As you all probably realize by now, pre-meds are insufferable individuals, by in large. However what I was wrong about was that somehow this would end once med school started. Afterall, we were all IN med school! What was there left to compete over!
I was so naive.
So behold, I give you an incomplete list of all the NEW things that you can compete over now that you've finally gotten into medical school. And please guys, if I've forgotten something important, feel free to add it in the comments.
Note -- Every single one of these has happened to me.
First, the obvious:
1. Who went to the "better" med school. As in, "So what that Sally got into Harvard. Everybody knows that the most compassionate primary care doctors go to [insert less prestigious school here]. Harvard people are jerks. I wouldn't have gone there if they paid me." (is attending safety school)
2. Who got the "better" residency. As in, "Shauna is such a sellout. She only went into derm for the money and the hours. She's not going to be a REAL doctor (like me). If she really cared about helping people, she'd have gone into Family Medicine (like me)." (barely passed the boards on 2nd try)
3. Grades. As in, "I got a 96 on that test, what did you get? Huh, only a 94, eh? Well, I really want to be a GOOD DOCTOR, which is why I think it's important to do well on these tests, even if this course is only pass/fail." (hasn't yet realized that patients won't care what she scored on one genetics test)
4. Studying. As in, "You were studying last night? God, you really work a lot! I can't remember the last time I cracked a book." (secretly studying in the library until 11PM on Saturday night)
5. Talking to professors after class. "God, I can't believe Marie went and asked the professor ANOTHER QUESTION. She goes up there after every single lecture. She's such a butt kisser!" (had to wait behind Marie AGAIN to ask her question)
6. The match. "Can you believe Anna had to scramble? I think she ended up in Peds. I feel so bad for her!" (felt she was competing directly with Anna for derm residency spot)
Second, social skills:
1. Niceness. "I felt bad when I was excited to read the results of the MRI to see what was going on with my patient because that would mean that a patient was suffering as I enjoyed being interested in his diagnosis." (didn't really feel bad, but thinks it's PC to say so)
2. Appropriateness. "I thought it was completely inappropriate when my co-medical student said [insert completely benign / amusing phrase here]. She is so unprofessional!" (jealous that attending laughed at co-student's joke)
3. Maturity. As in, "Since I'm a mother," or, "When I was your age," or, "You'll understand when you get to be ___."
Self-deprivation
1. Sleep. "You slept 8 hours last night??? Wow. I feel like I function optimally with 4 hours. Aren't you worried that you're going to be a failure in life since you need so much sleep?" (Slept 7 hours or more every night for the past 5 years)
2. Eating and Skinniness I. "I literally had NO TIME to eat during my Surgery rotation. I lost 5 pounds because I was working so hard. It's just not good for me." (closet anorexic, secretly pleased about her "inevitable" weight loss due to strenuous surgery rotation.)
3. Eating and Skinniness II. "Did you see what Samantha brought for lunch today? She has been losing so much weight this semester. I am so concerned about her." (jealousy masquerading as faux concern.)
4. How hard you work. "I haven't slept in 48 hours and I'm STILL going strong! My team needed me to assist on some very important surgery." (is lying)
Personal Life
1. Marital status. "If Suzie goes into Surgery, she won't be able to spend time with her husband, and that will be SO HARD on their marriage." (hasn't had a date in two years)
2. Children. "I can't believe Melissa wants to go into Surgery AND have children. Only a selfish woman would do such a thing. I firmly believe that you shouldn't have children unless you plan on spending time with them, which is why I plan to work part time once I finish my pediatrics residency." (has trust fund)
3. Infidelity. "Can you believe that Jack is going out with Sarah now? He only just broke up with Connie. Sarah is such a slut!" (wants to sleep with Jack herself)
Research
1. Papers. "You shouldn't brag about your publications. MY last paper was published in Science." (was 12th author out of 16)
2. Speed of completion of MD-PhD. "I can't believe Hans is going to finish in 6 years!" (I hope I don't end up with Hans as my senior resident.)
3. Time spent doing research. "I was in lab until 3AM last night." (playing floor hockey)
Monday, November 29, 2010
Road Rage
Last night driving back from CT, Luca and I felt lucky that we missed most of the heavy traffic by leaving relatively early. Still, there were a few idiots.
Every time I'm behind someone on the highway who drives erratically, or painfully slowly, I'm reminded of a colleague from the industrial supply company from hell.
When he was driving, and he saw someone bearing down on him too fast in his rear view mirror, he would pull into the passing lane and then (intentionally) drive in tandem with the car to his right. Maybe he'd accelerate slightly, to give the poor bastard behind him hope, but then he would slow down again.
He'd do this for several miles.
Finally, he move back over to the right hand lane as he approached a known speed trap. Then he'd watch as the incensed driver behind him zoomed by, only to get pulled over by a cop immediately.
He took particular pleasure in doing this if the person in question had out of state plates, or drove a nicer car than he had.
(Clearly John did not live in a big city, otherwise he'd probably have been shot at some point.)
So, every time I find myself getting frustrated by the car in front of me, I take a deep breath and imagine that it's just John driving in front of me, trying to get under my skin.
It helps a lot.
If only I could find something equivalent to relax me in other areas of my life....
Every time I'm behind someone on the highway who drives erratically, or painfully slowly, I'm reminded of a colleague from the industrial supply company from hell.
When he was driving, and he saw someone bearing down on him too fast in his rear view mirror, he would pull into the passing lane and then (intentionally) drive in tandem with the car to his right. Maybe he'd accelerate slightly, to give the poor bastard behind him hope, but then he would slow down again.
He'd do this for several miles.
Finally, he move back over to the right hand lane as he approached a known speed trap. Then he'd watch as the incensed driver behind him zoomed by, only to get pulled over by a cop immediately.
He took particular pleasure in doing this if the person in question had out of state plates, or drove a nicer car than he had.
(Clearly John did not live in a big city, otherwise he'd probably have been shot at some point.)
So, every time I find myself getting frustrated by the car in front of me, I take a deep breath and imagine that it's just John driving in front of me, trying to get under my skin.
It helps a lot.
If only I could find something equivalent to relax me in other areas of my life....
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Some people never change
I recently found out that a guy I knew from undergrad....
- Who argued every grade he ever got in college (even over 0.5 points),
- Who continued to argue with his med school professors about "unfair" questions on exams (i.e. any question he got wrong),
- Who argued with his professors about 1 point here or there on his exams during the masters degree he completed during fellowship (even though his grades no longer mattered),
Has gone on to argue with the editor of a major journal about his first paper that got rejected.
Insufferable.
Some people never change.
- Who argued every grade he ever got in college (even over 0.5 points),
- Who continued to argue with his med school professors about "unfair" questions on exams (i.e. any question he got wrong),
- Who argued with his professors about 1 point here or there on his exams during the masters degree he completed during fellowship (even though his grades no longer mattered),
Has gone on to argue with the editor of a major journal about his first paper that got rejected.
Insufferable.
Some people never change.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Sometimes it pays to get a little somethin' somethin'
I was just reading an excerpt from Michelle Au's book. And I have to tell you, it is SPOT ON. Except I don't remember the residents being that angry with me (except on Ob/Gyn). And now we have Pandora and MP3 players in the OR, not CDs.
