You may have noticed that I have not posted anything since last Tuesday... I got home ok on Tuesday, but it started to rain and all of the rain froze instantly. Louisville was turned into a winter wonderland, but that meant, that nothing was working anymore. Power went out, schools were closed, University was closed and I did not go to Work on Wednesday. There was no way I could have made it down teh 30°steep driveway with all the branches and ice on it.... Later during the day it started snowing and as of 12.30 we lost power.... We had to start the fireplaces and it turned into a wounderful winter experience. The trees were al really pretty with the snow and the ice on them, but many of them broke due the amount of ice.... One time during the night something must have hit the wall to which my bed was standing, because I did feel it shake.... But as already said, I really enjoyed it. We sat around the fireplace, roasted Hot Dogs, listened to a ball game, had candles on everywhere.... I was great. And I new no matter how long the conditions were gonna be like that, there was a definit end to it for me. So I really enjoyed it. I went out into the snow on the four wheeler. That was fun!!! I already send out some pictures.... Due to the weather I did not manage to make it back to the cardiology office, but I did have the chance to go out with Jim (finally) and his girlfriend. I had a wounderful time. The sushi was really tasty!!!! Thanks for that and the chocolate cake... AWESOME!!! And thanks again for letting me use the car. That was extremely helpful and the mamamobil and I made it almost every day... Just the last ones were a little bit rough....
Now I am on my way to Sydney. I am sitting at the aiport in Vegas and I am waiting for my next flight to LA... I have had a few really bad nights of almost no sleep because I kept thinking of things that may go wrong... I am still a little anxious, excited, sad and can't really believe that I am on my way to one of the most exciting cities of the world.... I'll keep you posted on how that goes... Hopefully I will have internet.....
Samstag, 31. Januar 2009
Dienstag, 27. Januar 2009
winterweather in Louisville
I finally got to experience what it means when snow hits the ground in Louisville. This morning was the worst driving experience ever.... They just do not really know how to handle snow around here. The big four lane Interstates were not cleared this morning. So there was just this really, really wide white lane... I had no clue if I was in one or two lanes... I drove really slow, but there were people going really fast and there were truck going fast and coming close and that was the scariest part. Several times I was getting ready to drive off to the side and just wait till they passed me. They were scary. Over all it took me three times as much to get down town today, but when I finally pulled into the parking lot I was really relieved and it was fun to walk to the hospital in the snow. But those trucks really, really scared me this morning. Usually I pass them, but today.... Things were very different. I just hope that it will not get too much worse and that the main roads will stay cleared.....
But then in the hospital I got to know a new side of my "favorite" resident... He let me put an arterial line it - I asked if I could give it a try, he said he didn't care and since I had never done it before, only drew arterial blood, he walked me through the steps first. I could barely believe what happened. He did do a great job explaning, just like during that last night at Kosair... I just don't understand why he keeps hiding that side of himself and acts like such a jerk most of the time, cause if he wants to he can really be a great teacher!!!!! And I manged to find the arterie and place my first arterial line without any complications!!!! That was really cool!!!!! I am glad I can cross that off my list of things I have not done yet as well.....
But then in the hospital I got to know a new side of my "favorite" resident... He let me put an arterial line it - I asked if I could give it a try, he said he didn't care and since I had never done it before, only drew arterial blood, he walked me through the steps first. I could barely believe what happened. He did do a great job explaning, just like during that last night at Kosair... I just don't understand why he keeps hiding that side of himself and acts like such a jerk most of the time, cause if he wants to he can really be a great teacher!!!!! And I manged to find the arterie and place my first arterial line without any complications!!!! That was really cool!!!!! I am glad I can cross that off my list of things I have not done yet as well.....
Montag, 26. Januar 2009
some things do change....
My "favorite" resident is not one of those things, but I have spend enough time writting about him online. So nothing has been different about today concerning him.... But today was the last day he was in charge of sending us home!!!!!!!
