Am I Really A Doctor?

I feel like I'm still a medical student. Not in the "I'm dumb" way (which, I'm sure I am), but in the way that I haven't actually taken on any patient care responsibilities yet. I'm on this Ultrasound month, which is great and all, but I just swing into a room, do a scan, and swing out. I'm not thinking differentials or diagnosis, I'm not thinking medications or dosage, and I'm certainly not doing any history & physicals. That coupled with only working about 45 hrs / wk definitely makes me feel like I'm not yet into my residency experience and am just ... still a medical student. sigh.

I did, however, get to do a Trans-Vag U/S on a woman who, by dates, was 6 wks preggers. Did you know that a 6 week fetus has fingers, spine, cranium, brain, & heart already developed? Yea, she was a solid 15+ wks pregnant. My first question was, of course, "When was your last period?" She still stuck with the early June response. So be it.

First Day

Weirded out by my long-white-coated reflection in the mirrors that line the hospital elevators. And who cleans all the smudges and fingerprints off those things every day? They're always so fucking pristine!

The Ropes.

Orientation sucks. Ugh. Starting on Saturday of this past week (6/20) we began doing orientation / certification activities. ACLS, PALS, ATLS tomorrow. Rather a whirlwind. Today we had this silly orientation fair where each booth presented us with something we were supposed to learn, gave us a tri-fold handout and then stamped a "passport" to prove we had been there. We're not 6. It was obnoxious. And I walked out with like 45 tri-folds that each had 1 phone number on them. Stoooooooopid. OK, i'm over it.

Things otherwise are actually pretty nice. My class is rather cohesive although we've been spending so much time together as a group that I may have begun to get a little tired of it. I think that I'm just going to start focusing on spending more time solo.

I found a sweet coffee locale about 0.5mi from my house. Best thing about it is the beer selection (heh) and the tatooed hipsters that run it. I sit around reading all day and then, when I'm done, have a cheap import. The place rules. All-in-all, not bad. Plus, every middle-aged nurse I meet is either trying to get with me herself or trying to get me with her 21 y/o daughter. Ahhh the South.

Kisses bitches.

That's So LA...

So I have a feeling that LA is going to be like that guy who sort of disgusts and annoys you the first couple times you hang out with him but with time you discover he is multifaceted and charming (no E this is not a veiled insult towards you).

I live in Westwood so I can avoid driving as much as possible. It's next to a park that is usually filled with multilingual children and harmless bearded wanderers. It's amazing what passes as a "luxury" apartment in this neighborhood. Not that my place isn't nice; I really like it. But luxury is a stretch. It's half the size of my studio in Pittsburgh for twice the rent. Honestly, I like the idea of living in a small space. It forces one to be more ascetic. 

The upper part of Westwood is like a cooler version of the college town, with noodle bars and indie theaters and the requisite Urban Outfitters. Going south a bit on Westwood Boulevard, one enters the neighborhood known as Little Persia. There have been some demonstrations here mirroring the uprising in Tehran. There is a store selling Persian ice cream which I am interested in but haven't tried yet. 

Monday and Tuesday my co-interns are doing ACLS. Since I am already certified, I'm going to Magic Mountain and The Getty instead (not that I couldn't use the refresher...).

Hey everyone!

A Comfortable Routine

I'm now back in a pretty comfortable routine. I'm climbing a few times a week, jogging when it's not too hot, and doing reading to prepare for my ATLS, ACLS, & PALS courses. But, it's just the calm before the storm. Orientation starts on Saturday. We begin with all the certification courses. It's stupid, but I'm more nervous about looking like a dumb douche in front of my classmates, then I am in front of a patient or the nurses or even attendings. Dumbness.

Hope everyone else is settling in ok? Anyone out there?

Bad first impressions? Both ways.

Them of me: I was scheduled for my health screening the other day. I was all set to go but the night before it, I went to a poker game at my neighbor's house where I was exposed to some second-hand thc smoke. At the time, I wasn't too worried about it. That night, however, I couldn't sleep thinking about it, and tried to make sure that it wouldn't mess with my UDS. Well, turns out that while most tests have a high enough threshold to make it null, occassionally second-hand smoke can be picked up in a UDS if it was a copious and recent exposure. I decided to push my health assessment back a bit.

Me of them: Our vacation request forms came out. I get 2 weeks of vacation, 1 week CME, & 5 days around x-mas or nye. The rules around requesting our other 2 weeks is painful:

1. No vacation requests in October or June (other classes have CME trips)

2. No vacation requests in Feb (My class has a CME trip)

3. No vacation requests in December (everyone gets 5 days off around one or the other holiday)

4. No more than one week of vacation per month.

5. Vacation should only be taken during Peds, Cards, & Surg.

As you can see in my previous post, I have those 3 rotations consecutively in Dec, Jan, & Feb. No requests in Dec / Feb means I get 1 week of my vacation in Jan. And, all of my vacation for this year will be stacked in a 3 month window with 1 week tossed. :(

I e-mailed the chiefs. Perhaps they'll have a solution for me.

Schedule

Well, I got my block schedule:

July: Ultrasound

August: ER

Sept: Trauma

Oct: MICU

Nov: ER

Dec: Peds

Jan: Cards

Feb: Surg

Mar: ER

Apr: Med

May: OB

June: ER

Alrighty then.

Moved-in and Uncertain

Well, I'm totally moved in. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe buying a place down here was a good idea. Yea, it was a steep discount from what other people have paid for this same place, but I'm beginning to wonder if it was a deal on its own. Not to mention the added hassle of worrying about maintenance, upgrades/improvements, & re-sale is worth it. I mean, I'm excited about learning how to put up a ceramic tile back-splash behind the stove and learning about sealing grout is something that was good for me to know as well. And putting fans / lights in will definitely make me feel totally manly, but is it worth it? Not sure yet. I've seen some of the other places that people have bought and others that have been rented. I'm thinking that I may have enjoyed myself more just renting a place that had a pool, fitness center, tennis courts, etc and shelled out the extra cash for them (still only being 900-1k / month). I have a feeling that, once I'm settled in here, I'm going to find that this is going to be more expensive than originally planned. I guess I'm stuck though. For now anyhow. Seems silly to go with a re-sale in 2 months after moving in. Would likely make people suspicious of the property. Maybe in 1-year. Ugh, I don't want to move again though.

Aside from that, things here have actually been quite nice. The city is very diverse. It's beginning to get pretty hot / humid. I'm only really able to stomach running if I do it early in the morning. I've met 4-5 of my other interns and they're a ball. I think that I made a good choice with the program; now all I have to do is make sure to get my personal stuff in order and I think I'll quite enjoy my time here in the South...

Do miss Pittsburgh and mis amigos though; even if the wings did blow us out last night...

Pens are off to the Cup and I'm off to Charlotte.

Packing is a lonely endeavour.  It's like re-living every moment that you'd shoved in the back of the drawer because you weren't quite sure what to do with it at the time.

Picking up the truck in the AM and then doing the actual move on Thursday.  I'm sure I'll forget people when I do my good-byes and I'm not really sure how to get around that.

First post...

Just a test.  Packing and organizing my life sucks.