Anyhow, it reminded of this time on my neurosurgery rotation when one of the 2nd year residents* was putting a foley in a patient. The patient was a young attractive woman, which is NOT what you want to be thinking about when you're putting in the foley.
Anyhow, we all watched as the resident repeatedly tried to catheterize this poor woman's clitoris. Oh, and then he got it in.... into her VAGINA. All of this to the intense amusement of his senior resident, the scrub nurse, and the circulator. And me too, though I wasn't about to say anything.
"Been a while, Jimmy?" they cackled.
"Gosh, maybe they really ARE working you guys too hard!"
"Good thing you're a brain doctor and not a gynecologist."
On his fourth try, he finally got it in with some additional guidance from the females in the room and a fair share of heckling.
Thank goodness the patient was already intubated and unconscious.
*I'd have been putting in the foley myself, but earlier in the year they had banned medical students from putting foleys in patients. It was part of the new infection control protocols. We were now barely allowed in the room while a central line was being placed, and we weren't allowed to do foleys either.
Anyhow, it reminded of this time on my neurosurgery rotation when one of the 2nd year residents* was putting a foley in a patient. The patient was a young attractive woman, which is NOT what you want to be thinking about when you're putting in the foley.
Anyhow, we all watched as the resident repeatedly tried to catheterize this poor woman's clitoris. Oh, and then he got it in.... into her VAGINA. All of this to the intense amusement of his senior resident, the scrub nurse, and the circulator. And me too, though I wasn't about to say anything.
"Been a while, Jimmy?" they cackled.
"Gosh, maybe they really ARE working you guys too hard!"
"Good thing you're a brain doctor and not a gynecologist."
On his fourth try, he finally got it in with some additional guidance from the females in the room and a fair share of heckling.
Thank goodness the patient was already intubated and unconscious.
*I'd have been putting in the foley myself, but earlier in the year they had banned medical students from putting foleys in patients. It was part of the new infection control protocols. We were now barely allowed in the room while a central line was being placed, and we weren't allowed to do foleys either.
When "come" doesn't work
Though Miss Boo is a very well trained dog, she doesn't always come when called. I know!! I wouldn't have believed it either, since she is perfect in every way.
This weekend I learned a new way to get her to come. When she blows me off, I just turn to Luca and say, "What a good boy Luca is! He's such a good boy!" In my best good dog voice. Then I give him a few kisses and pet him on the head as though he were a dog.
Boo will come rushing over to get in on the action. And so far, my success rate is 100%.
I've created a monster.
This weekend I learned a new way to get her to come. When she blows me off, I just turn to Luca and say, "What a good boy Luca is! He's such a good boy!" In my best good dog voice. Then I give him a few kisses and pet him on the head as though he were a dog.
Boo will come rushing over to get in on the action. And so far, my success rate is 100%.
I've created a monster.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
White Noise
Because the Boo is a champion snorer, we have continued to sleep with the fan on as it has gotten colder. Despite this, Boo's snoring is so loud that Luca can hear it in the morning when he goes downstairs to make his coffee (at 4AM, Ugh).
It's a little chilly, and I wonder if the Boo is cold. Her ears and tail are cold in the morning, so on the weekends I've been letting her up on the bed underneath the comforter with me after Luca gets up. You would think she would mind that I put my legs on her, or that she would mind that I cover her entire body (including head) up with the comforter. But no. She does not mind. She is my little heater.
And you can still hear the snoring from underneath the blanket. It's a little muffled, but it's still there.
This morning when I got up, I saw her head poking out at the foot of the bed. She totally did not want to leave her warm nest.
So I guess, yes, maybe the Boo is a little bit cold on the floor in her crate at night.
We really need to get a white noise machine.
It's a little chilly, and I wonder if the Boo is cold. Her ears and tail are cold in the morning, so on the weekends I've been letting her up on the bed underneath the comforter with me after Luca gets up. You would think she would mind that I put my legs on her, or that she would mind that I cover her entire body (including head) up with the comforter. But no. She does not mind. She is my little heater.
And you can still hear the snoring from underneath the blanket. It's a little muffled, but it's still there.
This morning when I got up, I saw her head poking out at the foot of the bed. She totally did not want to leave her warm nest.
So I guess, yes, maybe the Boo is a little bit cold on the floor in her crate at night.
We really need to get a white noise machine.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Death
Did you know that I was an avid horseback rider until the age of 16? I did eventing and got all the way up to Preliminary level. At one point, I was one of two riders under the age of 16 competing at that level in my region.
When I quit, my parents were convinced that I would never get into a good college. (Yes, they were they type who worried about such things.) Quitting your main extracurricular didn't look very good on a college application, you see. This however, was overshadowed by relief that they would no longer have to pay for me to ride, so they didn't hassle me TOO much about it.
Anyhow, when I applied to The University of Chicago, an application that I put off until the very last day before it was due since their essays are so annoying, I wrote about why I quit.
Basically it boiled down to the fact that I didn't want to severely injure myself in a riding accident. Or die. I can't even begin to count the number of times I have fallen off. Or had my horse fall. On me. I had also begun to develop a real mental block about triple combinations.
Oh also? I wrote a poem not an essay.
Turns out, I wasn't totally nuts. Did you know that horseback riding has a higher injury rate than motorcycle riding? And that's not even taking into account the super risky sport within riding that I was doing.
Don't know if I got in to college because of that or in spite of it. Rumor has it that The U of C admitted most of its applicants that year. Who knows? I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes quitting something is a smart thing to do -- it can save your parents a lot of money, and possibly also your neck!!
When I quit, my parents were convinced that I would never get into a good college. (Yes, they were they type who worried about such things.) Quitting your main extracurricular didn't look very good on a college application, you see. This however, was overshadowed by relief that they would no longer have to pay for me to ride, so they didn't hassle me TOO much about it.
Anyhow, when I applied to The University of Chicago, an application that I put off until the very last day before it was due since their essays are so annoying, I wrote about why I quit.
Basically it boiled down to the fact that I didn't want to severely injure myself in a riding accident. Or die. I can't even begin to count the number of times I have fallen off. Or had my horse fall. On me. I had also begun to develop a real mental block about triple combinations.
Oh also? I wrote a poem not an essay.
Turns out, I wasn't totally nuts. Did you know that horseback riding has a higher injury rate than motorcycle riding? And that's not even taking into account the super risky sport within riding that I was doing.
Don't know if I got in to college because of that or in spite of it. Rumor has it that The U of C admitted most of its applicants that year. Who knows? I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes quitting something is a smart thing to do -- it can save your parents a lot of money, and possibly also your neck!!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Done
One of my MD-PhD classmates (in basic science) who started the same year I did is defending his dissertation this week. That means he is going to graduate in 2012, 6 years after he started.
(To give you some perspective, the median # of years is 8, which is what I'm shooting for.)
I don't especially care. He's not in my field, and it doesn't affect me at all. But I do wonder whether my other MD-PhD compadres are gnashing their teeth in bitter competitive jealousy over this. There's been this unspoken tension since we started this program over who is going to graduate first, who has the most and the best publications, and who is the smartest and most likely to win a Nobel Prize.
One guy sends around email announcements to the group whenever someone has a new publication listed on PubMed. He hasn't done it for a while though. Maybe he realized how lame it was?
Fortunately this contest doesn't affect me since as a clinical researcher, I am automatically inferior. :-)
Anywho.... med school brings out the best in people, doesn't it?
