My life as an intern has officially begun. I started my first of two surgery rotations on Tuesday. Over the next year I will be rotating through 13 28-day rotations: 4 internal medicine, 2 surgery, 2 ICU, 1 emergency room, 1 outpatient medicine clinic, and 3 electives (I am thinking rheumatology, dermatopathology, and dermatology right now). I didn’t sleep that great Monday night – lots of nerves going into the first day. I had to be there at 5:45am – I was also not used to waking up that early, but I made it. There are two general surgery teams, and on my team we have a chief resident (Dave, who is in his 5th and final year of residency) and three interns (Sarah, who is going into neurosurgery; Nate, who is going into anesthesia; and me). We rounded on our patients as a whole team – meaning we went and saw each of them, looking over a summary sheet of how they did in the last 24 hours and any pertinent labs that have returned, and then deciding on a plan for them for the day. It is nice to do this as a team so we can start to see some of the decision making that goes into deciding when to advance a patient's diet, give them certain medications, and know when they are ready to leave the hospital.
Most mornings we have a conference from 7-8, and then it is time to divide the workload between any surgeries that need to be covered and work that needs to be done with patients on the floor. The other two interns were having computer problems that first day, so I got to go in for the first surgeries and help Dr. Anderson, who was really nice and helpful in letting me assist him. The common things we help out with include removing the appendix and the gallbladder; fixing hernias of different types; and taking out breast cancer. Once the main workload is done for the day, the information about our patients is given to the intern on call and we can go home.
Needless to say, that first day was a little overwhelming as we got introduced to so many things. Lucky for us, the rest of the week has not been quite as busy, I think because many of the surgeons have been taking summer vacation. This has allowed us time to start learning the ropes of being an intern. It is a steep learning curve, but so far we are seeming to manage. We have a very understanding chief resident who is very laid back and very helpful in teaching us what to do.
Yesterday was my first overnight call as an intern. I was there from 6:30am Saturday until about 8:30am this morning. I got to help in two surgeries – removing an appendix and draining a really smelly abscess that was starting to have some dead tissue in it – actually got to do quite a bit in those surgeries, which was really cool. I also had a lot of people to dictate discharge summaries on that were leaving the hospital, which is a whole new experience to learn. You basically have to give a summary of their hospital course by talking into a phone and then transcribers get your report processed and into the chart. It was so weird to return pages and have the person on the other end start by saying something like: “Dr. Bradshaw, I have a question about patient so-and-so….” Things actually went really well and nobody died as a result of my decision making, so that is good. :)
Steph has been adjusting this week to having me at work again during the day, so being in charge of taking care of the kids all day at home. She found the library and has the kids doing the summer reading program. They also went to a fountain downtown by one of the malls where the kids could run through the water. They really enjoyed that.
She was able to get the boys all ready for church this morning and get there on time. I was able to meet them over there so that was nice. We had a really good lesson on why we go to church – it is to worship our Savior Jesus Christ, and that the meeting where we partake of the sacrament is one of the most sacred things we can do each week, so we need to do everything we can to prepare ourselves mentally and then show reverence while in that meeting in order to have the best spiritual experience possible.
Monday we were able to get the boys down to temple square. They were able to see the inside of the conference center (briefly), the north visitor center with the statue of the Christus, some things in the church history museum, a quick peek inside the tabernacle, and then a walk around the temple and the reflection pool. They keep saying how much they liked it and asking when they can go back. We also had a really yummy dinner at The Red Iguana.
Even with my busy schedule, at night there is not as much to do right now, so we have been able to enjoy watching a few movies together this week. And I have been able to play on my Nintendo Wii a little bit. Steph also found a couch at a garage sale for $25. It is brown leather couch with an ottoman, and the people delivered it here for us, so not a bad deal. Now we have more than just chairs to sit on in the basement.
