That first day of Emergency Medicine as I may have hinted at in my prior blog was a bit rough. My Spanish was rusty....very rusty. Writing notes, I had to resort to literal translation from English at times because I couldn't remember the Spanish terminology and frases commonly used. By my second shift, my team members were getting more comfortable around me, and I around them, and my Spanish finally had returned so it went much more smoothly. The only problem remaining is a case of Senoritis that has set in. I'm just not terribly excited to go to the hospital these days. It's better than returning to HAL so I do want to be there, but I'm no longer learning anything new at this level of education nor do I have an invested interest in pursuing Emergency medicine so I'm just kind of there methodically doing my job. I am thankful for the members of Team "C" though. They like to laugh so I'm enjoying getting to know them.
When I showed up to start for my 2nd shift I was about 2 minutes early so I was sitting and waiting. One of the interns getting ready to go home turned to me and asked, "You're the new pre-intern right?" She had asked the question rhetorically; she already knew I was, but I answered yes anyways just to end the awkward pausing following the question. What I really wanted to ask was how did she know? Her shift was two removed from mine. But I didn't ask. Word just travels somehow. I'm realizing now after being in the States that this particular effect would be nice to have in the States. I just show up and be there, don't have to say anything, don't have to do anything spectacular, and yet still somehow everyone knows who I am. Unfortunately I know that it won't follow me to the States, bummer. I'll actually have to talk to get recognized for a residency.
Hasta!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Yo estoy cansada.
Back in GDL. I was pleasantly surprisd to find I was happy to see Mexico again. Eight weeks has been the longest I've been away from my home here. I got into the taxi at the airport and had amoment's panic realizing I was blanking on street names. Had to make the taxi driver pause and wait while I remembered them. That's when I realized just how long I had been away.
Got to the house no problem. Yay I'm home....wait a sec....my bedroom door is locked. Tried it again...yup still locked. You've got to be kidding me! I've never locked my door plus when I'm gone I make sure to leave it open in case my roommates need to get in. Tried it again...still locked. No accesible hinges on the door. No screws on the door knob. A roommate and I went at the doorknob with a couple of knives. A few others flat out tried to kick the door in. A locksmith was called who of course never showed up and when we called back we got a machine. So now frustrated and flat out mad at the situation I went through the window. Finally apurpose for a window that goes no where. I exited the hallway through a window and was able to reach my toe out to the window that goes to my room. I'm thankful I'm not scared of hights. Plus I also knew that falling from that hight was easily survivable. But all that aside, it didn't really matter if my room was 2nd or 5th story; I was going to get into that room one way or another! In the end the door was opened a small hole was ripped in my jeans, now sewn shut. Talk about a Welcome Home!
No rest yet. First stop this morning was HAL for my assignment. When the lady handed me my paperwork she asked me if I knew where I was going. I was able to answer Yes only because two seconds prior she had mentioned what hospital I was assigned to. Yes, I do now!! When I got there they didn't really know what to do with me. No surprise there. And I had to affirm on multiple occasion that Yes, I was there by myself. In the end it kind of went like this..."Well, you're here now. Why don't you just stay" So I guess I'm part of the "C" team now.
Hasta!
Got to the house no problem. Yay I'm home....wait a sec....my bedroom door is locked. Tried it again...yup still locked. You've got to be kidding me! I've never locked my door plus when I'm gone I make sure to leave it open in case my roommates need to get in. Tried it again...still locked. No accesible hinges on the door. No screws on the door knob. A roommate and I went at the doorknob with a couple of knives. A few others flat out tried to kick the door in. A locksmith was called who of course never showed up and when we called back we got a machine. So now frustrated and flat out mad at the situation I went through the window. Finally apurpose for a window that goes no where. I exited the hallway through a window and was able to reach my toe out to the window that goes to my room. I'm thankful I'm not scared of hights. Plus I also knew that falling from that hight was easily survivable. But all that aside, it didn't really matter if my room was 2nd or 5th story; I was going to get into that room one way or another! In the end the door was opened a small hole was ripped in my jeans, now sewn shut. Talk about a Welcome Home!
No rest yet. First stop this morning was HAL for my assignment. When the lady handed me my paperwork she asked me if I knew where I was going. I was able to answer Yes only because two seconds prior she had mentioned what hospital I was assigned to. Yes, I do now!! When I got there they didn't really know what to do with me. No surprise there. And I had to affirm on multiple occasion that Yes, I was there by myself. In the end it kind of went like this..."Well, you're here now. Why don't you just stay" So I guess I'm part of the "C" team now.