At any rate -- Congrats to my classmate!!
(To give you some perspective, the median # of years is 8, which is what I'm shooting for.)
I don't especially care. He's not in my field, and it doesn't affect me at all. But I do wonder whether my other MD-PhD compadres are gnashing their teeth in bitter competitive jealousy over this. There's been this unspoken tension since we started this program over who is going to graduate first, who has the most and the best publications, and who is the smartest and most likely to win a Nobel Prize.
One guy sends around email announcements to the group whenever someone has a new publication listed on PubMed. He hasn't done it for a while though. Maybe he realized how lame it was?
Fortunately this contest doesn't affect me since as a clinical researcher, I am automatically inferior. :-)
Anywho.... med school brings out the best in people, doesn't it?
At any rate -- Congrats to my classmate!!
Look it up!
A non-med friend and I were talking the other day about going to the doctor. It seems that when this friend goes to the doctor, the doctor will not only explain things to him, but will whip out the ole' textbook to look up the explanation. The doctor will then point out the relevant sections in the textbook to my friend for his education and/or enjoyment.
My friend was disturbed by this behavior.
He said it made the doctor look like he didn't know what he was doing. That doctors should just know all of this stuff off their top of their heads.
I'm not sure what to think. Maybe this doctor is an idiot. On the other hand it could be that this doctor thinks this guy is smart and interested, and wants to provide him the in depth explanation.
Or maybe the question is a bit esoteric, and the doctor wants to look it up to be sure of treatment, prognosis, etc. to be sure that the information he is providing is 100% accurate.
And plus, there is just no way that a doctor can possibly know everything, and that a lot of times we look stuff up after we leave the exam room when the patient isn't watching anyway. At least I do. And I saw attendings do this also on numerous occasions when I was a rotating med student as well, so I know it's not just me.
I ultimately said he should be happy this doctor looks things up and takes the time to explain, since a lot of doctors will just blow you off or make up an answer rather than admit to not knowing or looking it up in front of you. That he should take it as a compliment that the doctor thinks he smart and interested enough to care about the details.
What do you think? Do you think it's a mistake to look things up in front of patients?
My friend was disturbed by this behavior.
He said it made the doctor look like he didn't know what he was doing. That doctors should just know all of this stuff off their top of their heads.
I'm not sure what to think. Maybe this doctor is an idiot. On the other hand it could be that this doctor thinks this guy is smart and interested, and wants to provide him the in depth explanation.
Or maybe the question is a bit esoteric, and the doctor wants to look it up to be sure of treatment, prognosis, etc. to be sure that the information he is providing is 100% accurate.
And plus, there is just no way that a doctor can possibly know everything, and that a lot of times we look stuff up after we leave the exam room when the patient isn't watching anyway. At least I do. And I saw attendings do this also on numerous occasions when I was a rotating med student as well, so I know it's not just me.
I ultimately said he should be happy this doctor looks things up and takes the time to explain, since a lot of doctors will just blow you off or make up an answer rather than admit to not knowing or looking it up in front of you. That he should take it as a compliment that the doctor thinks he smart and interested enough to care about the details.
What do you think? Do you think it's a mistake to look things up in front of patients?
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Below the Radar
I have had the occasion on numerous times in the past to receive the advice that I should try to "fly below the radar" from time to time.
Useless, I tell you.
Why?
Because it seems to be completely physically impossible for me to do this. Even when I try. Even when I swear to God I didn't even open my mouth.
Case in point, when I did my evening in the ED a week ago, several of the nurses came up to me and told me that they remembered me from two years ago.
I got the same comment from several attendings.
Hello! Nice to see you again as well!
There was a fellow last year who had literally taught ONE discussion section that we had during 2nd year of med school -- also two years before -- who told me that he remembered me. I said (as I often do), "I hope not for something bad." Haha. Seriously.
And today, a co-student in one of my stats classes came up to me and told me that she remembered me from the Trauma SICU two years ago. I was ashamed to say that I didn't remember her. That was the rotation where I *thought* I'd flown below the radar because one of my reviews said I should speak up more (hello generic female med student review). Despite this, the nursing staff seems to have remembered me.
So. Note to self. Don't F up. And be nice to everyone. Actually, that's good advice to follow no matter what. But if you're like me and pathologically above the radar it goes double.
And really guys, don't do ANYTHING to piss off a nurse. Because that sh*t will really and truly bite you in the a$$. If not then in the future in ways you would never expect. A nurse never forgets.... anything.
Useless, I tell you.
Why?
Because it seems to be completely physically impossible for me to do this. Even when I try. Even when I swear to God I didn't even open my mouth.
Case in point, when I did my evening in the ED a week ago, several of the nurses came up to me and told me that they remembered me from two years ago.
I got the same comment from several attendings.
Hello! Nice to see you again as well!
There was a fellow last year who had literally taught ONE discussion section that we had during 2nd year of med school -- also two years before -- who told me that he remembered me. I said (as I often do), "I hope not for something bad." Haha. Seriously.
And today, a co-student in one of my stats classes came up to me and told me that she remembered me from the Trauma SICU two years ago. I was ashamed to say that I didn't remember her. That was the rotation where I *thought* I'd flown below the radar because one of my reviews said I should speak up more (hello generic female med student review). Despite this, the nursing staff seems to have remembered me.
So. Note to self. Don't F up. And be nice to everyone. Actually, that's good advice to follow no matter what. But if you're like me and pathologically above the radar it goes double.
And really guys, don't do ANYTHING to piss off a nurse. Because that sh*t will really and truly bite you in the a$$. If not then in the future in ways you would never expect. A nurse never forgets.... anything.
Frigo
We got a new refrigerator yesterday! Ever since we moved in a year and a half ago, I have hated our old fridge.
It wouldn't stay shut.
It was small.
The shelves were inconveniently located.
And it made the lights flicker every time the compressor went on.
We upgraded to a 25 cubic foot fridge with double doors and a bottom freezer. The amount of space we have now is truly amazing. Plus the doors stay closed and it doesn't make the lights flicker!
Sometimes it's the small things in life that can make you happier.
Now all we need is more counter space, and I think I'll be all set with the kitchen.
It wouldn't stay shut.
It was small.
The shelves were inconveniently located.
And it made the lights flicker every time the compressor went on.
We upgraded to a 25 cubic foot fridge with double doors and a bottom freezer. The amount of space we have now is truly amazing. Plus the doors stay closed and it doesn't make the lights flicker!
Sometimes it's the small things in life that can make you happier.
Now all we need is more counter space, and I think I'll be all set with the kitchen.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Fantasy Football is Lame
A few years back, a group of med school friends and I decided to form an all woman med student fantasy football league. I thought it would be fun! I don't know *that* much about football, but I figured the interaction with my classmates could keep it interesting.
How wrong I was.
So, pretty much every single girl who signed up had her boyfriend/husband/fiancehelp with the draft do the draft for her.
Then, trash talking was frowned upon. WTF?? That's the most fun part! Isn't it all supposed to be in good fun?
And people got super competitive with each other.
One girl got lazy and didn't bother to update her roster to take into account bye weeks. Since her team played certain other teams more often, people cried about how unfair it was that they would automatically get more victories because her team would automatically lose. OH MY GOD NOT THAT. So one of the boyfriends took over and managed this girl's team (in addition to his girlfriend's).
