Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
AKA the county hospital of San Bernardino County. the BUSIEST emergency department in California [LA County is second...]. Over 130,000 visits a year.
Pretty. damn. excited.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Quotable Quotes
Im gonna start by saying I really dont know if I like Dr Oz or not, but either way, i was watching the show NY med and he had a pretty good quote in there that made me think. He was talking about his mail and reflecting on a thank you note from a patient and said:
"the fact that she wanted to say thank you is all i needed to know, i think thats what drives most doctors to do what we do. and thats why it hurts doctors so much when they get sued, because they feel like they did all this work, and they really did think they were doing it for the right reasons, and yet someone disliked them so much they sued them" -Dr. Oz
"the fact that she wanted to say thank you is all i needed to know, i think thats what drives most doctors to do what we do. and thats why it hurts doctors so much when they get sued, because they feel like they did all this work, and they really did think they were doing it for the right reasons, and yet someone disliked them so much they sued them" -Dr. Oz
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Needles and Tubes
4 weeks with Dr. G are over and let's just say I am not ready to intubate by myself anytime soon. Good thing i have 3-4 years of residency to perfect the art. In brighter news, my last shift was today [he gave me Friday off] and it was an Obstetrics day. So we spent the morning in the OR doing C sections which are always great, we had 1 scheduled and then had 3 crash [emergency] sections. All turned out well. Babies crying all over the place. I did a bunch of stuff, started IVs, did a spinal, did an epidural. Epic way to end a rotation. It was a great month and I loved everyone I worked with. Will probably be returning to do another 2-4 weeks in October.
Next up, COMLEX and USMLE Step 2.
Next up, COMLEX and USMLE Step 2.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Interview Invitation #1
I just got an email with the title "Invitation to Interview"!!!!
First interview invite is from St.Barnabas Hospital. An AOA emergency med program in the Bronx, New York. Date to be scheduled.
Could not be happier right now :) Still in shock that it happened so fast! Hopefully there are more to come!
First interview invite is from St.Barnabas Hospital. An AOA emergency med program in the Bronx, New York. Date to be scheduled.
Could not be happier right now :) Still in shock that it happened so fast! Hopefully there are more to come!
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
The little things
Pure happiness is such a powerful feeling. Moments of true and pure joy do not come very often. Yes, you can be always be 'happy' but there are those moments when something just rushes through you and you are smiling uncontrollably and just feel on top of the world.
I had that rare feeling today. After 3 weeks of observing, assessting, and repeatedtly failing. Finally, things went just the way they were supposed to, I did just what I was supposed to, and with a Miller blade, I saw vocal cords and intubated all on my own. No help with adjustments, no help with the tube, nada. After I pushed the tube in, i waited to see condensation [to make sure it was in the trachea and not the esophagus] and then looked up at the monitor. I saw the CO2 waveform and I knew i was in. "wait, I did it?" I asked the doc. At this point Dr. G and the surgeon were continuing on, pushing meds and prepping the patient, at one point I heard Dr. G say to the surgeon "thank you for your patience" and he said back "no problem, we were all beginners at one point, right" ...and i just stood there in awe, not really listening to anyone, just looking at the monitor and totally forgetting any other responsibilites i had to do at that time. I was pre-occupied with smiling and savoring the victory.
After things settled down, I looked over at Dr. G and he gave me a 'good work' nod. I smiled and said I was so excited, I had finally got it. The surgeon overhead and said, "now dont forget to call mom tonight and tell her."
Miller intubation blade. Gotta put the blade in a see vocal cords before you can pass the endotracheal tube:
I had that rare feeling today. After 3 weeks of observing, assessting, and repeatedtly failing. Finally, things went just the way they were supposed to, I did just what I was supposed to, and with a Miller blade, I saw vocal cords and intubated all on my own. No help with adjustments, no help with the tube, nada. After I pushed the tube in, i waited to see condensation [to make sure it was in the trachea and not the esophagus] and then looked up at the monitor. I saw the CO2 waveform and I knew i was in. "wait, I did it?" I asked the doc. At this point Dr. G and the surgeon were continuing on, pushing meds and prepping the patient, at one point I heard Dr. G say to the surgeon "thank you for your patience" and he said back "no problem, we were all beginners at one point, right" ...and i just stood there in awe, not really listening to anyone, just looking at the monitor and totally forgetting any other responsibilites i had to do at that time. I was pre-occupied with smiling and savoring the victory.