Hasta!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Yo estoy en conflicto.
Finished my rotation. I'm really rather exhausted. I leave Northwestern content with what progress I was able to achieve, and with a lot to ponder over for the next couple of months in preparation for New York.
I started this post on Friday...got about three sentences into it...and now have returned to finish.
It's just really busy these days. In general my schedule these past 4 weeks at NMH was an 80 hour work week. It's not bad. It just leaves little time for much else as you have to make sure you go to bed almost as soon as you get home so your time is productive the next day too. Or at least I did. Another option that most others choose is the coffee diet.
So I'm in Gridley for the moment...for about 24 hours more and then it's back to Mexico.
Hasta!
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Yo estoy una flor.
This week has really shown me what lays ahead of me. After a record crazy Wednesday it did not calm down again. A benefit I'm seeing through all of the extra work is that I'm learning and becoming much much more pro-active, instead of waiting and reacting to the work around me. In addition, due to the heavy workload both in the OR and on the floor all of us students were given a small level of autonomy. I had to trust my own opinion, knowing that at times my superiors had to trust in my opinion. There just wasn't enough time elsewise.
Having done a rotation in cardiac surgery I fear I've become a bit of a snob in the OR. I'm not verbal about it, but I definitely have opinions about it. When I say snob, I mean that I hold surgeons to a high standard and have a hard time respecting those that fall subpar to that standard. For example: I have been so unimpressed by the ability of this past week's attending in the OR that I struggle with respecting him.
At Northwestern Memorial the hierarchy within medicine has been more pronounced than any other place I've been, and definitely moreso than in Mexico. Every medical provider is labeled by a patch on their sleeve. I run around with a patchless coat, and feel like a faceless dot in a sea of people. I left my UAG coat at home on purpose, feeling like there was no need to advertise where I was coming from. I almost wish I had that coat with me. Even if that face was ugly, I at least wouldn't be faceless anymore.
Hasta!
Having done a rotation in cardiac surgery I fear I've become a bit of a snob in the OR. I'm not verbal about it, but I definitely have opinions about it. When I say snob, I mean that I hold surgeons to a high standard and have a hard time respecting those that fall subpar to that standard. For example: I have been so unimpressed by the ability of this past week's attending in the OR that I struggle with respecting him.
At Northwestern Memorial the hierarchy within medicine has been more pronounced than any other place I've been, and definitely moreso than in Mexico. Every medical provider is labeled by a patch on their sleeve. I run around with a patchless coat, and feel like a faceless dot in a sea of people. I left my UAG coat at home on purpose, feeling like there was no need to advertise where I was coming from. I almost wish I had that coat with me. Even if that face was ugly, I at least wouldn't be faceless anymore.
Hasta!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Yo estoy enferma de la garganta.
Woke up this morning with a sore throat. Makes sense with all the sick people at the hospital. Both of the third years I work with are sick. But at the same time doesn't make sense considering I'm constanting smearing antiseptic gel all over my hands. Sometimes I take a trip to the bathroom, not because I have to go (I've become horribly dehydrated the past 1 1/2 weeks) but just to wash my hands with some good old fashioned soap.
We have a different attending physician in charge of our service every week. Last week the attending was great. Compassionate even fun. One day rolling the patient into the OR he was at the head of the bed, pushed himself up with his hands and rode the bed for a bit (kind of like on a shopping cart) with this huge grin on his face. Best part about Dr. Issa is that he reminds me of Ringo Starr. The way he looks, the way he talks, even his big grin. It still makes me smile when I cross Ringo in the halls.
On this service i've come to a new appreciation for our body's ability to pass gass. One morning we asked the routine question of "Have you passed gass?" The patient looked up her face all lit up to respond that she had finally. We had to contain ourselves from breaking out dancing and I'm sure more than one whoop and cheer was made. What a relief! She farted!! :)
Today was crazy. Over night our patient list kind of exploded. Seriously! It was messy and it was all over the hospital. I ran more stairs today than I have yet on the service. Our chief resident was in surgery all day with the attending and one intern is on vacation, so one intern and three students spent the day running all over the hospital trying to juggle a seemingly impossible list. Sometimes the other residents/students would express their gratitude that they are on their service and not ours. Only once did someone ask if we were handling it okay and offer to help. Ravi is our intern, correction Super-Intern!!! He kept it together. As the afternoon started getting later and later, I started getting more and more antsy to get out of there as if I sensed this impending doom our juggling was finally about to come crashing down.