It was really really lame.
In other related news, I recently found out that my mentor has 7 (7!) fantasy football teams. He said that the marginal work associated with having more than one team was small because once you've already done all the research for one league, you might as well be in more than one.
????
I'm sorry, but the words "marginal" and "football" should never be uttered in the same sentence.
Then he complains that I need to be more productive. Ha.
Verdict: Projecting masculinity through fantasy sports = Lame.
Men who manage their girlfriend's fantasy sports teams for them = Lame.
Being bizarrely competitive about something that isn't even real = Lame.
I guess having a fantasy team made me follow football more closely. If that is even a good thing. This year we don't have a tv and I don't miss it at all.
So in conclusion: fantasy football is lame.
Discuss.
How wrong I was.
So, pretty much every single girl who signed up had her boyfriend/husband/fiance
Then, trash talking was frowned upon. WTF?? That's the most fun part! Isn't it all supposed to be in good fun?
And people got super competitive with each other.
One girl got lazy and didn't bother to update her roster to take into account bye weeks. Since her team played certain other teams more often, people cried about how unfair it was that they would automatically get more victories because her team would automatically lose. OH MY GOD NOT THAT. So one of the boyfriends took over and managed this girl's team (in addition to his girlfriend's).
It was really really lame.
In other related news, I recently found out that my mentor has 7 (7!) fantasy football teams. He said that the marginal work associated with having more than one team was small because once you've already done all the research for one league, you might as well be in more than one.
????
I'm sorry, but the words "marginal" and "football" should never be uttered in the same sentence.
Then he complains that I need to be more productive. Ha.
Verdict: Projecting masculinity through fantasy sports = Lame.
Men who manage their girlfriend's fantasy sports teams for them = Lame.
Being bizarrely competitive about something that isn't even real = Lame.
I guess having a fantasy team made me follow football more closely. If that is even a good thing. This year we don't have a tv and I don't miss it at all.
So in conclusion: fantasy football is lame.
Discuss.
Monday, November 15, 2010
VMD Wannabe
A friend of mine is getting ready for her vet boards. Like for USMLE Step 1, there is a database of questions that vet students work their way through in order to prepare. The most notable difference?
While we might have a question like this: A 73 year old man presents with syncope on exertion is found to have a sytolic ejection murmur on physical exam....
The vet question will read like this: Your patient Fluffy, a 10 year old Himalayan, presents with anorexia, lethargy, and dermatitis with hair loss around the base of the tail.... (I am totally making up this scenario.)
I had to go through several questions before I stopped snickering at the patients named Fluffy or Rufus.
And you know what? Dogs and cats are a lot like people! The symptoms are similar and I found that I did pretty well on these questions. Almost as well as the vet student! Who knew you could give a dog cisapride for constipation, just like in a human??
However, that whole section on atherosclerotic disease that we have to learn about in med school? Yeah, dogs and cats don't get that. Apparently not even the obese ones.
Other observations.....
Cows are waaaaaaayyyyyy different than anything I've ever seen in a person. Totally different viruses. Weird treatments. Just wacky stuff.
I could remember a bunch about horses from my former life as a pony-clubber. Navicular? I totally nailed that question.
I don't even try with the bird questions. Except when the answer is obviously "cull the entire flock."
Speaking of which, the amount of times "euthanize" was the answer was a little sad. Although maybe not as sad as keeping granny alive on the ventilator for 6 months while she develops a 4th degree sacral decub, sepsis, and eventually drowns in her own secretions.... but I digress.
The vet questions also helped me brush up on my parasitology. We spent so little time on that during med school that basically all I remember is metronidazole (and only that because it treats anaerobes too), giardia, and trichomoniasis. Ok maybe I remember a few other things as well, but suffice to say the amount of detail required for us is definitely not as large as what the vet students need to know.
I promised my friend that I would stop bothering her so she could do her Q-bank in peace. I think she was grateful! It was a fun diversion, though.
Heehee.
While we might have a question like this: A 73 year old man presents with syncope on exertion is found to have a sytolic ejection murmur on physical exam....
The vet question will read like this: Your patient Fluffy, a 10 year old Himalayan, presents with anorexia, lethargy, and dermatitis with hair loss around the base of the tail.... (I am totally making up this scenario.)
I had to go through several questions before I stopped snickering at the patients named Fluffy or Rufus.
And you know what? Dogs and cats are a lot like people! The symptoms are similar and I found that I did pretty well on these questions. Almost as well as the vet student! Who knew you could give a dog cisapride for constipation, just like in a human??
However, that whole section on atherosclerotic disease that we have to learn about in med school? Yeah, dogs and cats don't get that. Apparently not even the obese ones.
Other observations.....
Cows are waaaaaaayyyyyy different than anything I've ever seen in a person. Totally different viruses. Weird treatments. Just wacky stuff.
I could remember a bunch about horses from my former life as a pony-clubber. Navicular? I totally nailed that question.
I don't even try with the bird questions. Except when the answer is obviously "cull the entire flock."
Speaking of which, the amount of times "euthanize" was the answer was a little sad. Although maybe not as sad as keeping granny alive on the ventilator for 6 months while she develops a 4th degree sacral decub, sepsis, and eventually drowns in her own secretions.... but I digress.
The vet questions also helped me brush up on my parasitology. We spent so little time on that during med school that basically all I remember is metronidazole (and only that because it treats anaerobes too), giardia, and trichomoniasis. Ok maybe I remember a few other things as well, but suffice to say the amount of detail required for us is definitely not as large as what the vet students need to know.
I promised my friend that I would stop bothering her so she could do her Q-bank in peace. I think she was grateful! It was a fun diversion, though.
Heehee.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Shower
Today we gave the dog her first bath in 2 months. She was very stinky, and the water ran brown off her back. I lured her in to the tub with a treat, and managed not to upset her to the point that she would eat more treats while being bathed. Improvement!
Then we let her out of the tub to shake and dry her off. Because it's chilly, I suggested to Luca that he use the hair dryer. At this point I was showering myself.
So he turned on the hair dryer, and the Boo got scared, pushed the shower curtain aside, and hopped back into the shower with me. She's never done that before. Then she stood under the stream of warm water.
So instead of blowing her dry, we let her sack out under the couch comforter with me in a marathon nap session this afternoon. She enjoyed herself immensely.
Then we let her out of the tub to shake and dry her off. Because it's chilly, I suggested to Luca that he use the hair dryer. At this point I was showering myself.
So he turned on the hair dryer, and the Boo got scared, pushed the shower curtain aside, and hopped back into the shower with me. She's never done that before. Then she stood under the stream of warm water.
So instead of blowing her dry, we let her sack out under the couch comforter with me in a marathon nap session this afternoon. She enjoyed herself immensely.
Alley
A few nights ago, Luca walked into the house after coming home from work completely livid. Some cars had parked in the alley behind our house, completely obstructing the alleyway. The drivers had not even attempted to park in such a way that other cars could get by or so that people could use their garages.
I went and inspected the situation. Often there are cars parked in the back, but usually getting in and out is no problem because they make an effort to park out of the way. The cars are usually beat up American cars.
In our alley at this time was a BMW 7 series. Right smack dab in the middle. The other car was a higher end Toyota with a leather interior. Not the usual cars we see in back.
