Day In The Life 2009
The last one of medical school! We'll see if I can manage one as an intern. :)
If it's in my ER case logbook, it's gonna happen. For this month, that pink cardstock spent more time nestled up against my backside than my favourite warm fuzzy blanket.
The day starts at 8 AM, which wouldn't normally be an issue but night shift plays all sorts of merry hell with my circadian rythymn. I try to go with "awake" for the 9-6 shift.
And since I'm headed for the ER, I suit up in the best reason to set foot in an ER or OR: scrubs. They're pyjamas that you can wear to work & are dispensed from a giant vending machine!
Email and breakfast of champions. I require choice in the mornings.
Inexplicably, my cat wants to be let out in the cold. I tell him to stuff it and instead sniff the pretty pretty flowers my parents got me for match day.
The urge to go back to bed is strong. It looks so warm and comfy and...
NO! BE STRONG AGAINST THE SIREN CALL!
Instead of bed, I content myself with new makeup. Everyday minerals was recommended by a kick-ass friend of mine, and the makeup has proved itself to be of equal caliber. (Better than bare minerals and half the price!)
Off to work. The commute is short for this rotation, which is why I can get away with an 8 AM alarm for a 9 AM shift.
As you can see, it's been a busy month.
And it looks like it's going to be a busy day...
However, once I make it through to the peds unit, I find the overflow bay blessedly empty. Perhaps it won't be too crazy after all.
And so I am vindicated with a rack of colour-coded and empty charts! 9-10 AM proves to be a magical lull where nobody brings their kids to ER - it's after the cutoff of "kid's sick, we should take them before work".
I take this opportunity to chug c-boost hippie juice in the vain hope of fending off the crud that had been advancing (crud won, but only for about a day). Then I get to talk to a mom about a kid and their rash. Turned out to be Coxsackie virus and they all got sent home with some motrin. And a sticker. (Note the ease of ER history taking. I was really, really good at ticky boxes by the end of this)
A few more cases brings us to lunch time and afternoon lectures, accompanied by the ever-present drug lunch. (They were shilling for a new and "improved" alternative to mucomyst for tylenol overdoses. Who knew that they'd try to target the ER crowd?)
I scoot out of lecture a bit early - I'm due downtown at the school and there's paperwork to be turned in! Hurley greets me (and his chew toy) warmly. Nick updates me on plans for the weekend while fending off the ferocious beast.
PS. THIS is evidence of the damage a Kai Ken can do to a freshly vacuumed carpet over 24 hours in full shed. It's called "blowing their coat" for a reason.
The other reason for stopping off at home: fresh caffeine infusion. I swing by the ER department ladies and finally get my EMT ride-along scheduled. Sunday night, 7P-7A. Fun!
Re: 6D - I really, really wanted to stop in and ask if they had Schoo-Be branded snacks. Instead I resign myself to being a grownup and follow up on a lead we got for housing down in Savannah, scrawled on practice questions for the upcoming ER exam. Spoiler alert: we got the place, and I passed the exam. Including the HI-LARIOUS, but sadly protected clinical exam.
I do a quick check on how the makeup is holding up. Need to look presentable, because now we as fourth years are up on the podium giving advice at a panel. I am wizened. Mostly, I spout off about how you don't need to go to a hardcore academic residency program to be happy, especially in internal medicine. Jenn holds forth on the myriad joys of cutting open bowel.
Gorgeous sunset on the way home, and I find my dearest has left the porch light on for me. (It's the little things, really).
However, my respite at home is short-lived. Nick and I head back out to pick up a wedding gift for the upcoming nuptials in Kalamazoo, with a detour via Tim Hortons. I am blissfully happy for chicken soup while Nick supports his new Georgia football team.
Bed, Bath and Beyond gets major points for ease-of-registry use. In no time, I have my manly man carting a fancy cake dome around the store.
They do a nice wrap-job for free too. I decide that it's far too pedestrian for the impending couple and spruce it up with some stickers. Note: I am so braindead at this point, Nick reports that I would say "Fish" each time I put down a sticker while decorating. This is sufficient indication that I should retire to the couch and watch an episode of the Shield before crawling into bed.