After we managed to get away and leave the hospital I went to the post office, because I could just not believe the numbers the online calculator had given me after I had put in the estimate weight of my to-go-to-Germany-box.... Back in the old days there were options like ground mail, slow boat, book boxes..... I could not find any of that online and I thought I might go and talk to someone in the main post office! But when I got there and talked to the guy and had him punch in the numbers he had the exact same face that I had yesterday.... He told me media boxes can only be sent within the US (so even though it was a great hint from my favorite American mother, it won't work....) and there is not ground mail to Europe anymore. They do everything by plane.... Maybe they should reconsider that, not just for poor college students, but also to give the environment a break... There are people in this world, who do not need things to have arrived yesterday, there are still people (even though hard to believe) who do not care if something gets somewhere within 10 or 20 days..... But appearently everything has to be delivered fast today....Anyway I have already talked to my credit card and if you hear a loud cry on Friday, you know who it was....... ;)
So no more ground mail to Europe, no more book boxes, reduced weight limits, raised fees for overweight..... Let's see what they'll come up with next to make things harder and more expensive for poor college students.... ;)
After we managed to get away and leave the hospital I went to the post office, because I could just not believe the numbers the online calculator had given me after I had put in the estimate weight of my to-go-to-Germany-box.... Back in the old days there were options like ground mail, slow boat, book boxes..... I could not find any of that online and I thought I might go and talk to someone in the main post office! But when I got there and talked to the guy and had him punch in the numbers he had the exact same face that I had yesterday.... He told me media boxes can only be sent within the US (so even though it was a great hint from my favorite American mother, it won't work....) and there is not ground mail to Europe anymore. They do everything by plane.... Maybe they should reconsider that, not just for poor college students, but also to give the environment a break... There are people in this world, who do not need things to have arrived yesterday, there are still people (even though hard to believe) who do not care if something gets somewhere within 10 or 20 days..... But appearently everything has to be delivered fast today....Anyway I have already talked to my credit card and if you hear a loud cry on Friday, you know who it was....... ;)
So no more ground mail to Europe, no more book boxes, reduced weight limits, raised fees for overweight..... Let's see what they'll come up with next to make things harder and more expensive for poor college students.... ;)
Sonntag, 25. Januar 2009
Last weekend
On Friday I was asked if one of us students could be there on Saturday to help out in the morning, since the team was off and the doctor rounding did not really know our patients all that well.... Since I was the only student there on Friday my options were either yes or ehm yes... and that's how I got myself into having another day with my "favorite" resident. And guess what, it wasn't any different than all the other days. He was being him and that made me mad even though I did not want to let his attitute get to me after the great night I had had before... After following him around for 2,5 hours, because we did have a possible central line on our list, and then him not wanting my help in the end to do it, I finally got him to say "ok then, you can go home" Well I did not go home, but went to watch a surgery on one of our patients. It was once again a gun shot wound.... Being in the OR was great. All of the doctors in there were really interested in teaching. They kept answering my questions and explaining all kinds of things. I really liked being there. It was just such a different experience than following the other resident around and watch him hit on nurses.... In the OR they put a patch over a hole in the guys iliac vein. That was really neat and really tried to give me a chance to see what they were doing. Even anasthesia was really coopearative and they did tell me about what they need to watch out for in a patient like him. Time just went by so much faster down there and once that part of the surgery was over I followed to patient to the vascular OR to watch them take out the bullet of his vena cava (the big on that goes back to the heart) That was really cool. It was almost like watching a crime story on TV. They had a little lasso like tool, that they put through into the vein in his groin and moved it up trying to get a hold of the bullet. It always fascinates me how they manage to maneuver the little wires from the groin..... The finally got the bullet out after 1,5hours! And after that I did go home!
Tim, Deb and I had a on the couch movie night, because we all did not feel like going anywhere. I was just glad to relax and enjoy their company, since this is my last weekend and I don't fell all that rested inside.... I am starting to be really excited, also a little worried and a tiny bit scared of what I have gotten myself into...
Today I packed up the box of stuff that I will send home with my winter clothes and stuff that I got here and won't need in Australia.... It is a big box! But it wouldn't be if the airlines hadn't cut down their weight limit. It would barely be a box at all if they hadn't reduced it by 40pounds.....
Tim had to work today and Deb was at a party, so I had the house to myself this afternoon and I spent it watching Mamma Mia on the big screen TV (some songs tuned up really loud) and working a little on the number I need to finally get done with the statistics for my dissertation. After having been to quite a few really interesting lectures on research I finally got the research interest back and don't feel quite as anoyed by doing this kind of busy work.....
When Deb got back from the first party we went to Ross' Birthday party. It was the first time that I actually got to be here for his birthday. So that was really nice. We had a very tasty cake and I really enjoyed the little time I got to spend with the family.....
Tim, Deb and I had a on the couch movie night, because we all did not feel like going anywhere. I was just glad to relax and enjoy their company, since this is my last weekend and I don't fell all that rested inside.... I am starting to be really excited, also a little worried and a tiny bit scared of what I have gotten myself into...