I scratched my head for a moment, and then headed down to my neighbor's. Not the girls next door, but the professor who owns the most expensive house on the block, but who can't be bothered to sweep his leaves or shovel snow.
I knocked. When he answered, I asked him if the cars in the back were his friends'. I just wanted to make sure they weren't before I had them towed.
Of course they weren't his friends' cars.
Nonetheless, 10 minutes later, the cars had mysteriously been moved.
Ha.
I went and inspected the situation. Often there are cars parked in the back, but usually getting in and out is no problem because they make an effort to park out of the way. The cars are usually beat up American cars.
In our alley at this time was a BMW 7 series. Right smack dab in the middle. The other car was a higher end Toyota with a leather interior. Not the usual cars we see in back.
I scratched my head for a moment, and then headed down to my neighbor's. Not the girls next door, but the professor who owns the most expensive house on the block, but who can't be bothered to sweep his leaves or shovel snow.
I knocked. When he answered, I asked him if the cars in the back were his friends'. I just wanted to make sure they weren't before I had them towed.
Of course they weren't his friends' cars.
Nonetheless, 10 minutes later, the cars had mysteriously been moved.
Ha.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Parking Lot
The city of Philadelphia is selling the parking lot next to my house for a little over 300K. It take up half a city block! It's so cheap.
So today I went to a community meeting to discuss with the developer what his plans were for the property.
First off, the people in the community want it to stay a parking lot. They don't want anything to change. This is just dumb. Somebody is going to buy the lot, and something could be built there that could improve our quality of life here. There are drug dealers in the parking lot! It's sketchy!
The developer wants to put a Walgreens there. Or a supermarket. We were not happy with these ideas at all. They would both increase the traffic and the vermin in the area.
But, since we're unlikely to be able to keep the area as a parking lot, what *would* be nice to have in the area? Condos? Coffee shops? Office space? Do you guys have any suggestions?
So today I went to a community meeting to discuss with the developer what his plans were for the property.
First off, the people in the community want it to stay a parking lot. They don't want anything to change. This is just dumb. Somebody is going to buy the lot, and something could be built there that could improve our quality of life here. There are drug dealers in the parking lot! It's sketchy!
The developer wants to put a Walgreens there. Or a supermarket. We were not happy with these ideas at all. They would both increase the traffic and the vermin in the area.
But, since we're unlikely to be able to keep the area as a parking lot, what *would* be nice to have in the area? Condos? Coffee shops? Office space? Do you guys have any suggestions?
Friday, November 12, 2010
Committee meeting
Today I had my first committee meeting. I think it went well, though an extra project was added to it. I sometimes wonder how I'm ever going to get everything done, and if I'm ever going to graduate.
The window of the conference room was facing one of the adjacent lab buildings, and about halfway through the meeting I looked up and saw a sign in the window that someone had put up. I squinted.
It said, "Hi Old MD Girl!*"
I had to work pretty hard not to laugh out loud. It turned out the window facing ours in the building next door belonged to the lab of one of my classmates.
It took a while, but eventually my various committee members noticed it too. The very distinguished member of my committee noticed it first and pointed it out to everyone else.
They laughed.
It was pretty awesome.
*It actually said "Hi [my real name]" for any of you who are confused.
The window of the conference room was facing one of the adjacent lab buildings, and about halfway through the meeting I looked up and saw a sign in the window that someone had put up. I squinted.
It said, "Hi Old MD Girl!*"
I had to work pretty hard not to laugh out loud. It turned out the window facing ours in the building next door belonged to the lab of one of my classmates.
It took a while, but eventually my various committee members noticed it too. The very distinguished member of my committee noticed it first and pointed it out to everyone else.
They laughed.
It was pretty awesome.
*It actually said "Hi [my real name]" for any of you who are confused.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Kale
Remember how I was doing this "cooking" thing a few months back before it got all hot this summer? Maybe you don't, since I don't remember if I blogged about it. But anyway, I was getting into cooking.
Now, I am not nearly as excited about it. It takes FOREVER!! And I have to meal plan my grocery shopping. I think this is the biggest impediment, actually.
However, I thought I would share with you my African PineappleSlurry Stew. Two complaints about this recipe: 1) you have to chop some onions, garlic, and some cilantro. Which can be annoying, but which I overcame last night. 2) You have to buy fresh cilantro, which means you have to plan to make this that week, and know this before you go to the grocery store. This is even more annoying.
So anyway, directions (adapted from Moosewood):
Chop 2 small onions
Chop 2 cloves garlic
Sautee said onions + garlic until onions *begin* to brown in a pot with vegetable oil in it
Add can of crushed pineapple with juice from can
Add package of frozen spinach (this was my major modification -- the recipe called for fresh kale, however ours was already wilted when I got it out! So I crossed my fingers and substituted the spinach. And ya know? It was even easier. No more kale. Ever.)
Stir around until spinach melts
Put lid on pot, let sit for 5 min
Add 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
Add tobasco to taste
Add chopped cilantro (1 cup)
Add salt to taste
Stir together until it is a nice slurry mixture ~5 more minutes
Serve over rice or couscous
It says that you can add chopped scallions and crushed peanuts as condiments/toppings, but the store was out of scallions this week (Doubly annoying!!), and crushing the peanuts is unnecessary. It tasted fine without the scallions, so NEVER AGAIN.
And now I have slurry to eat for the rest of the week. Yum! It even has a vegetable in it.
Win win!
Now, I am not nearly as excited about it. It takes FOREVER!! And I have to meal plan my grocery shopping. I think this is the biggest impediment, actually.
However, I thought I would share with you my African Pineapple
So anyway, directions (adapted from Moosewood):
Chop 2 small onions
Chop 2 cloves garlic
Sautee said onions + garlic until onions *begin* to brown in a pot with vegetable oil in it
Add can of crushed pineapple with juice from can
Add package of frozen spinach (this was my major modification -- the recipe called for fresh kale, however ours was already wilted when I got it out! So I crossed my fingers and substituted the spinach. And ya know? It was even easier. No more kale. Ever.)
Stir around until spinach melts
Put lid on pot, let sit for 5 min
Add 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
Add tobasco to taste
Add chopped cilantro (1 cup)
Add salt to taste
Stir together until it is a nice slurry mixture ~5 more minutes
Serve over rice or couscous
It says that you can add chopped scallions and crushed peanuts as condiments/toppings, but the store was out of scallions this week (Doubly annoying!!), and crushing the peanuts is unnecessary. It tasted fine without the scallions, so NEVER AGAIN.
And now I have slurry to eat for the rest of the week. Yum! It even has a vegetable in it.
Win win!
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Insensible Losses
Somehow, despite the fact that I drank several cups of water last night during my shift in the ED, my pee was orange this morning. And I had a headache.
I'd forgotten about that part.
Otherwise, the shift was good! I learned a lot of things I'd forgotten, and a bunch of things I probably should have known but didn't. And mostly, didn't make a *total* idiot of myself.
And I saw patients on my own! Which is far better than a shadow-fest.
The good:
I remember how to do a history and physical exam. I remember how to present (mostly). I remember how to write a note.
The not-as-good:
I ok with diagnosing the simple problems I saw, but not treating them. But then, that's a more advanced skill mastered during 4th year and beyond. Mostly. Or so I am telling myself.
The nurses were all incredibly helpful, as were the residents. Some even remembered me from 2 years ago. It was nice!
