A Looooooonnnnngggg Hiatus November 7, 2008
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentIt’s been more than three months since my last post. Most likely, no one noticed. Nonetheless, I am well into fourth year. Currently, I’m in Jacksonville doing my Emergency Medicine rotation. It sucks to be away from home. I miss the comforts of home so much. I have a single (2×2 box) but I would still rather be home. Apparently, Orion has taken to waiting for me by the garage door everyday. I’m convinced that he thinks I went to the dog part this whole time without him. If he really knew where I was he probably wouldn’t care that I wasn’t home.
I start interviews soon. I’m excited and scared about that. I can only prepare for them to the best of my ability and hope for the best.
Currently, I am sick and trying my very best to get rid of this cold before it turns bacterial on me. Seeing sick people in the ER who keep coughing on me is not helping. Not surprisingly, I became sick after my one and only Peds ER shift. Thanks little ones!!! Much obliged. Hopefully I’ll be writing more frequently from now on.
Various Random Items August 1, 2008
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentI took Step II yesterday. The 8 hours of testing went by pretty quickly because of the rush against the clock. I didn’t feel as tired as I did when I took Step I. That’s good in case I have to take it again and in preparation for Step III which is TWO DAYS LONG! I’m hoping to pass…and if I pass then I’m hoping to get around the same score as I did for Step I so that I don’t look stupid. High hopes here!
It’s going to be weird to go back to working everyday in a place other than my house. It has been six weeks and change since I saw a patient. Craziness! I felt like I was going crazy being in my house all this time. I usually enjoy silence but this much of it made me wish for an imaginary friend. Then I realized that having an imaginary friend would be a lot of work because I would have to, you know, imagine everything they do.
Mike is already thinking about (worrying about) packing for our move in a year. We don’t know where we’re going. We don’t know how far we’ll have to move. Yet, he is worried about it. I guess when you have to do all of this applying, interviewing, and traveling, it’s easier to think about the packing. For once, packing may be the easier part. I have a feeling that those words will come to bite me later. I have to admit that the idea of knowing where I’m going and just having to get there seems so enticing right now. Thinking about applications and interviews makes my stomach churn.
Can’t Figure It Out…Sort Of July 24, 2008
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentMike and I got bicycles for our 3rd wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. We ride them around the neighborhood. I am extremely annoyed that even though I run more often than he does (not often lately) I am still more out of breath than he is when we ride. No matter what activity we do, he will out pace me and not break a sweat. Hmph. Meanwhile, I feel like a slug as I walk into the house drenched in sweat. 
Had to do it… July 17, 2008
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentI was bored and therefore, had to spend time doing meaningless activities such as changing the look of the blog YET AGAIN. Anything is better than studying for Step 2 I guess. So here we are.
Can’t wait to graduate already. I need a change of environment very much.
Patients July 12, 2008
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentI’m studying for Step 2 right now and it’s amazing how often I recall patients who had the illness about which I am reading. I may not have been the person following them. I can’t remember their names. I just remember their faces and some of the conversations I had with them. For the patients who had terminal illnesses, I wonder if they’ve passed on by now. For the others, I wonder what they are doing and if they came back to the hospital since I last saw them. Funny how we stay on people’s minds long after we encounter them even if the encounter itself was very brief. This will sound sappy but if nothing else, I owe them my gratitude for helping me remember a small piece of medicine that I will hopefully use when treating other people. In that sense, patients have given me more than I can ever hope to give them. I don’t think they realize this though. It’s crazy how the gratitude flows from patient to physician in a bigger stream and with greater force than it does from physician to patient.
One of Many First Days July 7, 2008
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentToday was Orientation for the fourth years. Not sure what is different really. All this talk about graduation makes me wish that I had already graduated. I’m feeling a bit down today and I can’t figure out why. I see months of applications stress and travel ahead. They could save a lot of time and money by doing the match now. I’m not sure why I see fourth year as anticlimactic. Everyone else seems very excited to be a fourth year. Perhaps tomorrow will bring happier feelings. Or the next day. Or the day after that.
