Today kicked off the first day of my psychiatry rotation. I get to spend the next four weeks learning to manage the myriad psychological issues that will afflict my future patients. To say that I had a deer-in-the-headlights look all day would be an understatement. It was both frightening to the core and a remarkable experience.
Beginning the day, I took the road to the hospital with cheerful confidence. It is a nice leisurely drive from where we're staying to the hospital. For the most part, the area is quite beautiful - wide open fields, gently rolling hills with long shadows dashing across them early in the morning. The nearer to the hospital you get, the more the trees close in and the last stretch of road is a mildly creepy meandering road through the woods. As the trees thin the hospital jumps into view, looming three stories above you. It looks exactly as a psychiatric hospital should - pale brown bricks, a flagpole standing tall at the front door, and long wings stretching to either side of the main entrance. The whole picture is topped off by that which only nature can provide - a permeating chill cuts through me and the grass crunches as a fresh coat of frost gives way under my feet.
The day went just fine - there were no issues with any of the patients at all. In fact, I enjoyed getting to know a couple of them and putting their angst-ridden minds at ease a bit with a few soft words and a plan to help them. But the entire ward was, just as the outside of the hospital, exactly what one would expect from an institution like this one. The lights were down low (in fact only every other light fixture was on), each door requires opening with a key are re-locking after passing through. The basement (which is used by the staff as the main mode of movement from one building to another) is a half-lit labrynth of hallways and corridors, offices and conference rooms. I was lost instantly. Simply leaving the hospital at the end of the day took me a full 15 minutes and I have a set of keys to the place.
Overall, this will be a challenging rotation. I did not thoroughly enjoy my first day which I usually do. I mean to make the most of the time I will spend here, but I anticipate that it will be a bit difficult. Only time will tell.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Daylight
A few months ago I had been under the impression that I was busy. I realize now what busy really means but what gets me is that I am still probably wrong about what I consider busy. At any rate...
The past week has been rather intense. We have seen 80+ patients over three days and performed 14 operations. Each day has been longer than 12 hours for the surgeon and myself. Of course, this week is offset by the prior week in which we only had 60 patients and 9 surgeries. I understand that not all weeks are like this one, but it's still to the point that I have to ask myself - how do they do it? I am thankful that I don't have a residency waiting for me in which these hours would be pretty much normal. I don't envy anyone that mental stress but I also am thankful that I will not subject my family to that. Not seeing the daylight for four straight days (literally) definitely has an adverse effect on me but also for my family.
An important part of all of this is that we all (my family and I) will have to understand that there will be weeks like this one - there will be weeks when I need to work a lot of extra hours because there is a lot of work to be done. We can handle that. But we also need to understand that when the weeks are a bit slower, we need to recharge the batteries a bit - we need to let things be a little slower and spend some extra time doing family centered things. I guess I need to point out that I need to learn to take it a little slower on the slow weeks - and it's something that everyone coming after me should take into account.
My advice: as students, take the slow weeks to tend to the family/friends.
Now, if only I could take my own advice.
The past week has been rather intense. We have seen 80+ patients over three days and performed 14 operations. Each day has been longer than 12 hours for the surgeon and myself. Of course, this week is offset by the prior week in which we only had 60 patients and 9 surgeries. I understand that not all weeks are like this one, but it's still to the point that I have to ask myself - how do they do it? I am thankful that I don't have a residency waiting for me in which these hours would be pretty much normal. I don't envy anyone that mental stress but I also am thankful that I will not subject my family to that. Not seeing the daylight for four straight days (literally) definitely has an adverse effect on me but also for my family.
An important part of all of this is that we all (my family and I) will have to understand that there will be weeks like this one - there will be weeks when I need to work a lot of extra hours because there is a lot of work to be done. We can handle that. But we also need to understand that when the weeks are a bit slower, we need to recharge the batteries a bit - we need to let things be a little slower and spend some extra time doing family centered things. I guess I need to point out that I need to learn to take it a little slower on the slow weeks - and it's something that everyone coming after me should take into account.
My advice: as students, take the slow weeks to tend to the family/friends.
Now, if only I could take my own advice.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Orthopedic surgery
This past week has been spent learning the ropes of a local orthopedic surgery practice. To say that we have been busy is an understatement. We have had over seventy patients in the office (on the three days that we saw patients in the office) and have performed twelve surgeries. It has been a whirlwind and I have tried my hardest to keep up. Whether or not I have done that well is up in the air. Regardless, I have enjoyed the ride.
