Comments | argenterie4: clinical years ahead.

argenterie4

clinical years ahead.

Aug 03, 2009 19:10

So. I finished my PhD. Will turn in the final copies of the dissertation and everything this week; and I've gone back to medical school to finish that doctorate also. But third year, the clinical rotations, are an overwhelming transition...

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Comments 9

imaginarycircus August 4 2009, 00:38:16 UTC

Wow. Congratulations of turning in your dissertation. That's a huge feat, but doing clinical rounds hard on the heels of that? I'm not at all surprised you're worn out. And you just moved in with someone? Good lord. That is a heck of a lot of transition at once. When I started grad school we'd been married for six days and just moved from one state to another and my husband was starting a new job, which meant he was basically away the entire first year of our marriage. In retrospect I don't know how we survived--but people are pretty sturdy.

argenterie4 August 21 2009, 01:58:38 UTC

Thank you for your comment! I only just saw it. :( Sorry!!

I am surviving. In fact I am good lately! It is a transition of hell. But as I adjust it is better and better. And my home life is so good ("co habitating") and that just helps so much. I can't believe you survived your honeymoon, move, and husband-absence as you did, how impressive :) <3!!

Back to work!

golden_berry August 5 2009, 00:03:09 UTC

That's a huge transition you are going through. If you will soon be doing a hospital rotation where other med students and residents are around, that might provide some kind of support system. As for feeling stupid, welcome to clinical rotations! I went straight from class work to the clinical phase, and it was a monstrous challenge to apply anything I had learned to actual human beings.

A lot of people go into surgical specialties because they get to DO rather than BE THERE for people. Listening and interacting are hard. Fixing stuff is easier and more satisfying. I chose Pathology in part because there is a layer between me and the suffering of my fellow humans.

Good luck. You have already accomplished a lot. Third year is the worst. It gets better, truly.

argenterie4 August 21 2009, 02:03:46 UTC

Thank you for your comment! I only just saw it. :( Sorry!!

I am surviving. In fact I am good lately! You are right. Now that I am in a hospital rotation I am feeling better, and it is mostly from the support system of my peers. I am making friends and everything is improved. Also I am remembering more and more of the medical material, and as I have always HATED being "stupid" or uninformed, I feel more secure lately.

As for patients, I like listening, so far, but I totally get the allure of less contact. Radiology seems nice :) But I really despised the cadavers, and just never really got over the fact that I was MUTILATING DEAD PEOPLE. During anatomy class, I was crying a lot, exacerbation of depression/anxiety, and my only sub-par test grade in 1st and 2nd year was in Anatomy, due to the cadaver-based exam. So, I think Path is not for me. Do you do small-level-Path (like histo?) or autopsy-type stuff?

Thanks again for your input. I am so glad to hear from other people :) <3

Back to work!

suspect_terrain August 6 2009, 02:05:53 UTC

First, congratulations on finishing your dissertation! That's a big accomplishment on its own, beyond the rotations.

And ignore this if it's completely unrealistic (especially if just typing on a computer helps, because that's a lot of the point of having a LJ), but... the doctor you're shadowing. Could you talk to him? If he treats a lot of elderly patients, he probably has ways to cope when they pass away. Maybe his ways to cope involve shutting down or blocking things out. Maybe talking to him would convince you that there's no way you could ever do this. But if you're doing an MD/PhD program, those are probably important things to know. (Isn't that why MDs do rotations in multiple specialties? So they can discover what work they can do and stay sane, and what work just doesn't suit them?) And since you're doing an MD/PhD, presumably you could start a post-doc when your MD is over, and end up with a career that's focused on research while having an idea how your research could be used.

argenterie4 August 21 2009, 02:06:32 UTC

I did talk to him :)

(Thank you for your comment! I only just saw it. :( Sorry!!)

And it helped. He was thoughtful and understanding and we spoke at length about this sort of thing. I've even had a 2nd patient (not of mine directly but on my team) pass away this week, and I dealt very well with it. He was terminal and I knew it so that did help.

I am learning what I like, and in the end, I have the PhD fellowship and reserach options, and that makes me feel so much better about everything like I can really sleep. I really agree with what you've said, and thanks again :) :) :) <3

You're a scientist, I know that, so tell me: how's the lifestyle? :)

Back to work! (or rather, sleep!)

already sounding like an MD again exquisitemayhem August 10 2009, 21:25:58 UTC

I'm really glad you updated. I've been wondering how things have been going. We should get together and chat about your experiences over some wine (or brandy!). The transition does seem awfully rough, but soon you'll get the hang of things.

Re: already sounding like an MD again argenterie4 August 21 2009, 02:09:25 UTC

Yes! Let's get together. I am doing much better, and getting adjusted. It did take longer than I thought though. Heh. Try to take longer than I did, please. Seriously. :)

So things are so much better, I am on Internal Medicine now and I actually really like it, at the VA at least it is nice because they usually speak English and the chart system is fully computerized. Saves a lot of stupid busy work and running around. And I like problem-solving. So all that is good. Thanks for your comment and your support. I've been thinking of you lately and wondering how you're doing. Congrats on your "sufficiency"!! :) Hope you drank some wine (or brandy!LOL).

See you soon? Call me or email :)

Back to sleep for me!!

cal_boudicca February 12 2010, 20:49:40 UTC

Hi! This is Tad Williams. Please excuse the interruption to your regularly scheduled bloggery. People here have mentioned my work, or love fantasy and science fiction, so I just wanted to pop in and say that anyone interested in reading a chapter from my new book, SHADOWRISE, should drop an email to:

deborah.shazam@batnet.com

and we'll send one to you. We won't do anything rotten with your email address, either, we promise. This is real!

Thanks - Tad