Friday, April 29, 2011

1/3 Way through...

Back from the dead. Sort of. That's if I don't count the sleep deprivation. Today is the last day of my first month in surgery. I'm on call tonight. And the following Monday I am starting under a different attending. 2 more months to go! :)
I have been learning a lot just rounding everyday on my own and with my residents/attendings. One thing I have realized is I like being at the bedside. In my first 2wk I was in the OR assisting surgeries. Most of those patients were outpatients with a post-op stay of 5hr max, so I never got to talk to them and know them. The only chance I had to talk to those patients were during the pre-op hour when they were getting prepped for surgery. However, when I started working with the trauma team I had a lot more exposure to inpatient care. Most trauma patients had to be in the hospital for days, some even weeks. Common injuries included falls (w head injuries), MVA, gunshots etc. I really enjoyed working with trauma. We got to follow up with patients everyday, learn their medical hx and follow their progress. I'm certainly getting better at writing those SOAP notes (so many everyday...) I feel.
Saginaw is quiet. Despite the unexpected snow/hail earlier this month, the weather has turned around. We are supposed to get sunshine all week coming up. I'm excited even though I'll probably not see much of the sunshine...
Missing home a little bit. And missing my friends. Hope everyone is doing well :)

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Surgery

Finally I get to take a breather mentally and physically. Time to look back and try to remember what on earth happened in the past week! Surgery rotation has been tough. You can say it's intense, scary, exhausting, whatever terrifying adjectives you can think of - they all apply here. Having it as the first rotation ever also makes it just a little bit harder.

However, I am still alive.

Sleep is overrated. At least I have to keep telling myself that. Being on the hospital floors 12hr a day on average gets crazy after a while. You are always on the go. When your pager goes off, you'd better get your butt to where you are needed stat. The surgeries are fun but can be 'labour intensive'. When I scrubbed in for 4 surgeries in a row on day 1 and 3 in a row today, my legs nearly gave! Need iron legs if your goal is to become a surgeon. So far I have gotten to assist in surgeries and have had a few opportunities to suture. Also got a chance to being on the trauma floor with my resident when I was oncall.

Yes, I am sleep-deprived. Yes, I need to buy groceries. Yes, I need to read lots and lots of pages before I sleep tonite... :) Yes, I am a crazy medical student.
 

tardive dyskinesia

Locations of visitors to this page