Showing posts with label Internship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internship. Show all posts
29 June 2008
04 May 2008
Last Month of Medical School
This week I started into my last rotation of medical school – the preparing for internship course. This is just a 2 week lecture series – daily lectures from 8:30 to noon on various topics that the school feels will be most helpful to us in preparing for the intern year. I am amazed by how short my attention span has become for listening to lectures and wonder how I survived the first two years of lectures. :) The things they have taught so far seems pertinent and a good refresher, and it has been especially nice to see all my classmates that I haven’t seen for a few months or years.
Monday we went to the domes, since it is free for Milwaukee residents on Monday mornings. This is a set of 3 large dome-shaped greenhouses, each with a different theme inside them. One had a garden theme, one had a southwest desert theme, and one had a tropical theme. It all smelled really good and was quite pretty. We especially liked the tropical dome and so had lunch on some benches in there.
That night Steph and I were invited to dinner at an Italian restaurant with my dermatology advisor, Dr. Valerie Lyon, and her spouse, and another student that has worked with Dr. Lyon, Christine Palmer and her husband. I tried anchovies on pizza and conch (like the conch shell) in a salad for the first time. It was so nice of Dr. Lyon and her husband to treat us out.
We have started selling our big furniture on Craigslist.com and have had some success this week – we sold the bunk bed, a couch, a dresser, a bookshelf, and a small cabinet. If we can fit all of our stuff into one pod for long term storage in Rochester rather than 2, that will save us about $1000. We are going to put the “furniture money” aside and save it for when we get to Rochester to apply towards new furniture. We have also been able to get some more packing done this week and only have a little left to do after graduation. The apartment is looking quite sparse recently.
Tuesday night we met with Kendra McMullin, a resident wife in our ward who has talked with us before about finances and some suggestions to prepare for the future. She came this time to give us some advice of things she has learned since they started residency – things that we should and shouldn’t try to do once we are living on an income – I think she had some really good advice. She also gave us a book to read, called The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach, and so far it is really good. He stresses coming up with a method to pay yourself first in order to have enough saved to enjoy retirement. I was also shown a new website this week, poormd.blogspot.com that a recent graduate from my school has put together on different financial topics and he and his colleagues advice – from Roth IRAs to renting vs. buying to what to do once you start earning an income. Steph and I also sat down this week and started to put together an Excel spreadsheet showing what our monthly expenses will be next year and what things we want to start saving for. I guess we are just excited to finally have a paycheck and to start saving for the goals that we want to accomplish in our life.
Wednesday we went to the playgroup at the park. The weather was almost perfect and the boys had so much fun with their friends on the playground and in the sand. Camden is now old enough to run around with the older boys and do most of what they do, so it is fun to watch all of them playing together. We packed lunches so we could eat there at the park.
Kolby and Eli continue to improve in their swimming skills. Eli was able to swim back and forth across half the pool with only a flotation assistive device that looks like a weight barbell – his teacher just walked in front of him to make sure he was doing ok. He is also almost just tall enough to stand in the water by himself, so he likes jumping off the side and then trying to walk from me back to the wall – it is really funny to watch since he is not quite tall enough. I swam with the boys in the water after they were done and we had lots of fun.
Kolby and Eli have been working on staying dry all the time for potty training. We decided to start a new chart, and if they went 7 days straight with no accidents, then they could get some “big boy” underwear – boxer briefs – from the store. They have been so excited to work on it, and Eli actually was the first one to get to 7 days, so we went to the store and let him pick out some new underwear. He was so excited. We also had a 2 for 1 at Noodles, so we packed dinner for the boys and Steph and I were able to enjoy a nice dinner for under $8. What a deal.
We have had some fun with friends this weekend as well. Friday night we had the Kearls and the Hedgecocks over for games and dessert. They have both watched our kids for us a number of times and so we set up to watch both their kids for them last night so they could both go on a date. Then, the Wells called and came over to do an ice cream bar and games, as well as helping to watch the kids. We had 9 children last night and they all did reasonably well together. We were even able to get most of them to sleep and able to enjoy playing some games. Steph and I borrowed an old Disney movie from the Kearls called The Happiest Millionaire that we finished watching this weekend and that was really funny.
