4th Year: July August September October
3rd year: Family Pediatrics Medicine( 1) Med(2)
Med(3)
Surgery(1)
Surg(2) Surg(3) Psychiatry Ob/Gyn
Index
FAQs
Other Interesting People: GabeL
Jenny
Kissaknee Lucas Yolanda
October 31,
2004
Blah:
Now I remember why the
first two years of med school sucked so much. All I do all day is sit around with my nose in
a book or staring at my laptop. I find
myself getting pretty dull in the head. 2½ more weeks of this… ugg. My “break” this week is heading to
Columbus Weds-Thurs for my
On the other hand, I’ve
been sleeping 8-10 hours a day. That’s
been a nice change of pace.
October 29, 2004
Osama:
Hmmm… the
beard’s in good shape.
Interview #11:
October 28, 2004
Sports:
1) Congrats to the Red Sox. That was something else.
2) Sucks to NHL owners and players. You killed the sport.
3) When I interview in
4) I’m going to the OSU-Michigan football
game in
5) Volleyball league play starts in a week or
two. I’m going to get killed. I haven’t played or even worked out
since the spring…
good grief.
More Campaign FYI:
Just got the
latest Journal of the American Medical
Association. In it, Bush and Kerry were asked to write
brief articles about current issues in health care and how they intend to fix
things. Sorry Bush, you seem like a
great guy, but come on… if you’re addressing MDs I’d have hoped you’d put together a coherent,
organized article instead of the mishmash that probably aptly reflects the
Republican piecemeal approach to health care reform. Kerry on the other hand – not concise,
but well-organized, even subheadings!!!
In bold!!! That’s good stuff. A great quote by FDR in the concluding
paragraph too – should have memorized it, but something to the effect of
that the greatness of a nation ought not be measured
by the gain of the enfranchised, but by the extent it empowers the
disenfranchised. Dude, any quote by FDR
= coup de grace. That’s a nice
touch. Kerry wins purely by aesthetics
and structure.
October 27, 2004
Interviews #9-10:
Wayne State/Sinai-Grace (
Pretty happy
with my collection so far. The big bolus (hopefully) will come starting
November when a lot of the high-powered programs (including CA and Chicago)
start sending out invitations. I would
be totally ecstatic if those 3
Step 2:
Just studying
for my Step 2 exam on November 18. Taking a Clinical Anatomy elective which
means I go to the anatomy lab for about an hour (at most) every morning. Good excuse to wake
me up in the morning. Otherwise,
just spending my day rotating between Panera, Beaner’s, Starbucks, and the library.
Government-run Health Care:
I wish Bush would
stop saying this is a bad thing. Good
riddance, anyone who knows anything about health care knows that government-run
health care has been proven dozens of times over worldwide to be better than
privatized health care. Plus, I’d
rather have the DHHS in charge of my benefits than my employer and a for-profit
business haggling over what’s least costly instead of what’s
cost-effective. I’m not sure what
he’s trying to preserve anyways.
Contrary to what he says, doctors aren’t
totally free to make their own decisions right now under a so-called market-based
health care system. The contrary is just
a flat lie.
You kids in CA are
really missing out. The campaigning
around here feels like a daily bludgeoning.
I think Bush and Kerry are both dropping by
My prediction: The incumbent wins.
October 25, 2004
Interview #8:
Thomas Jefferson,
Donna’s Wedding:
Good times. Nice, simple wedding. Everything appeared to run smoothly and
happily. I got to catch up with some old
friends. I miss CA.
Drove a
convertible for the first time. Had reserved a Mustang, but stupid Hertz lost
my reservation, and then they tried to set me up with a Mustang on the lot that
was colored TANGERINE. It was
embarrassing just to look at. So I went
back in line and got a Sebring instead.
