Question

Well, my surgery "block" is almost over (3 more hospital days plus a final exam!), and it's been quite the experience, to be sure. It's given me quite a bit of pause for thought. Actually, I never quite understood that phrase, but maybe it fits here. I did have a thought, though, and I'd like to share it with everyone.

Where exactly is this proverbial "bottom" of your heart?

The weekend is over, and I'm not gonna lie, I could use another one already! I spent the majority of my day off studying or trying to study, and now I think I'd like to spend about 72 hours in a row asleep before going back to the hospital.

To be real though, I can't wait to start another week of learning all there is to know about writing TPN prescriptions and getting "pimped" by surgeons. Oh yeah, I get to do all that, plus making little kids cry when doing physical exams... always a highlight of anyone's day.

In other news, I finally got my approval to do a forensic pathology rotation... all those reruns of Law and Order I've watched are about to pay off!!

"Some great pathology"

So, here's the long and short of it: Paediatric Surgery: long hours, short people.


Sorry. 


Anyway, paediatric surgery has been quite the experience, and about halfway through it, I can say that I finally know where mostly everything is located in the hospital. And I've seen and helped with quite a few procedures, and some real "zebra" cases (or "some great pathology" as my preceptor last year would have said). I've successfully had good, professional interactions with the hospital staff, such as nurses and respiratory therapists, and haven't really gotten anyone too mad at me since like my 2nd day there! 


Anyway, it's going well. Long hours, like I said, but it's going well.


And I've saved approximately 27 lives. In the past 72 hours. By myself. With only one hand.

Busy day...

So, I'm just spending another exciting day at the hospital, trying to keep busy, which is actually harder than it might seem. When not in operations, and if there's no new peole coming in to the hospital, there really isn't all that much for me to do once I've gotten all my progress notes and everything written...

Well, besides try to be productive, and study, of course... Which is, of course, what I ought to be doing right now.

But alas, I'm gearing up for an exciting night of trauma call, so maybe I shouldn't use up ALL of my brainpower this morning. That's my justification, at least.

My motto is; time you enjoy wasting isn't really wasted time...

Ok, ok, I guess it's time to leave my dream world where I've got no responsibilities, and go see if there's anything I need to go do.

Well, the long weekend has come and gone, unfortunately, and that means I've got to got back to the hospital... I mean, I get to go back to the hospital!

Really I just have one question... Since it's now after Labor Day, doesn't that mean that I shouldn't have to wear my white coat anymore til spring?! This is coming from someone who, as you know, takes a fashion faux pas very seriously.

Shaken...

Walking around the hospital yesterday afternoon trying to see all of my patients, I came to a place that I hadn't been before. Not surprising, since I've only been there a grand total of about 5 days--but that's not the point. Some will remember the videogame "Goldeneye" (the greatest game ever, by the way). Well, I finally felt like I was living the game. Not because I was sneaking around trying to "get" my friends with the "Golden Gun", but because basically every time I played that game, I spent the entire time lost, and just wandering around hoping to run into someone else. Mostly I'm just trying to find my patients in the hospital, but I'm still a little lost a lot of the time. I guess what I'm trying to say is (and I honestly NEVER thought I would say this): Medical school is like playing "Goldeneye"!

So, anyway, here's my list of why medical school is like "Goldeneye"!

1. On the first day of med school in South Bend, I was presented with a "proximity card", which I had to use to get into the parking lot. "Proximity cards" are a little bit like "Proximity mines" in the game, which means every single morning was (for me) like playing Goldeneye!
2. At the end of every game in Goldeneye, there were "awards" given out to different players, like "Most Cowardly", "Sharpshooter", etc. Well, in med school, at the end of every clerkship, we get a grade, and our preceptors write comments about us, like "Gunner", "Sniper", or "Consistently prepared".
   
3. If you get shot in Goldeneye, red "blood" comes down your screen, and then you're done. Well, in med school, there's a lot of blood flying around, especially in the operating room. And for whatever reason, it seems to like to find me, and get all over the plastic facemask you have to wear in the OR, effectively mimicking the "blood-running-down-the-screen" screen in Goldeneye.
4. The aforementioned "lost-all-the-time" feeling.
5. Last, but not least, is the fact that we get to use really awesome gadgets, just like James Bond does. Like in laparoscopic surgery. Or robotic surgery.

OK, I'll be honest, sometimes I pretend that I'm James Bond. But hey, sometimes you just need a little excitement to get you out of bed at 3:30 am.