 2 dogs in dog carriers, sitting in the plane listening to Buster cry the entire way back to Tucson (hopefully not) as still part of my vacation.
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