After things settled down, I looked over at Dr. G and he gave me a 'good work' nod. I smiled and said I was so excited, I had finally got it. The surgeon overhead and said, "now dont forget to call mom tonight and tell her."
Miller intubation blade. Gotta put the blade in a see vocal cords before you can pass the endotracheal tube:
Today I worse a space suit
Boards are coming up and i have not been studying nearly as much as I should be. I have been working more hours than imagined and thought this 'easy' rotation would give me lots of time to hit the books. not so. Though i love it, am learning a lot, and love the OR, i also spend a lot of down town with Dr. G which i should be using at home to study.
Today started out with me being very stressed and ended up helping remind me why i am where i am. because i love it.
We started the first case and I attempted to intubate but this guys tongue was ridiculous and i couldn't see shit, so like usual, Dr. G stepped in and helped me pass the tube. The orthopedic surgeon walked in shortly after and Dr. G introduced me to him and he gave his usual speech that he gives to all the docs he introduces me to "this is D, she will be here for 4 weeks on an anesthesia rotation, she is a 4th year med student, if you would be willing to teach her anything or talk about what you are doing it would be greatly appreciated." Most docs hear this and are like "yeah sure, nice to meet you [moving on]" this surgeon was like "yeah of course, wanna scrub in?"
In my mind im like "HELL YEAH I wanna scrub in" but on the outside i politely said yes while asking Dr. G if thats OK. He was all for it so I got to scrub in and assist on an orthopedic knee surgery replacement. Pretty freaking rad.
We wear these helmets that have a shield over them [cause bone and crap spray everywhere....think saws and home depot tools]. The helmet has a fan on the inside to keep the screen from fogging up. so basically, we look like we are wearing space suits during the operation. Here is an example [this is from the internet, unfortunately i didnt get my phone out fast enough to get someone to snap a pic of me]:
The surgeon was hilarious and chatted with me the whole time we were working. When I told him I picked emergency medicine as my specialty and had been debating between EM and Ob/GYN he looked up, stopped working and said "Well, I have one question for you. Are you a raging bitch? Because if so, you should go into Ob/GYN. Those people are not happy." I laughed and reassured him I decided against it and was heading into emergency med.
Best part was this doc, who just met me, let me help him close with suturing, taking the time to teach me how to close each layer and then gave me half the incision while he did the other half. this does NOT happen often. AWESOME. he was rewarding me for holding retractors for an hour. it was an arm workout for sure. I tried my best to remain calm and not let me hands shake. I think i held it together pretty well though i was sweating through my scrubs :)
Today started out with me being very stressed and ended up helping remind me why i am where i am. because i love it.
We started the first case and I attempted to intubate but this guys tongue was ridiculous and i couldn't see shit, so like usual, Dr. G stepped in and helped me pass the tube. The orthopedic surgeon walked in shortly after and Dr. G introduced me to him and he gave his usual speech that he gives to all the docs he introduces me to "this is D, she will be here for 4 weeks on an anesthesia rotation, she is a 4th year med student, if you would be willing to teach her anything or talk about what you are doing it would be greatly appreciated." Most docs hear this and are like "yeah sure, nice to meet you [moving on]" this surgeon was like "yeah of course, wanna scrub in?"
In my mind im like "HELL YEAH I wanna scrub in" but on the outside i politely said yes while asking Dr. G if thats OK. He was all for it so I got to scrub in and assist on an orthopedic knee surgery replacement. Pretty freaking rad.
We wear these helmets that have a shield over them [cause bone and crap spray everywhere....think saws and home depot tools]. The helmet has a fan on the inside to keep the screen from fogging up. so basically, we look like we are wearing space suits during the operation. Here is an example [this is from the internet, unfortunately i didnt get my phone out fast enough to get someone to snap a pic of me]:
The surgeon was hilarious and chatted with me the whole time we were working. When I told him I picked emergency medicine as my specialty and had been debating between EM and Ob/GYN he looked up, stopped working and said "Well, I have one question for you. Are you a raging bitch? Because if so, you should go into Ob/GYN. Those people are not happy." I laughed and reassured him I decided against it and was heading into emergency med.
Best part was this doc, who just met me, let me help him close with suturing, taking the time to teach me how to close each layer and then gave me half the incision while he did the other half. this does NOT happen often. AWESOME. he was rewarding me for holding retractors for an hour. it was an arm workout for sure. I tried my best to remain calm and not let me hands shake. I think i held it together pretty well though i was sweating through my scrubs :)
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