Not the most fun car to drive, but I like the convertible-action…
definitely… that SLK roadster is looking more and more attractive…
=)
Feeling Good:
Recently I’ve
been feeling pretty lucky. I’ve got
my share of complaints… mostly old stuff having to do with Toledo, med
school, or my car… but otherwise, my family and friends are healthy and
happy (I know a BUNCH of people whose families have been hit with cancer just
in the past year or two… man, that’s rough)… I don’t
have a whiny, wimpy gf anymore (again, I know a bunch
of people having migraines because of bad relationships)… two of my best
friends are getting/got married… I had an awesome two months in CA, where
I was able to spend some quality time with my favorite people in the
world… I like my clothes… I’m getting a good return on
interviews (BIG relief)… and, best of all, I’ve got several months
of (virtual) vacation to look forward to this year… Praise God for this still, tranquil period of
my life.
October 21, 2004
Done:
No more call. No more scut
work. No more putsy
intern.
Red Sox:
Unbelievable.
Maybe Not So Smart:
In my Dean’s
Letter… the first sentence of the summary goes something like…
“Derrick is a very good student… blah blah
blah… ranking in the 3rd quartile of
his class (yuck)… blah blah blah…
with a cumulative medical school grade point average of 2.6.” aie….…….
Call Me “Drug Company Whore”:
The exhibit hall at
ACEP was the best… I got a good two dozen good pens from the thing…
including one engraved (heehee)… and two pairs of trauma scissors… I could have gotten coffee mugs and travel
mugs galore too, but figured I wouldn’t actually use those…
Letters from Fifth Graders:
A handful of MH’s students in
1) “The bad thing that you not like
Raiders. I like went you said went you
were hunger you turened on the red linights from the ambulance.”
2) “I think you are a cool person to talk
to. It is okay if you don’t like
the Raiders not all people do. . . . drove a ambulance you ran red lights just for you can eat
that was funny. Because Ms. H said that
you were a nice mand and you would not do
that.”
3) “I can’t believe that you like
the A’s but not the Raiders, but you like the Lions!! Let me just put it to you like this, Raiders
are haters, A’s live up to their days, and the Lions are cryin’ all the way home to Detroit to get
destroyed!!! I told you so, hahahahaha!! . . . If were to drive an ambulance, a fire
truck or a police car, I would’ve ran a red light many times, all I know
is well more than once, that’s for sure.”
Uh, I didn’t
quite understand all of that last one…
October 19, 2004
Me smart:
Got an invite to Yale today (Dec
8).
October 18, 2004
ACEP:
Had a great
time at the conference. The residency fair on Saturday was great
– totally worth the trip just for that.
Got in a lot of quality schmoozing… said hi to the
Pretty exhausting
though… two hours and I was pretty wiped out… and I still
didn’t get to chat with a couple programs I was really interested in
(Maryland and Yale)…
Didn’t
go out at all since I had my poster presentation Sunday. Just grabbed dinner
at Mel’s with those same UCI guys from this past spring and some UCLA
people.
Dropped by the Virgin
Megastore and bought some quality stuff on sale as
usual (I swear I can’t spend less than $50 everytime
I walk into that place)…
Had dinner with MH in
Not happy to go in to
work tomorrow even though I have a short week.
Can’t wait until Friday when I head to LA for the weekend.
Running Interview Tally:
Vicious Political Ads:
I guess you guys in
CA don’t have this problem. Only
in the battleground states… Just while I’ve been watching the
baseball game, during one break, there were 3 in a row! Kind of disturbing how vicious these political
ads are… unabashed use of images of vulnerable-looking children to try to
make you fear one candidate or the other… kind of like Anne Geddes… but a little bit different, I guess.
October 14, 2004
Interview Offers #5-6:
…. One more day
until I head to SF!!!!...
October 13, 2004
My incompetent intern:
Last night this guy single-handedly
decided to do everything in his power to undo a DNR, Living Will, Power of
Attorney, and the recommendations of the ER resident, ER attending, and my
senior resident. He wanted to go all out
and get neurosurgery to do surgery on a patient who had a MASSIVE brain bleed
– when you look at the film, you can actually see the bleed and the brain
pushed to the other side from ACROSS THE ER!
No exaggeration. Don’t mind
the fact that no surgeon would touch this patient with 1) his terrible bleed and
2) his history of multiple heart attacks.
