Good Advice

Dr. Obvious: "The key to the test is just to put down the right answers."

THAT'S what I was supposed to be doing? Shit, all this time I thought I was supposed to make a pretty design on my scantron sheet. Now I'll start getting 100's for sure.

Shit Old Surgeons Say

So this grouchy old surgeon came in to give us information about our surgical clerkships next year. He did manage to stay on topic for a little while.

Dr. Inmy Day: "Well, we can't require you to be at the hospital before 5 am anymore. But, dedicated students show up before 5."

Then he somehow got on the subject of his residents.

Dr. Inmy Day: “They already have their damn 80-hour work weeks. And starting July 1^st, our interns are limited to just 16 hour shifts. The only thing they haven’t told us yet is that we have to give them milk and cookies every night.”

Not gonna lie, I laughed. Throw in bed time stories and I'm sold!

Sassy's First Night in the ED

I spent a few hours last night sort of shadowing in the ED. I say sort of, because I pretty much wandered at will and followed whichever resident or attending didn't give me the stink eye into the rooms. They're pretty casual about students shadowing at Med School Hospital's ED. It was my maiden voyage in the ED (no one put big red V on my forehead with lipstick, sadly). I saw some really interesting stuff, some OKish stuff, and some "WTF are you doing in the ER for this shit?" stuff.

My favorite, though? A severely autistic patient who was sent in (and by "sent in", I really mean "dumped") by his home with some paperwork. On his chart was written:

"Chronic Illness:          Artistic         "

I'd love to see the DSM IV criteria for that.

Timing

Timing can be a funny thing.

In October, my nurse practitioner cousin asked me about some GI problems just as I wrapped up my GI module. I hypothesized that she maybe had a food allergy based on her history, but hell if I know for sure. And no, I don't know why SHE would ask ME anything, the girl worked in an ER for four years. Clearly she's the one with all the practical knowledge.

In December, I learned about orthopedic injuries and soon after, got a call from my dad about a knee problem. He had a screaming positive McMurray test when I went home and demanded he lay down and let me poke and prod his knee (very patient, my father). He's getting his 35% medial meniscal tear fixed up at the end of the month.

Tomorrow, my grandfather is having a cystoscopy for suspected bladder or prostate cancer while I will sit through a lecture on renal and bladder cancers. This is my least favorite match-up so far.