Do something…

17Jan09

I witnessed a car accident. I was pretty sure the girl was dead, I mean nobody survives an impact like that. I didn’t get out of my car and see if I could help. Maybe I was scared I would get in the way. My husband says there is nothing I could have done for her.

That’s just not true. I couldn’t have saved her life, but I could have held her hand, comforted her. Ultimately this will be a large part of my practice in medicine. I’m not so naive as to think that I will be able to fix everyone, but I can comfort them in a time of need. I  My only hope is that she died on impact.

I am sickened by myself. It just not like to not stop and try to do something.

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The end of yet another semester.

13Dec08

I managed to get through this semester relatively unscathed.

Pissed off my very conservative bioethics teacher by pointing out that she, no matter how little she wanted to admit it, was in fact pro-choice. I have no beef with this, but apparently she does. Pulled a high A is histology, and actually kinda liked it, don’t tell anybody. Managed to not strangle certain teachers, and figured out analytical chemistry (not with a grade I am happy with, but I will live)

Now I get a few weeks off, to relax and all….. or not. I get to have a laporoscopy to remove some adhesions from my uterus. Fun. I seriously don’t like being the patient.

So I know your out there and you read this blog…… I have stats, but still you dont comment! why not? I still don’t know what Ill be doing next year, I have an opportunity to teach, to tutor full time, to go to a junior college, or attempt to find a job in some lab or office? I need input people!

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Almost there…. to bad there is really nowhere.

07Dec08

I apologize for the hiatus.

Frankly I was just effing swamped.

As per my usual, I got a job I didn’t need, started tutoring, and running an organization…. all because someone asked me too and I lack the balls to say no.

I think I managed to sqeak out of this semester with the grades I desired, we will have to see when the official report comes in.

One more semester left. I will graduate with a useless degree, fun huh? I will have a year between graduating and getting into any program, so what should I do? Here are my current options

1) go back, get another degree, which I could do in about a year

2) retake a few classes (organic, physics) from a really bad semester and hope this impoves my competitiveness (is that even a word?)

3) go to the local CC and work towards my paramedic liscence, and work

I appreciate any imput.

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Tags: application to medical school, EMT, graduation, Lessons Learned, School, time off

Dear Professor….

24Sep08

When wording a question for an exam please consider this.

The student is not inside your brain, and unless prompted correctly, they cannot produce the answer you want.

If the question says “list” the student will list, the student will neglect explaination unless the question says “list and explain”, because frankly, the student thinks when you say list, you mean list.

premeds are not equal to telepaths.

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Tags: School

el presidente.

22Sep08

I don’t have too much to say right now, really I am concentrating on school, doing well and running a successful pre-med society, and lemme tell ya, I lack the ability to get the people I am working with to get off their asses. I have one person who has actually done what I asked them to do, and I specifically said “if you can’t do this let me know”….. come on people. Any advice?

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Tags: greek, Lessons Learned, premed, society

On The Etichs of Hipocracy

11Sep08

I refuse to tell anyone what to think about abortion.

I very strongly believe that we will never know the point that the “blob of cells” becomes a baby. Frankly, I don’t want to find out I did something unthinkable out of ignorance, so I will error on the side of cautiousness.

But I also believe that if you want to say that the “blob of cells” is a baby, and the abortion of a pregnancy is killing a baby, you should sure as hell stick to it. This means that if the pregnancy is the effect of a bad situation (including rape, and I know that is a terrible thing to have to go through) then you don’t get to kill a baby. Sorry. The baby is completely innocent, and you have no right to end its life, if in fact the fetus is really a baby.

If you believe that a fetus is a fetus until birth, then by all means, disregaurd this post.

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New position, same psych patients

22Aug08

I have decided to volunteer/observe in my ER, or ED, this way I can refuse to do anything I do not want to do and will not get stuck sitting with suicide patients when there are 2 codes running.

Here is the psych patient list of the week…

A 20 YO Male, who honestly believes he is Forest Gump

A combative 92 year old woman with a DVT who kept getting up to find her husband, and bit anyone who got in her path, but later told me I had “barbie hair” and she was going to take me home, if she could find her home, and where the hell is her husband?

A woman with “meat stuff” falling out of her “mmmmhmmm”, which turned out to be vienna sausages….. or at least we think, we are waiting for path to come back.

Im sure there will be more….

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Outta Here!

13Aug08

In my small ER (or ED) I play the role of what is basically a glorified unit clerk, my only perk is that I get to wear scrubs instead of dress clothes.

This is SO not what I signed up for. I have ended up working for the nurses, ordering stuff and not getting any real experience.

There are several other small hospitals in the area, but since I have plenty of experience, and have the lovely Mr. Engineer paying all of the bills, I think I will stick to clinical observations, and volunteer work instead of 12 hour shifts of “everything slides downhill” work.

So expect lots of blogs about ethics, school work and the ever exciting MCAT reviews.

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Doctor Versus Nurse

08Aug08

Lately I have been feeling like I am playing for the wrong team. I’ve had a ton of issues with nurses who down right disrespect me because I am not a nurse.

Let me put it this way, you are creating another one of those doctors you hate.

You treat the nurse externs well, why is it that you can’t treat me equally as well?

Someone told me it is because I intimidate the nurses. I make them feel stupid. and I over-step my bounds (I was actually told not to discuss patients with the doctors because it is not my place and it is undermining the authority of the nurses).

I take great pains to try to LEARN from the nurses. I just want to pick their brains. They generally have a wealth of knowledge. I am, as the externs are, a STUDENT. I just want you to teach me.

My only reason for this job is to learn. I have been told several times that I cannot go to training, and I only got to go to the classes I did because I made friends with the education guys.

Anyhow after working for the nurses I think it is probably time for me to start working for the doctors, because obviously I will not be allowed to learn anything here.

Filed under: Lessons Learned, Medicine, The Health Care Mess, Things you don't learn in school   |  1 Comment

Respect

03Aug08

Please Please Please.

Don’t assume I am uneducated. I may not have any little initials behind my name, but if you took 2 seconds to get to know me you would see that I know what I am talking about.

I have 4 years of traditional education. Including most classes nursing students take, and I don’t take the “fundamentals” classes, I take the one the nursing students at my school complain are too hard.

I also have 5 years experience in this business, wherein I was expected to know far more than you would think, I was always pushed to learn more, to present cases, to know new things. I have also taken EVERY CME class that you have taken, and excelled.

Take a cue from the doctors. If they trust me with things why cant you? I am fully capable of doing everything in my job spectrum and quite a few things out of it. If I am unable to preform a task, or unsure about it, I will not hesitate to ask for help.

So please, just take a few steps back and give me a chance, and maybe a little respect.

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