Apparently, my intern wanted to forgo the wishes of the patient himself,
his family, and the collective wisdom of maybe 50 times more years of clinical
experience and knowledge than him. And,
I guess he figured, hey, ‘my senior resident and the ER resident don’t have anything better to do for
an hour in the middle of the night’ than fix the mess he made by
confusing the family.
It’s one thing
to fight for something that’s right.
It’s another thing to try to totally f*** up a patient’s own wishes because you’ve got no
f***ing common sense.
He may have 10 times
the book knowledge than me, but holy s***, I have ten times the common sense of
this guy. Thank god he’s going
into neurology where he can do his wasteful hour-long physical exam and
can’t hurt patients. I may be a
bit more sloppy in how I examine my patients each
morning, but unlike him, I can tell who’s really sick and who’s
not. I know who I need to spend
significant time with and who I can just pop in for a couple minutes each
morning.
I don’t know
how my senior resident puts up with him.
He’s a total f*** up.
He’s lazy. He does the
minimal work possible by scutting out med
students. He orders wasteful tests and
labs that are totally meaningless even after my senior resident tells him
so. He apparently doesn’t trust
anyone else’s judgment and blindly makes clinical decisions. He has no idea how to prioritize. He has NO SENSE AT ALL about how sick
patients are. He makes stupid decisions
that end up wasting my senior resident’s time. He’s an absolute liability to the
team. Me, a med student, and the psych intern could manage the service SO MUCH BETTER without
him. In fact, without question, two of our fresh third-year medical students
could do a better job than him.
My initial instinct
was right about not letting him touch any of real patients. I had to give him some anyways today since I
was carrying more patients than either of my interns. But, of my four admissions last night, I gave
him a brain-dead woman, and something else that he can’t f*** up.
October 10, 2004
Random stuff:
I slept for 12 hours
last night. It was great… I was supposed to work one more ER shift
tonight, but NO WAY… working that those 30 hours straight only to pass
out and wake up to work another 10 was NOT FUN… Although, during that night shift, I think I
may have done by best cosmetic suturing job yet – had a tough flap to sew
back together, had to throw 3 tip-horizontals, a couple verticals, and a bunch
of simple sutures inbetween.
My school is going to
change its name from the Medical College of Ohio to the Medical
University of Ohio. Not as catchy, I
think. MCO kind of
rolls off the tongue. What do you
do with MUO? MUno? MedUno? MUOhio? MUOO? MedUO?
Hey, don’t be
an alcoholic. It sucks. One patient I have is a young guy,
who’s been puking for 2 weeks straight (puking so much he can’t
keep down his 12-pack a day habit), has blurry vision, constantly twitching
eyes, can’t stand up, and has memory like a 90-year-old. Classic pathology, but then again, when do
you want to be the patient who has classic pathology?
Four more days
until SF. Then, next week is a three-day workweek since
I’m getting back on Monday, and then leaving Friday for DC’s
wedding. I like the sound of three-day
workweek.
October 9, 2004
Soooo tired:
With the
exception of three naps (1/2 hour to 2 hours), I worked at St. V’s from
630am to noon today. Aie…
I was going to pick up one last shift, but I’m so tired… I
don’t know if I can do it… plus, I’m really not enjoying it
at all. First, it’s a big
downgrade in responsibility from
Interview #4:
Detroit Receiving/Wayne State. Just
got the email on Friday, so I have to call next week to schedule it. I have to say that it’s rather
satisfying to get interview invites… they like me they like me! Still won’t hear from the majority of
programs until after Nov 1.
October 7. 2004
Bloggers Unite:
Randomly found out
another med student at St V’s blogs… I
wrote down her address wrong though, can’t find it. What a silly unifying experience…
No Chance:
Kind of met a
cute nurse today. I had already made eye contact and exchanged
a “hi, how are you?”… I was sitting at the nurse’s
station writing my progress note when she sat down by her work across from me, and asked
“Do I know you from somewhere?”