Maybe I’ll Regret This… June 26, 2008
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentSince I am on vacation and people have been telling me that I don’t know how to relax, I have now spent quite a bit of time reading blogs online and reacquainting myself with the political climate in America. i have a long way to go to understand the nuances of the situation. There was a quote by Susan B. Anthony that I enjoyed: “No self respecting woman should wish or work for the success of a party that ignores he”. In researching this quote, I found a post on democracyforamerican.com (http://www.democracyforamerica.com/blog_posts/25524-the-co-opting-and-misquoting-of-susan-b-anthony) that discusses the origins of the quote. The author goes on to provide the full context of the quote. She was talking about the Republican party and about its refusal to grant her the right to vote. He/she then argues that this quote is being misrepresented because the Democratic party is not denying women the right to vote. Here’s where my annoyance level shoots through the roof. The quote, as excerpted from the bigger passage, is not used to imply that the democratic party denied women the right to vote. It’s used to imply that the democratic party stood by and allowed the rampant sexism that occurred during the primary season. It is used to imply that the democratic party stood by and clamored for Hillary Clinton to quit running before the primaries were done! Oh, and get this: The author uses the fact that he/she called women voters in Pennsylvania while campaigning for Barack Obama and discovered that they were excited that for once their votes in the Pennsylvania primaries counted as proof that the democratic party did in fact stand up for women. Um….HELLO!!!! If Hillary Clinton had not adamantly refused to step out of the race until all primary contests were held, the democratic party (I should really say the powers that be in the democratic party) would have been ecstatic. The excitement these women felt had nothing to do with the democratic party. Rather it was Senator Clinton’s willingness to stand up to the ridicule from members of her OWN political party and continue the contest.
I couldn’t resist posting this. The more I read about this stuff, the more irritated I get. The really sad thing is that even when obvious and rampant sexism was brought to the forefront of the national consciousness, people are still able to hid behind such pathological denial of its existence.
An Apple A Day. . . June 15, 2008
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentStill doesn’t keep the doctor away. One thing I hate about primary care is that it makes me feel guilty about not seeing a doctor regularly. I have many reasons for not doing so. Of course, they are all crappy. The number one reason I would cite is that I have crappy insurance and it is a pain to find a doctor who takes my insurance. Really, my number one reason should be that I hate seeing the doctor. Yes, that’s very hypocritical of me. I don’t enjoy the quick visits where I am mostly misunderstood. Last time I went, my doctor tried to push antidepressants on me after I expressed concern about my stress levels in medical school for five seconds. That’s not to say that antidepressants are bad. I just felt as if she didn’t really hear me out in order to truly consider the options. I have yet to find a doctor I really click with. Perhaps I am too picky? I’ve found a number of them throughout my rotations. Alas, you can’t really see a physician if they’ve taught you and evaluated you as a medical student.
All this preventative care education has made me feel anxious about not having a lipid panel done. I have significant family history of coronary artery disease and diabetes. Hence, it would really make sense for me to get that done and just deal with it. Somehow, ignorance still feels like bliss. Seeing what patients go through when they deal with chronic conditions has really scared the crap out of me. Enough so that I will now be calling various physician offices tomorrow to see if any of them a) accept new patients and more importantly, b) take my crappy insurance.
Meanwhile, I will continue to eat my apple everyday. You think I jest.
Is it just me or… June 11, 2008
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentDo celebrities seem to be popping out babies like there’s no tomorrow? Tori Spelling had her second child? Didn’t she just have her first child?
Sattttissssticccss June 7, 2008
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , add a commentThe math that goes along with statistics is as easy for me to comprehend as the word is for me to say. Sigh. I am working on the Cultural Competence Curriculum survey results. Statistics is no fun. I have all this data and I need to make sense of it somehow. Blargh. Maybe it’s time to give up my hopes of a career in academic medicine and plan to set up a Doc in a Box practice?