If it's in my ER case logbook, it's gonna happen. For this month, that pink cardstock spent more time nestled up against my backside than my favourite warm fuzzy blanket.
The day starts at 8 AM, which wouldn't normally be an issue but night shift plays all sorts of merry hell with my circadian rythymn. I try to go with "awake" for the 9-6 shift.
And since I'm headed for the ER, I suit up in the best reason to set foot in an ER or OR: scrubs. They're pyjamas that you can wear to work & are dispensed from a giant vending machine!
Email and breakfast of champions. I require choice in the mornings.
Inexplicably, my cat wants to be let out in the cold. I tell him to stuff it and instead sniff the pretty pretty flowers my parents got me for match day.
The urge to go back to bed is strong. It looks so warm and comfy and...
NO! BE STRONG AGAINST THE SIREN CALL!
Instead of bed, I content myself with new makeup. Everyday minerals was recommended by a kick-ass friend of mine, and the makeup has proved itself to be of equal caliber. (Better than bare minerals and half the price!)
Off to work. The commute is short for this rotation, which is why I can get away with an 8 AM alarm for a 9 AM shift.
As you can see, it's been a busy month.
And it looks like it's going to be a busy day...
However, once I make it through to the peds unit, I find the overflow bay blessedly empty. Perhaps it won't be too crazy after all.
And so I am vindicated with a rack of colour-coded and empty charts! 9-10 AM proves to be a magical lull where nobody brings their kids to ER - it's after the cutoff of "kid's sick, we should take them before work".
I take this opportunity to chug c-boost hippie juice in the vain hope of fending off the crud that had been advancing (crud won, but only for about a day). Then I get to talk to a mom about a kid and their rash. Turned out to be Coxsackie virus and they all got sent home with some motrin. And a sticker. (Note the ease of ER history taking. I was really, really good at ticky boxes by the end of this)
A few more cases brings us to lunch time and afternoon lectures, accompanied by the ever-present drug lunch. (They were shilling for a new and "improved" alternative to mucomyst for tylenol overdoses. Who knew that they'd try to target the ER crowd?)
I scoot out of lecture a bit early - I'm due downtown at the school and there's paperwork to be turned in! Hurley greets me (and his chew toy) warmly. Nick updates me on plans for the weekend while fending off the ferocious beast.
PS. THIS is evidence of the damage a Kai Ken can do to a freshly vacuumed carpet over 24 hours in full shed. It's called "blowing their coat" for a reason.
The other reason for stopping off at home: fresh caffeine infusion. I swing by the ER department ladies and finally get my EMT ride-along scheduled. Sunday night, 7P-7A. Fun!
Re: 6D - I really, really wanted to stop in and ask if they had Schoo-Be branded snacks. Instead I resign myself to being a grownup and follow up on a lead we got for housing down in Savannah, scrawled on practice questions for the upcoming ER exam. Spoiler alert: we got the place, and I passed the exam. Including the HI-LARIOUS, but sadly protected clinical exam.
I do a quick check on how the makeup is holding up. Need to look presentable, because now we as fourth years are up on the podium giving advice at a panel. I am wizened. Mostly, I spout off about how you don't need to go to a hardcore academic residency program to be happy, especially in internal medicine. Jenn holds forth on the myriad joys of cutting open bowel.
Gorgeous sunset on the way home, and I find my dearest has left the porch light on for me. (It's the little things, really).
However, my respite at home is short-lived. Nick and I head back out to pick up a wedding gift for the upcoming nuptials in Kalamazoo, with a detour via Tim Hortons. I am blissfully happy for chicken soup while Nick supports his new Georgia football team.
Bed, Bath and Beyond gets major points for ease-of-registry use. In no time, I have my manly man carting a fancy cake dome around the store.
They do a nice wrap-job for free too. I decide that it's far too pedestrian for the impending couple and spruce it up with some stickers. Note: I am so braindead at this point, Nick reports that I would say "Fish" each time I put down a sticker while decorating. This is sufficient indication that I should retire to the couch and watch an episode of the Shield before crawling into bed.