At this moment, I knew that my natural charm had once again irresistibly
attracted all attractive, bright, single, 22-26 yo
females within a 50 yard radius to me. I
replied, with an unequaled brilliance, “Uh, I don’t know. Should I know you from somewhere?” Trying to figure out the connection, found
out she had bartended for a while (not bad).
Then I offered, “Well, I did used to go to some churches around
here…” hoping that she was not only an attractive, bright, single,
22-26 yo female, but a Christian, attractive, bright, single, 22-26 yo
female… In reply…………… a blank
look… Oh well.
Lookatmelookatmelookatme:
You can do an author
search with my last name on Annals
of Emergency Medicine.
October 5, 2004
Applications:
Got an invite
to interview #3: St. Vincent Mercy
Medical Center. On November 23. Actually, would have been kind of a slap in
the face if my own program rejected
me right off the bat.
Pain:
I just finished Day
#2 of 12 days (10-11 hours/day) in a row, with 3 call nights, and 2 days where
I’m picking up the back end of a swing shift in the ER after I’m
done on the wards (16 hour days). I was
kind of forced to do this because 1) I need to work with my research advisor to
get a more well-rounded letter of rec and 2)
I’m taking my final three days off to fly back to LA for a friend’s
wedding at the end of this month… just two weeks of pain, and then can
coast… plus, I kind of need to put in the time since one of the two
interns is so terrible… My senior resident really needs as many people
who know what’s going on as possible… The other intern is good – a psych
resident doing her first medicine month in about a year…
Call last night was
bearable. We got slammed with admissions
from 500pm-100am. A little after 100am, when we had caught up (and a bunch of traumas flew in),
my senior let me go to sleep… I ate a grilled cheese sandwich, watched 10
minutes of sportscenter, and then crashed… next
thing I knew my alarm went off at 600am… kind of surprised I got any
sleep at all… I left the hospital
around 300pm today… 32 hours there… eh… it’s an
improvement… =P
Oh yeah, my
compliments to human resources. For
whatever reason, the nursing staff appears to be more visually pleasing than
last year.
October 3, 2004
Paged… on my day off:
Should I be
worried about my patients if I got 5 pages on my day off?
The day off
was nice… I got to sleep in for the first time in a week… threw
together my research poster for the ACEP 2004 Research Forum in two weeks (
Is it a bad
sign if I think I’m more competent than one of the interns? I don’t trust this guy… as long
as he doesn’t touch my patients, I’ll be okay. He really pissed me off the other day by
canceling my order for pain medications for my
patient and totally overreacting to a situation, ending up ordering a slew
of wasted labs and tests… and forcing my patient put up with her pain all
night… what
an a**hole… the day off was nice to cool off and not have to deal with
that dude for at least one day.
Presidential Debate:
It was
fairly entertaining… in the right company… heehee.
Oh,
here’s a link to the American Medical Student Association’s election pages… some
simplified, concise articles on the candidates’ health care plans…
October 1, 2004
Scut Monkey:
Not that I’m any
bit irritated that I just got back from the hospital after 34 hours…
but I think I’ve become the ultimate scut
monkey on my Medicine Sub-internship.
I’m too useful not to not take on close to an intern’s
patient load, to do admissions, and to send on random errands (like stand
around medical records for an hour while they run around trying to find a
chart)… and I’m not a 3rd year student when I could take
a small patient load by claiming that I’m not learning anything…
I’m pooped. I
really want to study some or do some work (I’m really rusty on my
Medicine knowledge), but I’m really really
tired… maybe I can put in a half-hour or so tonight, then hopefully some
tomorrow if there aren’t too many admissions…
Oh, I also sent away all my CA applications over the
weekend. Ended up applying to Stanford
and Loma Linda after all… I owe it to myself to give virtually any CA
program a look if I can get an interview.
Our student life person who helps out with residency app’s thought
my CA-specific personal statement was worth sending… err…
we’ll see… still waffling on a handful of programs… still
looking for some ‘back-up’ programs that I’d be happy
at…
I’m pooped……