Today I packed up the box of stuff that I will send home with my winter clothes and stuff that I got here and won't need in Australia.... It is a big box! But it wouldn't be if the airlines hadn't cut down their weight limit. It would barely be a box at all if they hadn't reduced it by 40pounds.....
Tim had to work today and Deb was at a party, so I had the house to myself this afternoon and I spent it watching Mamma Mia on the big screen TV (some songs tuned up really loud) and working a little on the number I need to finally get done with the statistics for my dissertation. After having been to quite a few really interesting lectures on research I finally got the research interest back and don't feel quite as anoyed by doing this kind of busy work.....
When Deb got back from the first party we went to Ross' Birthday party. It was the first time that I actually got to be here for his birthday. So that was really nice. We had a very tasty cake and I really enjoyed the little time I got to spend with the family.....
Samstag, 24. Januar 2009
Whicked
The night was finally here!!! My resident had let me out early and I managed to get two hours of sort of sleep in the afternoon. Then I spend quite some time being a girl and getting ready... It was so great to have some time to dress up!!!!!
Tim and Deb took me downtown and dropped me off so that I did not have to worry about sitting in traffic not knowing any sideways and trying to find a place to park... I really appreciated that especially when we passed the traffic jam on I-65, I would have just been stuck in there. And riding in the back of a big black car felt a little like riding in a limo....
The show was incredible. The costums, the music, the stage equipment and the story... just awesome. It is a wounderful story about friendship and it is so great to find out all about how the Tin man became a Tin man, how the lion lost its courage and how the scarecrow became a scarecrow.... And the wizzard is not a good person at all and Dorothy was taken there as part of a set up to capture the "whicked" witch... It is really great to take "a look behind the scene" of the wizzard of oz. I was glad that I did not read the story before, that just made it so much more exciting.... It was really great! And I am glad that I took the chance and got a ticket. It was funny, serious, exciting and just a wounderful story line. The authors did a great job writting the play. It never got boring and the three hours did not feel like three hours at all.....
The Kentucky center could have been a little warmer and the accoustics could have been better as well, but having been sitting in the first row on the first Balcony, could not have been any better. I had a hard time seeing faces, but I expected that, but I had an awesome overview over the stage!!!! During intermission I also met Meg and Abby, which was fun... Unfortunately due to work I don't have quite as much time as I would have liked to have to spend with them, so every moment that I get to see anybody of the family really means a lot to me......
Tim and Deb took me downtown and dropped me off so that I did not have to worry about sitting in traffic not knowing any sideways and trying to find a place to park... I really appreciated that especially when we passed the traffic jam on I-65, I would have just been stuck in there. And riding in the back of a big black car felt a little like riding in a limo....
The show was incredible. The costums, the music, the stage equipment and the story... just awesome. It is a wounderful story about friendship and it is so great to find out all about how the Tin man became a Tin man, how the lion lost its courage and how the scarecrow became a scarecrow.... And the wizzard is not a good person at all and Dorothy was taken there as part of a set up to capture the "whicked" witch... It is really great to take "a look behind the scene" of the wizzard of oz. I was glad that I did not read the story before, that just made it so much more exciting.... It was really great! And I am glad that I took the chance and got a ticket. It was funny, serious, exciting and just a wounderful story line. The authors did a great job writting the play. It never got boring and the three hours did not feel like three hours at all.....
The Kentucky center could have been a little warmer and the accoustics could have been better as well, but having been sitting in the first row on the first Balcony, could not have been any better. I had a hard time seeing faces, but I expected that, but I had an awesome overview over the stage!!!! During intermission I also met Meg and Abby, which was fun... Unfortunately due to work I don't have quite as much time as I would have liked to have to spend with them, so every moment that I get to see anybody of the family really means a lot to me......
last call
Wednesday was my last call.... It is kind of weird that after all time did go by really fast and my time at UofL is coming to and end. On the other hand it does not feel like it at all, since I am still pretty involved in things and still have to work almost every day. Wednesday was once again a very quiet day. All our patients were stable.... I got to admit my first patient to the ICU ( do all the exams) and as it turned out yesterday my gut instinct war right about one symptom... After examing the patient I thought she might have something wrong with her gallbladder... And yesterday on ultrasound they found stones in her gallbladder and signs for infection.... So I was really happy about that. Later in the evening I finally got to put the first central line in and after that our attending went out to get dinner at Qdoba for the team!!! That was really cool. I really like the team and we had a fun half hour sitting down and eating together. After that there wasn't much to do, I went to bed and never got called again.... In the morning I then had to stay quite long, since no other students were here and I couldn't just hand over some of our work like the post call student usually does. But that also meant that I got things to do. I got to take out sutures in two patients, but that was also when my first mistake happened. In on of the patients I took out the wrong sutures, but when I realized that something was not right, I stopped, called my resident and he put them back in. I felt really,really bad about that... When I got to the patient I did not find the sutures where I thought they should be, so I thought I had remembered the side wrong, cause on the other side were sutures over the hip..... Well next time I have to make sure and not assume I remembered wrong.... I am not sure if it had happened if I hadn't been sleeping not so well for quite while, but that's still not an excuse...