We began on Monday in the clinic doing some pre-op and follow-up appointments. We had a few new patients, so in all it was a well-rounded day. On Tuesday it was all OR - seven cases in total. And we began the day with a procedure I had never seen before - a total knee replacement. It was an eye opening day and I was reminded of how much I enjoyed the OR during general surgery some months ago. More clinic and surgery on Wednesday, then Thursday just clinic. Friday was another day of surgery in which we performed a meniscus transplant. What an experience! The surgeon took a piece of donor meniscus (knee cartilage) and sewed it into a patient whose knee cartilage was pretty much plum worn out.
The emotional ride has been a little less extreme, but I am still humbled by all that I am doing now as a student. The job that we have as medical providers is, in a word, huge. I am enjoying learning that job and I am truly awestruck by the extent of what we need to know and be able to do. At this moment, I feel very tiny in the world of medicine - as if I am too small to be able to do my job. Yet in eight short months (ok - seven and a half, but who's counting?) I will need to be a functional part of this system. I know I will get there, but it still seems so far away.
We began on Monday in the clinic doing some pre-op and follow-up appointments. We had a few new patients, so in all it was a well-rounded day. On Tuesday it was all OR - seven cases in total. And we began the day with a procedure I had never seen before - a total knee replacement. It was an eye opening day and I was reminded of how much I enjoyed the OR during general surgery some months ago. More clinic and surgery on Wednesday, then Thursday just clinic. Friday was another day of surgery in which we performed a meniscus transplant. What an experience! The surgeon took a piece of donor meniscus (knee cartilage) and sewed it into a patient whose knee cartilage was pretty much plum worn out.
The emotional ride has been a little less extreme, but I am still humbled by all that I am doing now as a student. The job that we have as medical providers is, in a word, huge. I am enjoying learning that job and I am truly awestruck by the extent of what we need to know and be able to do. At this moment, I feel very tiny in the world of medicine - as if I am too small to be able to do my job. Yet in eight short months (ok - seven and a half, but who's counting?) I will need to be a functional part of this system. I know I will get there, but it still seems so far away.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Funny pictures
As anyone else, I enjoy a humorous picture every now and again. This picture isn't quite as funny as the story behind the employees reaction when I took it. First, the picture:
Then the story:
We were out at some establishment (I don't want to name any names, of course) and I happened to be wearing a jacket that identified me as a local ambulance company member (a Christmas gift from the company). An employee had noticed my coat and wished us all a quiet evening (which didn't happen by the way). As we were going about our business, we noticed that there was conspicuously no fire extinguisher on the wall and, what with the big sign and an arrow pointing to where it should be, we got a good laugh and I decided to snap a picture for giggles. Well, the employee took note that an ambulance company member was snapping a picture of a place where a fire extinguisher is supposed to be and got just a little worked up -
"Wait, wait... We have a fire extinguisher right here!" She dutifully pulled one out from behind the counter. "It just fell down and we haven't had a chance to put it back up yet," the look on her face a mixture of "got caught with a hand in the cookie jar" and "please don't tell anyone... it was an accident, honest."
I reassured the kind employee that I was snapping the picture for my own personal amusement and that I really do not care about the fact that the fire extinguisher is not exactly where the sign on the wall says that it should be. I tried to convey that I was confident that they had everyone's safety well taken care of and that there was really nothing to worry about. But I don't think I succeeded.
In the end I got more of a chuckle out of the employee's reaction than I did over the photo itself. And I realize that this means I am a horrible person.
Then the story:
We were out at some establishment (I don't want to name any names, of course) and I happened to be wearing a jacket that identified me as a local ambulance company member (a Christmas gift from the company). An employee had noticed my coat and wished us all a quiet evening (which didn't happen by the way). As we were going about our business, we noticed that there was conspicuously no fire extinguisher on the wall and, what with the big sign and an arrow pointing to where it should be, we got a good laugh and I decided to snap a picture for giggles. Well, the employee took note that an ambulance company member was snapping a picture of a place where a fire extinguisher is supposed to be and got just a little worked up -
"Wait, wait... We have a fire extinguisher right here!" She dutifully pulled one out from behind the counter. "It just fell down and we haven't had a chance to put it back up yet," the look on her face a mixture of "got caught with a hand in the cookie jar" and "please don't tell anyone... it was an accident, honest."
I reassured the kind employee that I was snapping the picture for my own personal amusement and that I really do not care about the fact that the fire extinguisher is not exactly where the sign on the wall says that it should be. I tried to convey that I was confident that they had everyone's safety well taken care of and that there was really nothing to worry about. But I don't think I succeeded.
In the end I got more of a chuckle out of the employee's reaction than I did over the photo itself. And I realize that this means I am a horrible person.
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