3 weeks in

The more I do this, the more I fall in love. I really don't understand why a medical student would want to do anything else? Every shift is so full of spontaneity, diverse cases, newly acquired procedural knowledge, and of course, lots of blood. I am enjoying everything about this rotation, the residents and faculty are wonderful and never to busy to teach, the staff and nurses are hilarious and also are always willing to help. The patient population is so wide and they are the sickest people I have ever seen. This week we had a male with AIDS that had a CD4 count of 8. That same shift I saw a man high on heroin and amphetamines that had his penis tattooed, stapled a huge scalp laceration, helped relocated several bone fractures, diagnosed a stroke.... i could go on forever.

I walk away from each 12 hour shift in a whirlwind. Not remember everything that happened because so much went on, exhausted yet awake on adrenaline. I get in my car. Take a deep breath. and smile like a lil kid in a candy store. Such a great feeling.

Shadower to Shadowee?

Today as we started our shift, a young guy introduced himself to the senior resident and said he would be shadowing him if that was OK. The resident welcomed him aboard and I introduced myself also. I was working in the same pod as this resident so I told him he could hang out with me.


What turned out was this medical student, between his 1st and 2nd year, shadowed me through our 7pm to 7am night shift.  A student...shadowing me. Just a trip. Time is flying, I feel so cliche when I say it feels like just yesterday when I was writing about shadowing other 4th year medical students.

Ultrasound ROCKS

The hospital got 3 new ultrasound machines which are amazing. Image quality and diagnostic accuracy are incredible. We use them in a large variety of ways, some examples: we use them in traumas to search for internal bleeding, in clinical workups to look for gallstones, and during central line procedures to locate deep veins. 

Each machine is worth more than a brand new car. And apparently the County got them by using money from speeding ticket fines. To many ironies to point out...

Quotable Quotes

A man comes in with un-controllable nose bleeding [epistaxis]
"do you have HTN?"
"Yes"
"do you take medication for it?"
"No, I havent taken anything for over a year"
"why?"
"because i have felt fine..."


3 AM on a Tuesday morning working Triage
"I have worms, these worms are eating my nerves. My legs hurt so bad. They are numb. I cant sit for very long because I have no circulation. Oh my god it hurts so bad."
[man then proceeds to lay on the floor in the middle of the triage cubicle]


Recently, we had a 20 something year old girl come in with a fork hanging from the base of her tongue. Apparently she had the stomach flu and couldnt eat for 2 days. After feeling better, she starting eating so ravenously because she was so hungry and somehow stabbed herself very hard with the fork. She couldnt get it out and came to the ER.

4th of July Shenanigans

Worked overnight in the emergency department in Pod D. Along with all the other normal cases, this is where the jail checks come [people who are being arrested and need medical clearance]. This is also where the suicide attempts and mental health patients come. Needless to say, it was pretty busy overnight.  Saw a good amount of motor vehicle accidents and other traumas. Everyone pitched in $5 and at midnight we had a BBQ outside in the trauma bay. It was a fun shift.

Some highlights:

Man comes in with huge black eye, blood in his ear, and lip split open needing stitches
"what happened?"
"i tripped and fell on a step"
"Wow, that must have been a pretty bad fall to get your ear, eye and mouth all at once?"
"yeah,  it must have been the alcohol. I just missed a step"


A prisoner comes in for ingesting a bunch of pills, has 2 security gaurds with him
"I hate white people. And I especially hate blue eyes"
"Well shoot, I guess I should find you another doctor"
[after seeing my name tag]
"Well shit, my grandmothers name was Dot so we ain't gonna have a problem at all"
"wonderful"

First week of the rest of my career

abdominal pains, 3 year olds with arm fractures, IV lines, lacerations, chest pain, casts, splints, traumas, helicopters, suturing, incision and drainage of abscesses, motor vehicle accidents, ultrasounds, jail patients, suicidal teenagers, teenagers being brought in by cops for medical clearance before they go to jail...and so much more. This is just a portion of what the first 3 shifts in the emergency department have been. Add this to the amazing people, practical jokes, pandora playing on the computers in the background, staff willing to help with anything, and fun down to earth residents...it has been a great rotation. I have only worked 3 12 hour shifts and the staff is already starting to recognize me and call me by name, I have made a great impression on some residents, met the program director, and have had a blast with all of this. I could not be happier and I am so glad I have found something i enjoy so much.

At the beginning of my shift today there was a huge accident on the freeway and the entire freeway was closed to clean up the mess.  While driving by, I wondered if I would see any patients in the ED when I got to work. Sure enough, the driver who caused it was in our pod.

PS At the end of my shift, I shook the hand of the doctor who pronounced Rodney King dead. Thats right. Hes practically famous.

Feelin good!

Week of vacation over. 

4th year rotations have begun. 

First up, my first emergency med rotation. SO FREAKIN EXCITED! My first shift isnt until tomorrow so I went in this morning for orientation and was home by 11am. Been studying and gonna start practicing my sutures on some pigs feet [thanks Dad].

tomorrow I start in Pod B...high acuity patients and TRAUMA :)