Friday was another quiet day, since our patients were still stable and the gunshot wound from a week ago really started to annoy me. He stareted to have a really bad attitude and did not show any appreciation for anybody, who has helped to save his life.... It was really hard to keep being nice to him and not ge totally frustraded when examining him! I really do not like working with those kinds of patients, but it was good practice to stay calm and be nice no matter what else I would have liked to do. All my other patients are really nice and I enjoy seeing them making progress and getting better.....
Friday was another quiet day, since our patients were still stable and the gunshot wound from a week ago really started to annoy me. He stareted to have a really bad attitude and did not show any appreciation for anybody, who has helped to save his life.... It was really hard to keep being nice to him and not ge totally frustraded when examining him! I really do not like working with those kinds of patients, but it was good practice to stay calm and be nice no matter what else I would have liked to do. All my other patients are really nice and I enjoy seeing them making progress and getting better.....
Mittwoch, 21. Januar 2009
first central line
I did it! It finally happened. I got to put my first central line in!!! I did not find the vein myself, but looking for it I also did not cause a pneumothorax (meaning I did not poke a hole in the lung blindly trying to find the vein...) It was really cool. My resident is an awesome teacher!!!
Dienstag, 20. Januar 2009
Inauguration day
This morning I woke up about 10 minutes before the alarm went off - that was a nice feeling. I actually felt like I had had enough sleep...... And since my team was post call I assumed that we would not have to stay too terribly long, because usually there isn't much going on... Well I was wrong! My favorite Resident from Kosair is on the trauma team now and covers for whichever team is post call. And since Kathy and I do not have a Y Chromosome (just like Sarah) we had to stay and follow him while he was talking to the nurses and writting orders. If he had at least tought us something or sort of acknowldged our being there.... But we just had to follow him around. We asked him several times if we could help him with something, just to have something to do and not just stand there and wait for something to happen, but he would either say no or even better "oh wait, I'll find something!" It's not like we need to be kept bussy.... Around 11.30 we really had all of our stuff done and there was nothing left to do for our patients.... So we were hoping to get to leave and do some reading at home, where it is quiet, but no, he told us to stay and wait till two for an extubation.... I could hardly believe he really said that, extubation is nothing but pulling out a breathing tube of someones throat - what could I possibly learn from that?!?!?!?!?!? It's not like we haven't seen that at the end of almost every single operation that we have been in on..... Anyway he made us stay and the best part about it was, he took a nap!!!!!! He is just so lazy.
Well Kathy and I made the best out of it and went to a nearby restaurant and watched the inauguration. So that was really neat. Unfortunately it was really crowded and somewhat noisy, so that we did not hear the entire speech. But thanks to You Tube I can listen to it again. It was a very moving moment.... I really enjoyed it, being part of it.... The speech was not very long, but still very impressive and there wasn't much left to say! He is an incredible speaker! And hopefully he will be able to change many of the things he's got on his list.....
After the really exciting extubation (nothing happened, the patient didn't even desaturate....) I finally managed to leave even though he would have wanted me to stay till 5 because something could come up. But I decided not to and instead go home and get some quiet reading time, cause it is really hard to find a spot in the hospital to read and not be disturbed constantly.....
Overall the day wasn't bad, but this one particular resident just makes me mad. Because so far he only kept the female students till afternoon, the guys all got to leave earlier on post call days!!!!! But I only have to deal with him one more day, so that is not bad and I can handle that.
Tonight we had dinner with Meemaw and Pawpaw again. Now there is only one Tuesday left before I will be leaving. It is really kind of strange thinking about that now... I only got a little more than a week left and two weeks ago it seemed as if time would never go by, and now it went by so quickly. Tomorrow will be my last night on call and therefore I better get to bed.....
Well Kathy and I made the best out of it and went to a nearby restaurant and watched the inauguration. So that was really neat. Unfortunately it was really crowded and somewhat noisy, so that we did not hear the entire speech. But thanks to You Tube I can listen to it again. It was a very moving moment.... I really enjoyed it, being part of it.... The speech was not very long, but still very impressive and there wasn't much left to say! He is an incredible speaker! And hopefully he will be able to change many of the things he's got on his list.....