Hasta!
We have a different attending physician in charge of our service every week. Last week the attending was great. Compassionate even fun. One day rolling the patient into the OR he was at the head of the bed, pushed himself up with his hands and rode the bed for a bit (kind of like on a shopping cart) with this huge grin on his face. Best part about Dr. Issa is that he reminds me of Ringo Starr. The way he looks, the way he talks, even his big grin. It still makes me smile when I cross Ringo in the halls.
On this service i've come to a new appreciation for our body's ability to pass gass. One morning we asked the routine question of "Have you passed gass?" The patient looked up her face all lit up to respond that she had finally. We had to contain ourselves from breaking out dancing and I'm sure more than one whoop and cheer was made. What a relief! She farted!! :)
Today was crazy. Over night our patient list kind of exploded. Seriously! It was messy and it was all over the hospital. I ran more stairs today than I have yet on the service. Our chief resident was in surgery all day with the attending and one intern is on vacation, so one intern and three students spent the day running all over the hospital trying to juggle a seemingly impossible list. Sometimes the other residents/students would express their gratitude that they are on their service and not ours. Only once did someone ask if we were handling it okay and offer to help. Ravi is our intern, correction Super-Intern!!! He kept it together. As the afternoon started getting later and later, I started getting more and more antsy to get out of there as if I sensed this impending doom our juggling was finally about to come crashing down.
Hasta!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Yo estoy ajustandome.
Started my new rotation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. I am on the Trauma and Emergency Surgery Service. I knew it would be a big change from the last rotation. I knew I'd feel overwhelmed at first, that it would take me a while to adjust. I was expecting that I'd finally be on a rotation where there would be other American students and I'd finally be able to have a standard to measure myself against. I expected it all, and it's all true.
It's definitely a big change. Trauma and emergency surgery makes Pediatric Cardiac surgery look like a British tea party, all nice prim and proper.
I was definitely overwhelmed. I wasn't issued an ID until 1 1/2 days into the rotation, so couldn't go anywhere in the hospital by myself. And wasn't granted computer access until 2 1/2 days into the rotation. So for about 3 days I was nothing but dead weight on the team. I hated it. I knew that it wasn't my fault, but I hated that I couldn't pull my own weight.
It is very humbling to go through this process of adjusting to a new rotation alongside students that have been doing this for months already and can dive in from the get-go.
I am so incredibly thankful that everyone on the team is incredibly nice. They don't judge me for asking those mundane questions. Things like "what does_____ mean?" Seriously, sometimes I read a line of a patients note and am completely lost as to what it means. ( Ex: A&O x 3) (And I thought Spanish was a foreign language.) Apparently those are simple frases that every student learns way back in their 3rd year, and here I am almost done with med school, and..... Well, no matter, that's why I'm here, to learn medicine in the US. Of course when someone tells me what all of these frases mean I know them, I just don't recognize them in their abbreviated form.
First week is past. I survived.
Hasta!
It's definitely a big change. Trauma and emergency surgery makes Pediatric Cardiac surgery look like a British tea party, all nice prim and proper.
I was definitely overwhelmed. I wasn't issued an ID until 1 1/2 days into the rotation, so couldn't go anywhere in the hospital by myself. And wasn't granted computer access until 2 1/2 days into the rotation. So for about 3 days I was nothing but dead weight on the team. I hated it. I knew that it wasn't my fault, but I hated that I couldn't pull my own weight.
It is very humbling to go through this process of adjusting to a new rotation alongside students that have been doing this for months already and can dive in from the get-go.
I am so incredibly thankful that everyone on the team is incredibly nice. They don't judge me for asking those mundane questions. Things like "what does_____ mean?" Seriously, sometimes I read a line of a patients note and am completely lost as to what it means. ( Ex: A&O x 3) (And I thought Spanish was a foreign language.) Apparently those are simple frases that every student learns way back in their 3rd year, and here I am almost done with med school, and..... Well, no matter, that's why I'm here, to learn medicine in the US. Of course when someone tells me what all of these frases mean I know them, I just don't recognize them in their abbreviated form.
First week is past. I survived.
Hasta!
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