So, now I get to read about ACS so that I can forget about it again for my next shift which will be in about 1 month.
Yippee!!
I'm kind of excited to go back.
I'd forgotten about that part.
Otherwise, the shift was good! I learned a lot of things I'd forgotten, and a bunch of things I probably should have known but didn't. And mostly, didn't make a *total* idiot of myself.
And I saw patients on my own! Which is far better than a shadow-fest.
The good:
I remember how to do a history and physical exam. I remember how to present (mostly). I remember how to write a note.
The not-as-good:
I ok with diagnosing the simple problems I saw, but not treating them. But then, that's a more advanced skill mastered during 4th year and beyond. Mostly. Or so I am telling myself.
The nurses were all incredibly helpful, as were the residents. Some even remembered me from 2 years ago. It was nice!
So, now I get to read about ACS so that I can forget about it again for my next shift which will be in about 1 month.
Yippee!!
I'm kind of excited to go back.
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Stages of wanting to be a doctor
Fizzy had a cartoon about this over at her blog the other day. I thought I'd post my version here.
Age 3
Me: I want to be a gynmast.
Parents: You can't do that. You're too tall.
Mother: Why don't you want to do ballet?
Me: Because I don't like ballet. Ballet is boring.
Mother: Well, you're taking ballet. I signed you up for classes.
Age 5
Me: I want to be a doctor.
Parents: Playing doctor with your friends isn't the same as being a doctor.
Age 10
Me: I want to be a scientist
Parents: The only reason you don't want to be a historian is because you want to spite us.
Me: But look! I've bred my fan tail guppies with the plain guppies and made hybrid guppies.
Parents: Just wait until you leave, and I will flush them down the toilet. I can't wait.
Age 12
Me: I want to be a doctor.
Parents: Why would you want to do something like that?
Mother: You should get a PhD in history, which is what I wanted to do, but never will be able to. This is your fault, by the way.
Age 14
Me: I want to be a doctor.
Parents: You shouldn't be a doctor because one of our former friends is a urologist, and he is kind of a jerk. Therefore all doctors are jerks and you shouldn't become one yourself. Go study history like we told you. You are only saying that you don't want to study history in order to get under our skin. We get it. Now just give up the act and admit that you love it.
Age 17
Me: I want to study Southeast Asian History (had just returned from summer program in Thailand)
Parents: At last she sees the light! Good girl!
Age 18
Me: I want to biomedical research or be a doctor.
Parents: Don't you want to study history?
Teacher: Women can't do research. It's too difficult.
Age 19
Me: Ummmm premeds are the most unappealing people I've ever met. Maybe I can be a sociologist instead?
Parents: See we told you. And I guess even though sociology isn't history, it's better than this "doctor" nonsense.
Age 20
Me: Maybe I can be a teacher?
Parents: You can't be a teacher. You are majoring in sociology. What would you even teach? Nobody would hire you! You shot yourself in the foot when you failed to major in history.
Age 21
Me: Maybe I want to be a doctor after all
Parents: It's too late for you to be a doctor. Go work in business instead like we did, even though both of us hated it and feel like we wasted our lives.
Age 22
Me: I think I want to be a researcher. For real this time. Health services research, to be precise.
Parents: Lalalala good luck with that. Oh you hate your job? You're supposed to hate your job. Welcome to adulthood.
Age 23
Me: I still think I want to be a researcher.....
Parents: We told you it's too late for that.
Age 25
Me: I got a job doing research! I think I want to be a doctor and do an MD-PhD program!!
Parents: Will you shut up about how much you hate your life now?
Age 28
Me: I got into medical school!
Parents: Yay! Now we can brag to all of our friends about how smart you are. And they will hate us and be jealous since their children are all "artists" who they still have to pay rent for. It's nice to finally have a child that we can brag about, and to take credit for her achievements.
Age 33
Me: I think I want to be a full time researcher. Doctor's the back up career.... and come to think of it, maybe I won't even do a residency? We'll see if I can find a specialty I like that understands my research.
Parents: What happened to being a doctor? You're going to throw away all your education to be a researcher??? What a waste! You are making a huge mistake.
****
It never ends. (I'm only a little bitter about this.....)
Age 3
Me: I want to be a gynmast.
Parents: You can't do that. You're too tall.
Mother: Why don't you want to do ballet?
Me: Because I don't like ballet. Ballet is boring.
Mother: Well, you're taking ballet. I signed you up for classes.
Age 5
Me: I want to be a doctor.
Parents: Playing doctor with your friends isn't the same as being a doctor.
Age 10
Me: I want to be a scientist
Parents: The only reason you don't want to be a historian is because you want to spite us.
Me: But look! I've bred my fan tail guppies with the plain guppies and made hybrid guppies.
Parents: Just wait until you leave, and I will flush them down the toilet. I can't wait.
Age 12
Me: I want to be a doctor.
Parents: Why would you want to do something like that?
Mother: You should get a PhD in history, which is what I wanted to do, but never will be able to. This is your fault, by the way.
Age 14
Me: I want to be a doctor.
Parents: You shouldn't be a doctor because one of our former friends is a urologist, and he is kind of a jerk. Therefore all doctors are jerks and you shouldn't become one yourself. Go study history like we told you. You are only saying that you don't want to study history in order to get under our skin. We get it. Now just give up the act and admit that you love it.
Age 17
Me: I want to study Southeast Asian History (had just returned from summer program in Thailand)
Parents: At last she sees the light! Good girl!
Age 18
Me: I want to biomedical research or be a doctor.
Parents: Don't you want to study history?
Teacher: Women can't do research. It's too difficult.
Age 19
Me: Ummmm premeds are the most unappealing people I've ever met. Maybe I can be a sociologist instead?
Parents: See we told you. And I guess even though sociology isn't history, it's better than this "doctor" nonsense.
Age 20
Me: Maybe I can be a teacher?
Parents: You can't be a teacher. You are majoring in sociology. What would you even teach? Nobody would hire you! You shot yourself in the foot when you failed to major in history.
Age 21
Me: Maybe I want to be a doctor after all
Parents: It's too late for you to be a doctor. Go work in business instead like we did, even though both of us hated it and feel like we wasted our lives.
Age 22
Me: I think I want to be a researcher. For real this time. Health services research, to be precise.
Parents: Lalalala good luck with that. Oh you hate your job? You're supposed to hate your job. Welcome to adulthood.
Age 23
Me: I still think I want to be a researcher.....
Parents: We told you it's too late for that.
Age 25
Me: I got a job doing research! I think I want to be a doctor and do an MD-PhD program!!
Parents: Will you shut up about how much you hate your life now?
Age 28
Me: I got into medical school!
Parents: Yay! Now we can brag to all of our friends about how smart you are. And they will hate us and be jealous since their children are all "artists" who they still have to pay rent for. It's nice to finally have a child that we can brag about, and to take credit for her achievements.
Age 33
Me: I think I want to be a full time researcher. Doctor's the back up career.... and come to think of it, maybe I won't even do a residency? We'll see if I can find a specialty I like that understands my research.
Parents: What happened to being a doctor? You're going to throw away all your education to be a researcher??? What a waste! You are making a huge mistake.
****
It never ends. (I'm only a little bitter about this.....)
