All apps in!

ACGME Apps in! That means I applied to around 50 programs with a total cost of around $800!

Californians everywhere

One of the residents I am living with is from the LA area, one of the attendings I worked with is from San Dimas, and I found out today that the chief resident I am working with is from Arcadia and went to Arcadia High. There is not a shortage of Californians out here....

"i promise to not be a douchebag by the end of residency..."
-Hillary

First Rejection

First rejection comes from a program in Michigan. I'm not heartbroken, dont worry. Just the way this process goes... What made this a lot more hysterical was this story:


I was working when i got the email. I was actually working with another visiting medical student who I have become friends with, call her K. We were speaking about interviews and such and I told her about my first rejection. I told her I got an email from another nearby hospital. She replied with "i didnt know programs email rejections" so i gave it to her to read so she could see what it looked like.

later in the day K and I were chatting and she mentioned her mom who is an ER doc. in fact, her mom and both her brothers are doctors. I asked her where her mom works and she blushed and bit and told me that it was at the hospital i just got rejected from. then she said "yeah, shes actually the program director there. it was a lil akward to read that email."

her mom wrote me my first rejection. HAH!

Visiting other places

This morning I went to visit Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills. Its about a 40 min drive southeast of where I am living. The EM program is well known and after emailing the PD I set up a day to meet her and hang out in the department for a couple hours. I met an alumni from our school who is a first year there and shadowed him for a bit, then I spent some time with their chief resident [a 6 foot 4 gorgeous guy...time well spent I'd say.] I left after about 4 hours because I had a 2pm-midnight shift at my hospital.

I hope my time there helps me get an interview at the program!

Interview Invitation #3 and #4

Lakeland Healthcare in St. Joseph, Michigan

Good Samaritan Hospital in West Slip, New York

Week 3

The more I work in Michigan, the more i like it and feel a bit more comfortable here. The people are amazing. i have never had a bad experience or rude patient/ co-worker. The last couple weeks I have been getting to know the attendings, residents and staff and I am much more familiar now with the computer charting and 'lay of the land.'

I was on nights over labor day weekend. Saturday-Monday I worked 10pm to 8am. Unfortunately, my birthday on Sunday was me up at midnight and then sleeping the day away and then back to work the night of. I wasnt too upset because the resident [Dr. S] and attending [Dr.L] I worked with for 3 nights straight were great. Both were very funny and easy to work with so there was no problem with helping the time pass. On my last night a man came in around 5am after a horse stepped on his heel. His heel was basically flapping off and after X rays and an ortho consult, we decided all he needed was a tetenus shot and we sutured it back together. It was a very complicated lac so my attending helped me do the hard parts to make sure he could still use his foot properly. We did 24 stitches in all and it looked pretty good after.

Picture: On the left is my first time suturing EVER on a pigs foot. on the Right is the heel. I think I have come a long way :)

Of course labor day weekend was marked with lots of people drunk and hurting themselves. I did a lot of suturing, some of drunk people, some on kids. I am back on days now and having been challenged every day. There is always something new to learn in the ED.

I really like this program, hospital, and Michigan. These last 3 weeks have helped me shape my decisions a little bit on where I want to do residency but it is far to soon to make any actual decisions. My only thoughts now are that I think I would be happy living anywhere in this state.  I went to Chicago this past weekend for an AAEM conference and met several program directors from programs across the midwest. I then fell back in love with the city of Chicago and have become a little bit obsessed with the idea of moving there. If only all the programs there werent so hard to get into...