I get to spend the next 7 weeks training. I will follow various seniors around and learn from them. Then, come September, I will be released on my own. The nice thing about my first year is I do mostly AP stuff with cytopathology. I spend my time either cutting in specimens, previewing specimens, or signing out specimens. Interspersed in that I will spend time on the autopsy service as well. Lots of cutting, lots of ready, lots of pushing glass.
One thing I have noticed about the Clinic is that everyone is very happy there. I have introduced myself at least 15 times in the last two days, to so many different people. Today we had a department welcome lunch and the room was alive with talking, visiting. The department is smaller, and by default very close.
My classmates all seem very nice as well. There are 8 of us (we are down one), which is big in terms of path programs. There are 3 girls, 5 guys. All but one of us are married. Two people have kids. We have been exploring and trying to figure out the beast that is the Clinic together. It is nice to not be the only clueless one.
On a happy note, my parking is now working. I drive up, the gate senses I am there and reads my radio tag, it lifts and lets me it. It is pretty cool.
I am really excited to start working for real on Monday. I start on sign out, so no sharp objects for me yet.
- Location:home office
- Mood:
cheerful - Music:Radio Lab
We made it back from DC in time for Baccalaurete. It was a ok ceremony. There were some problems with execution and by the time they got to the p's most of the audience was hanging out in the back of the room chatting and not paying attention to what was happening on stage. I thought it was cool though, and I enjoyed having my mom and E-man hood me.
Two days later I graduated. If I didn't know better I would have thought I stumbled into another schools graduation ceremony. It was the most well organized Wayne event I have ever attended. The Fox was a beautiful place to have the ceremony and they had an organ. I am a big fan of organ music so it was really cool they were able to use in for the proccessing and reccessing. We had multiple great speakers, and I got to sit next to Jeanne for the whole ceremony. Other highlights included a picture with ALL of my friends, pics with my mentor and my advisor, and my family being around for all the fun.
This past week we also picked up the keys to our new place, and attended a graduation party for me hosted by my mom. It was fun as always to share my excitement with my family and friends.
It has been an exciting week culminating in a massive amount of packing today. The movers come tomorrow so we need to get the last of the stuff packed. Good times!
- Location:RO one last time
- Mood:
tired
So in preparation for this trip I noticed I was running low on my usual podcasts. (having time off means lots of time to catch up on podcasts) So I got a little podcast happy last night and found a ton of old time radio mystery and detective shows in podcast form. I found 5 or 6 podcasts I was interested it. And because it was close to bed time and I wasn't thinking I told iTunes to download ALL the episodes of a ALL the podcasts. That was 715 downloads. Here is the problem, my iPhone syncs with my laptop (long story, will be fixed when I get my new computer in June). My laptop only has a 35GB hard drive (small because I am not supposed to use it for much, it is just a cheap computer to carry around). Totally filled my hard drive . . . with half the downloads . . . Oops . . . I guess I should have waited and picked better . . . but I was excited . . . Oh well, time to do some judicious deleting and hope for the best.
- Location:apt RO
- Mood: amused
I went to medical school because I wanted to know how the human body worked. More then what was available in PhD type courses. I guess I wanted to know how and why in the context of the human experience, not so much the biochemical one.
The ambulatory medicine (read: outpatient internal medicine) month has really helped affirm for my why I went to medical school and what I have chosen as my career. I like to solve puzzles. My favorite things to read: murder mysteries. My favorite games: Where’s Waldo. One of my favorite TV show hooks: Find the Pineapple on
That month I was supposed to act like an intern. The idea was for me to see patients, come up with a plan, and then check with an attending. I have no problem with the first part of the job. I love talking to people, I really enjoy the unique stories that everyone has to offer. Plus people love to talk to me. I am a pro at taking a patient history and establishing rapport.
After establishing rapport, my favorite part of the process starts: Developing a differential diagnosis. From the patients story I put the pieces together, along with labs and other tests to decide what might be going on with my patient. This is my favorite part. I love the puzzle solving. I get to use my knowledge of how the body works (or doesn’t) and what the pt tells me and come up with some options. Once I decide on my differential/diagnosis this is where my interest ends. It is at this point I raise my hand, ask for my cookie, and am ready to move on. I solved the puzzle.
Unfortunately, in primary care in an outpatient setting, this is just the beginning. Once we label a patient with a disease it is time to manage the disease. Pts come in at 1-3 month intervals. Talk about treatment, adjust meds, run more tests. This is the part of primary care I hate. I already solved the puzzle. I know what is wrong with them, lets move on to more puzzles. I have the up most respect for my collages that want to make a living of this part of medicine, but it is not for me.
One last thing you may have noted from above is my enjoyment of visual puzzles. I like to SEE things. I love to see (ie: slides) what is wrong with patients. It is different from the primary care setting where you are making your best guess biased on the patient’s story (because we all know patients lie).
So this is why I went to medical school, why I am doing a residency in pathology, and why someday I hope to be a forensic pathologist. Just something that occurred to my a few months ago while I was in match limbo.
- Location:RO
- Mood:
accomplished
I have completed my undergraduate medical education. *dance* . . . No more med school.
Really.
All I have left is graduation.
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- Location:US, Michigan, Wayne, Detroit, 4th St
Yay! I get an envelope on Thursday. *dance* I got a "congratulations you matched" email.
Celebrating in the pub tonight!
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As an addendum to
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
inked_caduceus 's post on drug company swagg. I present my good pen friends Kidney and Pancreas.
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I love my slow cookers because you can cook anything in them. I cook the usual stuff and I also make deserts (brownies) and breakfast (oatmeal). The last two items my medium sized Crock-Pot (I can call it that because it really is the brand Crock-Pot) is perfect for. You really need the smaller round tubular shape for cooking brownies and oatmeal.