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Bullshit
You may recall the list of bullshit from about 6 weeks back. And you will be happy to hear that many of the items on said list have been resolved.
1) Fender-bender on Friday (Luca is fine, albeit very pissed off) --> of course this means trips to the body shop, being without a car for 1-2 weeks, dealing with the insurance company, paying a ticket, learning how to do Philly Car Share, etc. Resolved! Car was finished being fixed this Wednesday!
2) Since we're without a car, I'm going to have to walk to the post office (1.2 miles away) to....
3) Return a package of stuff I ordered that arrived on Friday opened and damaged. Resolved! Although my backorder from the same place still hasn't arrived....
4) While my mentor has begged off our weekly meetings for a while since he is too busy, he just so happened to choose THIS weekend to badger/micromanage me for several hours by email on Saturday.* And to apply pressure to work more. For some reason he thinks that this paper I'm working on should have been done months ago, which is completely insane. I've instituted a gratuitous ass-kissing plan which seems to be working. I think the problem is that he just doesn't "get" me. Oh well his loss. So sad that it's had to come to flagrant and gratuitous ass-kissing to resolve the problem, but there it is.
5) The dog needs surgery on her ear to remove a melanocytoma that is growing bigger by the day. That will be at least 2 vet appointments. Did I mention that VHUP is only open 9-12 M-W for this? Yeah, so Luca has to take time off work to get this done since this directly conflicts with appointments that I cannot move. Resolved! The wound has healed, and her fur is even mostly grown back.
6) Luca's US citizenship interview has been scheduled for 10/20, which is great news! Except for all the documents that he has to assemble and the meeting with the lawyer he has to attend before that date. Done!
7) My credit card was stolen in June to the tune of $8000, and everything was supposed to have been taken care of. Except now a few of the merchants are disputing the charge-backs, so I have to (repeatedly) fax documentation that I did not purchase said items. Tentatively resolved. I faxed everything to them again every day for a week. They received the documents once. Fortunately, that was all that was needed for them to remove THOSE reverse charges. Hopefully no more will be popping up.
8) Did I mention that Citibank keeps losing the faxes I send? I have kept documentation of their receipt, but it is still irritating to have to go through this with them every couple of days-weeks.
9) Did I mention that merchants can continue to dispute every single charge on an individual basis for as long as they want?
10) My bathroom still needs to be re-tiled -- Ok this still needs to be done. But now I have time to do it!
11) We're supposed to start interviewing contractors to re-do the kitchen this month, and hopefully buy our cabinets. -- We're going to look at refrigerators today and start calling contractors on Monday. Of course, we said this last week to, but it's the thought that counts, right?
12) The ceiling started leaking under a place we patched a year ago, so we need to finally call the roofer again. -- Resolved! Of course it hasn't rained substantially since, but so far it appears to be a decent repair job.
13) We also need to get the sidewalk in front of our house redone. I've convinced Luca that this can wait until the spring.
14) And get the chimney repointed so that it doesn't fall on someone's head. -- Not going to happen until the damn mason calls us back. Hopefully we will not had high winds.... But it's held so far, so we're crossing our fingers on this. Mason, please call us back!
15) We haven't had time to vacuum for 2 weeks and the floor looks like shit, and has a layer of visible dirt all over it.
16) We've been intending to hire a house cleaner, but haven't had time to schedule the interview with the service and the initial "deep clean" that they do. -- Cleaning service HIRED!! Deep clean this Tuesday.
17) My parents' new retort when I complain about any of this or that I am overwhelmed is that I am a bad selfish wife and that my husband is going to divorce me. I got my father to agree that he shouldn't do this. This was a major step since he tends never to admit he is wrong about anything. Not even that much persuading was required. Woohoo!!
18) My yahoo account was hacked today. -- Rsolved!
19) I worked most of yesterday and all of today, just on a problem set that's due this week and on general stats housekeeping that I had to do before running more models. I didn't even get to starting the presentation I'm supposed to prepare for this coming Friday (sprung on me two days ago). -- Ok, this isn't going away. However that is the nature of grad school.
My list for the weekend includes:
- Finish stats problem set
- Do stat runs (multiple)
- Read EM stuff so I don't look like an idiot on my first shift on Monday(!)
- Write agenda for 1st Committee meeting (next Friday), send to mentor to review
- Buy refrigerator
- Go to Target
- Go grocery shopping
- Entertain dog + husband
And then we can get back to interviewing contractors so that we can get the kitchen re-done. FINALLY!
10) My bathroom still needs to be re-tiled -- Ok this still needs to be done. But now I have time to do it!
11) We're supposed to start interviewing contractors to re-do the kitchen this month, and hopefully buy our cabinets. -- We're going to look at refrigerators today and start calling contractors on Monday. Of course, we said this last week to, but it's the thought that counts, right?
14) And get the chimney repointed so that it doesn't fall on someone's head. -- Not going to happen until the damn mason calls us back. Hopefully we will not had high winds.... But it's held so far, so we're crossing our fingers on this. Mason, please call us back!
My list for the weekend includes:
- Finish stats problem set
- Do stat runs (multiple)
- Read EM stuff so I don't look like an idiot on my first shift on Monday(!)
- Write agenda for 1st Committee meeting (next Friday), send to mentor to review
- Buy refrigerator
- Go to Target
- Go grocery shopping
- Entertain dog + husband
And then we can get back to interviewing contractors so that we can get the kitchen re-done. FINALLY!
Thursday, November 04, 2010
He who rants
Dear Very Important Attending,
The more you rant and seethe about the residency work hours regulations, the crazier you appear to me, and the more I believe they are a good idea.
That is all.
Cheerfully,
A med student who is (in your eyes) lower than feces
The more you rant and seethe about the residency work hours regulations, the crazier you appear to me, and the more I believe they are a good idea.
That is all.
Cheerfully,
A med student who is (in your eyes) lower than feces
Naturalization
Luca got sworn in yesterday! He is now a US citizen! Woohoo!!!
As he said to me on the way home, "They can't deport me for any reason now." I wonder if that means we'll be buying our wine in New Jersey from now on. (Kidding!)
It was an exciting event that was only slightly (sarcasm intended) overshadowed by the gentleman who suffered a cardiac arrest right before the ceremony. And if you must know, yes I went over and helped. How could I not? Nobody there knew WTF was going on. I couldn't just sit there and watch his brain be deprived of blood because nobody was initiating CPR.
One woman kept screeching, "He needs air! He needs air! Breathe for him!!"
A security guard ran over and started doing mouth to mouth on the man.
And another lady kept asking for a light so she could look at his pupils.
It was completely horrifying.
He didn't have a pulse, for Christ's sake. So *I* initiated CPR. Fortunately, a police officer arrived shortly thereafter, and she knew what she was doing. More than I did, at any rate. Thank god.
Anyhow, paramedics came after about 15 minutes. It felt like an eternity, but in reality they were pretty fast I think.
I don't know what happened to the man. I wonder if he died.
****
Anywho, the swearing in ceremony seemed to take forever after that. There were 137 people who needed to be sworn in. It was kind of amazing the diversity of nations who were represented.
When did "Under God" get put back into the Pledge of Allegiance?
I sat there vibrating for most of it.