Well, it is a nice sunny Sunday morning and the kids are getting a little rowdy, so I probably should end to go and help Steph get them all ready for church.
Monday we went to the domes, since it is free for Milwaukee residents on Monday mornings. This is a set of 3 large dome-shaped greenhouses, each with a different theme inside them. One had a garden theme, one had a southwest desert theme, and one had a tropical theme. It all smelled really good and was quite pretty. We especially liked the tropical dome and so had lunch on some benches in there.
That night Steph and I were invited to dinner at an Italian restaurant with my dermatology advisor, Dr. Valerie Lyon, and her spouse, and another student that has worked with Dr. Lyon, Christine Palmer and her husband. I tried anchovies on pizza and conch (like the conch shell) in a salad for the first time. It was so nice of Dr. Lyon and her husband to treat us out.
We have started selling our big furniture on Craigslist.com and have had some success this week – we sold the bunk bed, a couch, a dresser, a bookshelf, and a small cabinet. If we can fit all of our stuff into one pod for long term storage in Rochester rather than 2, that will save us about $1000. We are going to put the “furniture money” aside and save it for when we get to Rochester to apply towards new furniture. We have also been able to get some more packing done this week and only have a little left to do after graduation. The apartment is looking quite sparse recently.
Tuesday night we met with Kendra McMullin, a resident wife in our ward who has talked with us before about finances and some suggestions to prepare for the future. She came this time to give us some advice of things she has learned since they started residency – things that we should and shouldn’t try to do once we are living on an income – I think she had some really good advice. She also gave us a book to read, called The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach, and so far it is really good. He stresses coming up with a method to pay yourself first in order to have enough saved to enjoy retirement. I was also shown a new website this week, poormd.blogspot.com that a recent graduate from my school has put together on different financial topics and he and his colleagues advice – from Roth IRAs to renting vs. buying to what to do once you start earning an income. Steph and I also sat down this week and started to put together an Excel spreadsheet showing what our monthly expenses will be next year and what things we want to start saving for. I guess we are just excited to finally have a paycheck and to start saving for the goals that we want to accomplish in our life.
Wednesday we went to the playgroup at the park. The weather was almost perfect and the boys had so much fun with their friends on the playground and in the sand. Camden is now old enough to run around with the older boys and do most of what they do, so it is fun to watch all of them playing together. We packed lunches so we could eat there at the park.
Kolby and Eli continue to improve in their swimming skills. Eli was able to swim back and forth across half the pool with only a flotation assistive device that looks like a weight barbell – his teacher just walked in front of him to make sure he was doing ok. He is also almost just tall enough to stand in the water by himself, so he likes jumping off the side and then trying to walk from me back to the wall – it is really funny to watch since he is not quite tall enough. I swam with the boys in the water after they were done and we had lots of fun.
Kolby and Eli have been working on staying dry all the time for potty training. We decided to start a new chart, and if they went 7 days straight with no accidents, then they could get some “big boy” underwear – boxer briefs – from the store. They have been so excited to work on it, and Eli actually was the first one to get to 7 days, so we went to the store and let him pick out some new underwear. He was so excited. We also had a 2 for 1 at Noodles, so we packed dinner for the boys and Steph and I were able to enjoy a nice dinner for under $8. What a deal.
We have had some fun with friends this weekend as well. Friday night we had the Kearls and the Hedgecocks over for games and dessert. They have both watched our kids for us a number of times and so we set up to watch both their kids for them last night so they could both go on a date. Then, the Wells called and came over to do an ice cream bar and games, as well as helping to watch the kids. We had 9 children last night and they all did reasonably well together. We were even able to get most of them to sleep and able to enjoy playing some games. Steph and I borrowed an old Disney movie from the Kearls called The Happiest Millionaire that we finished watching this weekend and that was really funny.
Well, it is a nice sunny Sunday morning and the kids are getting a little rowdy, so I probably should end to go and help Steph get them all ready for church.
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