i survived...

It's not entirely over but the worst part is behind me.... second year is rapidly coming to a close with orientation week coming up.

This week was intense, it started with two exams on Monday morning, then getting CPR certified on Tuesday then a day off on Wednesday.....*breathe*... then having my Clinical Practical Exam on Thursday, getting ACLS [Advanced Cardiac Life Saving] trained on Friday and being tested on ACLS on Saturday [today].

Our CPE consisted of 5 standardized patient encounters, it was intense. We got 14min with a patient to illicit their diagnosis and come up with an action and plan and then we left the room and had 9 minutes to fill out an entire SOAP note...then we moved on to the next room. It took a lil over 2 hours and DAMN was it tiring. The first "case" I had was a lady who had a seizure the day before and was coming in for a follow up. Then I had a new mom who was depressed with post- partum depression, then I had a lady with shoulder pain who ended up actually having chest pain radiating to her shoulder and i diagnosed her with a heart problem, then a diabetic patient, and lastly a guy with a cough/flu. Man my hand was tired by the end of those two hours....

Today was pretty cool though. ACLS is basically learning how to run a code blue [cardiac arrest]. I ran my first code today....on a dummy....but he survived! It was really fun. Though I don't think I have the capability to handle the stress of emergency medicine, I can see why it is so appealing to people...it would definitely keep me busy/entertained everyday!