****
I forgot to add -- like a total dork I came home and pubmedded the literature on CPR outside the hospital setting. I found this recent meta-analysis from the Lancet. His chances for survival look pretty bad though. Oh and here's a JAMA article on CPR that came out recently. :-P
As he said to me on the way home, "They can't deport me for any reason now." I wonder if that means we'll be buying our wine in New Jersey from now on. (Kidding!)
It was an exciting event that was only slightly (sarcasm intended) overshadowed by the gentleman who suffered a cardiac arrest right before the ceremony. And if you must know, yes I went over and helped. How could I not? Nobody there knew WTF was going on. I couldn't just sit there and watch his brain be deprived of blood because nobody was initiating CPR.
One woman kept screeching, "He needs air! He needs air! Breathe for him!!"
A security guard ran over and started doing mouth to mouth on the man.
And another lady kept asking for a light so she could look at his pupils.
It was completely horrifying.
He didn't have a pulse, for Christ's sake. So *I* initiated CPR. Fortunately, a police officer arrived shortly thereafter, and she knew what she was doing. More than I did, at any rate. Thank god.
Anyhow, paramedics came after about 15 minutes. It felt like an eternity, but in reality they were pretty fast I think.
I don't know what happened to the man. I wonder if he died.
****
Anywho, the swearing in ceremony seemed to take forever after that. There were 137 people who needed to be sworn in. It was kind of amazing the diversity of nations who were represented.
When did "Under God" get put back into the Pledge of Allegiance?
I sat there vibrating for most of it.
****
I forgot to add -- like a total dork I came home and pubmedded the literature on CPR outside the hospital setting. I found this recent meta-analysis from the Lancet. His chances for survival look pretty bad though. Oh and here's a JAMA article on CPR that came out recently. :-P
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Clean
Luca and I have decided to hire a housecleaner.
They are coming for the initial "deep clean" next Tuesday.
Hopefully, this will reduce marital strife, as I do not clean. I do take care of the dog, cook, and do laundry. I despise vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing. I briefly enjoyed mopping last year, but since one must vacuum first, my enjoyment was short-lived.
Luca likes to clean, but has no time.
I'm not sure why I feel I have to justify my hatred of cleaning to you, anonymous blog audience. But there it is.
It was weird during scheduling how they kept referring to the cleaners as "girls." I wasn't sure how to refer to them myself, so I referred to them as "girls" too. It felt funny.
We'll see how it goes!
They are coming for the initial "deep clean" next Tuesday.
Hopefully, this will reduce marital strife, as I do not clean. I do take care of the dog, cook, and do laundry. I despise vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing. I briefly enjoyed mopping last year, but since one must vacuum first, my enjoyment was short-lived.
Luca likes to clean, but has no time.
I'm not sure why I feel I have to justify my hatred of cleaning to you, anonymous blog audience. But there it is.
It was weird during scheduling how they kept referring to the cleaners as "girls." I wasn't sure how to refer to them myself, so I referred to them as "girls" too. It felt funny.
We'll see how it goes!
Monday, November 01, 2010
Not much is going on
I had kind of a slow weekend work wise, since the mentor did not get back to me with comments until Sunday. Which I am NOT complaining about, really.
Luca and I don't really celebrate Halloween. We bought candy in anticipation of trick-or-treaters last year, and then got none. So this year we didn't buy candy at all, and of course kids came to the door! When we were "napping." So we pretended we weren't home.
I took Miss Boo to agility over the weekend with a friend and her dogs. Normally Miss Boo is pretty social, but not so much yesterday. She was a total bitch to my friend's dogs, probably because they came into our house and immediately went for her toys. No one was bitten, but I do like her so much better when she does not act like the ferocious pitty mix that she is. She's scary when she snarls.
Her agility was awesome though.
Saw a friend who is in the middle of intern year. She's changed a lot since the year started. Not in a bad way, just in a different way. I realized that I was probably an irritating med student sometimes. Oops. Oh well, I guess we all are at some point.
This time next week, I will be on shift in the ED. I've been reading their pocket handbook to reacquaint myself with the workups for the basic diagnoses. It's been a nice refresher!
I decided the other day that although my mentor may think I'm crazy, that's probably the only bad thing going on in my life these days. If that's all I have to complain about, then things are going pretty awesome. I'm submitting an abstract in a few days. The work keeps piling up. And my first committee meeting is in a week and a half! AHHHHHHH!!!
Luca passed his Naturalization test, and we have is swearing in ceremony on Wednesday. Technically I don't have to go, but I want to see it. I bought him a Kindle as a present. Now he can download books in Italian to read rather than have his Mom send them from across the pond.
It was 39 degrees this morning, so I broke out the Boo-fleece. I can't believe fall is finally upon us! Good thing the cold only lasts for 4-5 months in Philly.
Luca and I have been watching Weeds, which we are totally addicted to. We love it even more than Arrested Development. Mary Louise Parker is my new favorite actress. She is so adorable!
We also watched Letters to Juliet over the weekend, chosen by LUCA of all people due to the fact that it was filmed in Verona. We agreed that Sophie was lame and that traveling around the Italian countryside sampling cheese and wine was far more interesting than what she wanted to do. That is after all what WE do when we visit. Most American tourists never get the opportunity to do these things and we were stunned that one wouldn't want to.
And tomorrow I vote! You should too.
Have a great week.
Luca and I don't really celebrate Halloween. We bought candy in anticipation of trick-or-treaters last year, and then got none. So this year we didn't buy candy at all, and of course kids came to the door! When we were "napping." So we pretended we weren't home.
I took Miss Boo to agility over the weekend with a friend and her dogs. Normally Miss Boo is pretty social, but not so much yesterday. She was a total bitch to my friend's dogs, probably because they came into our house and immediately went for her toys. No one was bitten, but I do like her so much better when she does not act like the ferocious pitty mix that she is. She's scary when she snarls.
Her agility was awesome though.
Saw a friend who is in the middle of intern year. She's changed a lot since the year started. Not in a bad way, just in a different way. I realized that I was probably an irritating med student sometimes. Oops. Oh well, I guess we all are at some point.
This time next week, I will be on shift in the ED. I've been reading their pocket handbook to reacquaint myself with the workups for the basic diagnoses. It's been a nice refresher!
I decided the other day that although my mentor may think I'm crazy, that's probably the only bad thing going on in my life these days. If that's all I have to complain about, then things are going pretty awesome. I'm submitting an abstract in a few days. The work keeps piling up. And my first committee meeting is in a week and a half! AHHHHHHH!!!
Luca passed his Naturalization test, and we have is swearing in ceremony on Wednesday. Technically I don't have to go, but I want to see it. I bought him a Kindle as a present. Now he can download books in Italian to read rather than have his Mom send them from across the pond.
It was 39 degrees this morning, so I broke out the Boo-fleece. I can't believe fall is finally upon us! Good thing the cold only lasts for 4-5 months in Philly.
Luca and I have been watching Weeds, which we are totally addicted to. We love it even more than Arrested Development. Mary Louise Parker is my new favorite actress. She is so adorable!
We also watched Letters to Juliet over the weekend, chosen by LUCA of all people due to the fact that it was filmed in Verona. We agreed that Sophie was lame and that traveling around the Italian countryside sampling cheese and wine was far more interesting than what she wanted to do. That is after all what WE do when we visit. Most American tourists never get the opportunity to do these things and we were stunned that one wouldn't want to.
And tomorrow I vote! You should too.
Have a great week.
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