So, I haven't posted in awhile...and for most of the same reasons, I haven't gotten to talk to you all in awhile either. Boo. :(
Here's a recap of recent months:
As last you left me, I was getting ready for the new school year. I started with my Medicine Clerkship (September/October). At that point, I'd only done one basic rotation (Ob/Gyn) and that elective in child psych. I tried to put Medicine early because 1) It's pretty high on the lists of things I might do with my life 2) it's so important to the rest of your clerkships because it's extremely tough and it really works your sorta "core skills" as a physician. After all is said and done, Mdicine was one of the best things I've ever done. It was So tough. I spent two months in Medicine, both in-patient months, but at seperate hospitals. There are 80 hr work weeks now, and I think the first month I easily exceeded that. The second month is was probably closer to the 70 range, but still a lot more hours than anything I had done previously. Part of that time is spent being on-call, and part of it is just the long daily hours. You come in early to pre-round on your patients, then you round with the team, have some teaching time, and then get some work done. The first hospital I just learned more about Medicine and medicine and pratical skills and what it means to practice evidence-based medicine. The second month I learned a lot about the emotional side of doctoring. I had more "sick" patients the second month which included patient deaths. Even now when I think about them, I get pretty teary, so perhaps I'll leave further discussion of that to another day.
Now, I'm half-way through Pediatrics. I spent one month on the in-patient side of things and now I'm in a clinic. I must say, in comparison to the last three months of hospital time I've had, this clinic time is pretty cush. 8:30ish to 5ish? Those are pretty good hours. So, while I've been pretty unavailable lately, this month will be pretty good for catching up. :)
Over the last 3 months, I think I've really made leaps in bounds on the road to becoming a "real doctor" and learned a lot about what things are important to me. I need to be a more primary care doctor because I think that really talking to patients is important to me. And, I find myself always wondering and trying to find out what happened to patients after my time with them has ended. I'm more confident about what I know and my abilities, and I think it's a result of all the "pimping" that happens in Medicine (Pimping meaning, having someone ask you a question on rounds in order to force you to take a stand on something that you might not know a lot about. I don't think I can explain it well...consider if kinda like being called on for a random question in front of the whole class except that it happens multiple times every day and usually saying "I don't know" doesnt get you off the hook.
On the other hand, I find myself really needing to decide what kind of doctor to be. My original plan was a Medicine residency and then maybe an Infectious Disease subspecialty. However, I don't know what I want to do at this time. It kinda comes down to "Medicine" vs "Pediatrics." Both let me get to ID subspecialities if I want. Pediatrics will also let me get to the Child Pyschiatry fellowship. I like the patients in Peds; kids are just so adorable. However, the actual medicine involved in Medicine is just fascinating. Perhaps you guys have some thoughts?
In more personal news, I'm a new aunt! Vanessa and Josh welcomed a baby girl named Sophia to the world October 17th. The pictures are super-cute, though sadly I haven't seen her in person yet. :( However, I get to be a godmother, so yay!
Felicia's doing well too and might get to come visit me this month. I'm so excited!! :)
Ok, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be able to post some more in the next month and talk to you guys soon.