So last night I decided to put on some steel-cut oats for breakfast in the morning. I put everything in and turned the slow cooker on. After about half an hour I wandered over to take a feel, just to make sure it was working (not like I have ever thrown stuff in a slow cooker, turned it on, and not plugged it in). It still wasn't even warm. So I let it sit a bit longer came back to feel it and it was getting there. Then this morning when I came downstairs to give it a stir, and a taste it wasn't quite cooked. Don't get me wrong the liquid was bubbling, but it hadn't be absorbed well, and the oats weren't totally cooked.
This made me sad. I think my medium sized slow cooker is dying. I know death is inevitable, and the crock-pot is probably older then I am, but I really liked it.
Don't worry about me though. I'll get over the death of my slow cooker. In fact, it might be time to embrace some new technology. Just looking around I think I might be in love again with this beauty. It is small and round, and also has some improved features such as a glass lid (holds in heat better), and a removable lining (easier to clean). So maybe this won't be so bad after all . . .
- Location:Desk
- Mood: hopeful
It is even snowing today . . . Hooray!!! (I might get to ski more)
- Location:RO
- Mood: excited
- Location:desk
- Mood: amused
Not that there was much doubt. I did nail 1/3 of my score by just being fluent in english. Just have one step left in the licensing process. Can't do that until I have my diploma.
*little dance*
- Mood: happy
1. The Killers (the band) Went to their concert Thursday night and LOVED IT! It was one of the best shows I have been to in a while. I have pics, but they are on my phone and haven't made it off yet. Not only did they sound like their album, they actually were more interesting then their album because they could have fun and improvise. They also had one of the better sound guys I have heard at a concert. While it was loud (I always bring and wear earplugs) it was well mixed, you could hear all the interesting bits.
2. Making Money (a book) by Terry Pratchett. One of my favorite authors. This was a continuation of his Discworld series, so it may be kind of weird if you aren't familiar with it. To me the sign of any great book is if the book makes you think. In the book there is a rumor floating around that Lord Vetinari has a sword made of the iron from the blood of prisoners. This set me thinking. How much blood would you need to forge a sword? And what would you have to do to process the blood to get the iron out? There is a lot of protein and junk you would have to get rid of, also would it end up in the right state to be made into a sword. Just something to contemplate . . .
- Location:desk
- Mood: amused
I was struck today, as I walked around the hospital, how many people were talking about it. Everyone, from patients to physicians, was making plans as to where they were going to be for the event, where they could find a TV or a computer with enough bandwidth to stream.
In addition to the rest of the world I am excited about this event. Never mind the fact that as of noon Mr. Obama becomes Mr. President swearing in or no. I have great hopes for this administration. They have an uphill battle to even consider turning the country around. There are so many grave problems that I don't think 4 years will be enough. I am hopeful that the American people can be patient and give the man time. He certainly has a lot of things going for him: he is patient, level headed, intelligent, and possibly most important popular. I have high hopes for this administration, but lower expectations. All I can say is now when I travel overseas I won't be ashamed to admit I am American.
- Location:RO
- Mood: hopeful
I did learn my lesson about public transportation in Chicago. When you see a train pull up and every car is packed with people except one, there is a good reason for that and you are better off getting in one of the packed cars.
But my last trip to Atlanta was the most fraught with problems. First I connected in Newark on the way to Atlanta, there were only 45 minutes to make my connection. This is a problem when my connection is in a none connected terminal. Luckily there was a bus to take me there, and I didn't have to go out of security. The problem was when I stepped into the new terminal I heard the final boarding call for my flight. I made the flight, just had to haul ass across the terminal.
That was nothing compared to my morning. There was no hot water in the hotel. No HOT water! This is bad when you need to shower for a 7:15am interview. After I called the front desk and they knew it was happening, and waiting for half an hour I decided I was just going to have to suck it up and take a cold shower. And let me tell you it was cold. I then had to haul butt to my interview, I valeted my car at the hospital, and rolled in at 7:20, thank goodness I was only going to morning conference at 7:30.
I do have to admit to being pretty lucky though. My biggest fear this interview season was my suit would disappear while I was traveling and I would have to go out and buy a new one before my interview, and that never happened.
Now that I have finished my interview last interview I can sit back, relax, and make my rank list with the magnets on the back of my door.
- Location:RO
- Mood: amused
It has been kind of fun, like a walk down memory lane. Many of the recipes have a story attached to them. Like the Sweet Potato Shepard's Pie which called for a banana in the potato part, that turned out to be kind of gross. Or the first meal Eric ever cooked for me, Fish Tacos. He says he is going to pass that down to his sons when they are ready to woe a woman, ;-) it worked for him.
We also found my copy of the Lott Family Cheese ball. This is a dish that has been present at every major holiday in my family. No one is sure where the recipe came from. The original is in my Grandmother's hand writing. We suspect it was from the label of a can of prepared cheese product in the 40s, but who knows, she could have made it up or gotten it from a friend.
Our love of cooking and recipes also made it into our wedding. For my showers we asked everyone who got an invitation to send us their favorite recipes. I loved seeing what people liked to make and got some good ideas from it. One of our most treasured presents was from Eric's Grandmother, who gave us copies of many of her recipes that Eric grew up eating and I have grown to love.
We will never stop collecting recipes, and the "recipe trade" is still going strong in our families. But sometimes it is so enjoyable to make a comforting recipe that brings so many happy memories with it.
- Location:RO
- Mood:
thoughtful
From the MSU bowl game: "Georgia just keeps pulling a Plaxico. They just keep shooting themselves . . ."
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Just trying posting from my iPhone. Notice a skull cookie jar can be decorated for any holiday.
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