Update, continued
So at the commercial break I decided to make a break for it, with my radio at the ready, to listen to the rest of the Phils game. I rode home on the bus shaking my fist at hearing about Manny Ramirez's 3-run home run. Then I watched the rest of the game at home and cheered as we finally won, 8-5. Though of course, Lidge did make me chew my nails in agony at the end.
But enough game talk. It's almost the end of my second week, out of four, on medicine, andI feel like I'm settling in. I know where things are, I have a rough sense of organization, and I'm able to handle ten pretty stable patients. The bad stuff comes when patients are unstable and I don't know what to do. I can always say "Recheck the vitals!" when called about abnormal vital signs, and half the time that works. I'm veeeery slowly getting more tools in my toolbox. That is, I can see a patient with shortness of breath and think about giving them oxygen, albuterol, ipratropium, or maybe a diuretic if I think they're volume-overloaded from heart failure. So, looks like I'm learning something. :) But I still have a very far way to go.
It struck me today as I filled out a discharge summary and marked it "10/11/2008" that 2008 is almost over. What??? How can I be 27 years old? I remember being 8 and reading that a space shuttle would be finished in 1992, and thinking "Well, THAT will NEVER get here." 2008 is my med school class. Holy crap. And I'm almost four months into my residency. It's gone by so fast! And soon I'll be a second year! And then a third year! Gah!
I guess my goal for 2009 is to a) survive and b) thrive. Pretty lame, I know. But honestly, when it comes to my medicine months, it's really just about getting through. It's not as much about shining or being the best I can be. All I want is to know the basics about various medical problems, enough for initial management until more skilled help arrives.
But enough game talk. It's almost the end of my second week, out of four, on medicine, andI feel like I'm settling in. I know where things are, I have a rough sense of organization, and I'm able to handle ten pretty stable patients. The bad stuff comes when patients are unstable and I don't know what to do. I can always say "Recheck the vitals!" when called about abnormal vital signs, and half the time that works. I'm veeeery slowly getting more tools in my toolbox. That is, I can see a patient with shortness of breath and think about giving them oxygen, albuterol, ipratropium, or maybe a diuretic if I think they're volume-overloaded from heart failure. So, looks like I'm learning something. :) But I still have a very far way to go.
It struck me today as I filled out a discharge summary and marked it "10/11/2008" that 2008 is almost over. What??? How can I be 27 years old? I remember being 8 and reading that a space shuttle would be finished in 1992, and thinking "Well, THAT will NEVER get here." 2008 is my med school class. Holy crap. And I'm almost four months into my residency. It's gone by so fast! And soon I'll be a second year! And then a third year! Gah!
I guess my goal for 2009 is to a) survive and b) thrive. Pretty lame, I know. But honestly, when it comes to my medicine months, it's really just about getting through. It's not as much about shining or being the best I can be. All I want is to know the basics about various medical problems, enough for initial management until more skilled help arrives.
posted by Radish | 7:03 PM
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