Residency 1.1

One month down. And since I start bright and EARLY tomorrow, this will be a quick post as to my first month as a doctor. My goal is to do this for every rotation, so I remember what it was like, and so you can share the journey with me. Forgive my tired brain.

I spent my first four weeks as a doctor in the Rheumatology Department, the land of gray (as in, nothing is black and white). Despite often not finding a definitive diagnosis, I became more confident in my ability to say it wasn't anything serious and got really good at recommending supportive shoes for flat feet (does this really work???). I worked with some amazing doctors who really LOVE their patients and love teaching and, yes, who love complaining about some of the stupid things parents do and say.

For example, the mom who was absolutely convinced that her son "caught" his rheumatoid arthritis from a girl with chicken pox at church camp. Hey, whatever works.

And I had those dreaded ER shifts. I'm told that after my full month down there, it will be a lot better, because I'll be much more comfortable, but for now, it is NOT my favorite place in the hospital. My first night was a disaster, for multiple reasons, but thankfully, it has gotten slightly better, and I now know how to order prescriptions correctly (though still can't get the right printer every time) and how to answer an overhead page (THAT was a funny experience the first time). And I know that even if I eat a snack RIGHT beforehand, watching the ortho resident reduce an ulnar/radial fracture will still make me want to pass out. Guess I will sit down next time.

Tomorrow starts a crazy month of 80 hour weeks, early mornings, very sick patients, and probably the start of me feeling like a real doctor, for real.

Making our speaking English good

I love walking to the library.

Reminds me of when I was a kid and would hunt the shelves each week for the new Cam Jansen or Encyclopedia Brown, and then spend the week closing my eyes and saying "Click" or studying handwriting to see if someone is left- or right-handed. I remember the double automatic doors and the round checkout counter, and the carpeted tables in the kids' section. I remember the hollow sound of returned books thumping the bottom of the bin, and signing my first library card in my newly-perfected cursive. We used to walk out of there with stacks and stacks of books, and they would never last until the next trip.

I know that I don't have time to finish stacks and stacks anymore, unless of course I break out the Hardy Boys again. But walking home with a few books tells me that it's summer, and that my free time, however limited, will be well-spent. Happy reading.

How can I miss you if you won't go away?

Things I miss about home (that I got to miss a little less this weekend):
Big Bill's garlic knots
Lunch on the deck
Big Bill's sausage and green pepper pizza
Daily Mass at STM
Friends who will go with me to the new (delicious) fro-yo place...and Big Bill's
Attic fan on with the windows open
Seeing Mary and Kelly stumble into the kitchen around noon when they finally wake up

Alas, I am back in KC. A wonderful trip, and now I am going into panic mode before I start Blue Team on Friday. Just to clarify...whose idea was it to put me on a 30 hour call my first day on inpatient, followed by a short call on Sunday? You're just asking to run behind. I'm just saying.

Hint: It's not dancing

My attending asked me this week what I was passionate about (over a beer at Grinders, which I highly recommend), saying that it's something he asks all those he interviews. If they can't answer, they either aren't passionate about anything, or they're not self-aware enough to know (or they're embarrassed to say). Frankly, I'd rather work with someone passionate about something totally weird than someone who has no passion at all, but that doesn't mean I want to hear about your bird's trip to the vet and how many words he can say.

So I started thinking about what I was passionate about. Not just things I like. Cause I like tubing, but I'm not going to take every free weekend and find a lake. I like a good beer, but not enough to join the tour at Old Chicago or apparently enough to get my butt on one of those brewery tours. I like music, but am too lazy to really even find songs I like on iTunes. It's like, meh, whatever.

And I'm like that about a lot of things. But you gotta really love something. I think it's important to have something that will get you riled up, something you look forward to, something that you do with your free time and spare change. Besides my pillow, and loving to hate my pager (which I don't yet, but will soon), I came up with this brief list:

USWNT soccer
Bragging/telling stories about my family
14ers (and Colorado in general as the best place on earth)
Jane Austen
Burn Notice, Castle, Firefly
coffee (mostly Starbucks, don't judge)
Italian food
Removing olives from the world
the Catholic Church
kids getting their vaccines

Nothing surprising really, but that's okay. At least it's enough for an interview. (Maybe they don't wanna hear about olives) What about you?