After the really exciting extubation (nothing happened, the patient didn't even desaturate....) I finally managed to leave even though he would have wanted me to stay till 5 because something could come up. But I decided not to and instead go home and get some quiet reading time, cause it is really hard to find a spot in the hospital to read and not be disturbed constantly.....
Overall the day wasn't bad, but this one particular resident just makes me mad. Because so far he only kept the female students till afternoon, the guys all got to leave earlier on post call days!!!!! But I only have to deal with him one more day, so that is not bad and I can handle that.
Tonight we had dinner with Meemaw and Pawpaw again. Now there is only one Tuesday left before I will be leaving. It is really kind of strange thinking about that now... I only got a little more than a week left and two weeks ago it seemed as if time would never go by, and now it went by so quickly. Tomorrow will be my last night on call and therefore I better get to bed.....
Montag, 19. Januar 2009
weekend
The weekend was over pretty fast. On Saturday I didn't have to go in to terribly early. I got to sleep till almost five am.... While watching my patient and waiting for his surgery to start I did get some reading done and then I got to scrub in on the abdominal wall closure of the incredible gun shot wound. I saw how a colostomy was made for the first time and I also got to see all the anatomy from the first surgery. The residents were really great and let each of (scubbed in or not) take a look and appreciate the work they had done two nights before.... It was really great. After that I got to go home and spend the rest of the afternoon mostly hanging out in the living room with Deb watching Animal planet and Travel Channel (their wild life program is really great)... Later that night we watched another really exciting Basketball Game. UofL played the number one team in the nation. They did make a lot of stupid moves, but after all they won - making their fans happy. (As I said before: red rules and birds are awesome!!!!)
On Sunday I slept in.... That term definetely has a different meaning now, because I was done sleeping by 7.30!!!! I would have never considered that to be sleeping in 6weeks ago! But it is amazing how well the body adjusts to getting up early, even though I still don't enjoy it and I am counting the days till it will be over, but it did get easier over time! Saturday was a really nasty grey day. But Deb and I went out anyway and visited the Mohammed Ali Center. It is a really cool place, but there is so much to see, listen to and do, that one can't get it all done in one visit. They did a really great job displaying all the stuff, but unfortunataly almost everything was on one floor and should have been spread out a little more, so that one wouldn't hear three audiopresentations at the same time, even though only wanting to listen to one.... He was a very impressive person, extremely selfconfident and I really liked that poem that inspired him:
Rudyard Kipling
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
Once we got back home, we had another couch potato night eating tasty left overs and watching a chick flick ("P.S. I love you") We had a great girls' night since Tim was out somewhere in the woods being a boy....
Today I had to get up early again, which is always hard after a day off, because then I don't fall asleep quite as easily at night and don't sleep quite as well.... When I got up this morning I was suprised by a winter wonderland. It is finally winter in KY. Not just cold, but also white now! It was a little scary though going down the driveway, but I managed to get all the way to the hospital without any major problems..... Probably also because there weren't all that many moroons on the street yet! They day in the hospital wasn't very spectacular. It was a good day. I got to assist change the dressing on my patient and do a few other things with our resident. Unfortunately I still did not get to put a central line in, but my resident knows that I would love to do that before the rotation is over and I hope I'll get the chance sometime during the next two weeks.
Now I am back home, hoping that the roads won't be too slippery tomorrow....
On Sunday I slept in.... That term definetely has a different meaning now, because I was done sleeping by 7.30!!!! I would have never considered that to be sleeping in 6weeks ago! But it is amazing how well the body adjusts to getting up early, even though I still don't enjoy it and I am counting the days till it will be over, but it did get easier over time! Saturday was a really nasty grey day. But Deb and I went out anyway and visited the Mohammed Ali Center. It is a really cool place, but there is so much to see, listen to and do, that one can't get it all done in one visit. They did a really great job displaying all the stuff, but unfortunataly almost everything was on one floor and should have been spread out a little more, so that one wouldn't hear three audiopresentations at the same time, even though only wanting to listen to one.... He was a very impressive person, extremely selfconfident and I really liked that poem that inspired him:
Rudyard Kipling
If
If
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
Once we got back home, we had another couch potato night eating tasty left overs and watching a chick flick ("P.S. I love you") We had a great girls' night since Tim was out somewhere in the woods being a boy....
Today I had to get up early again, which is always hard after a day off, because then I don't fall asleep quite as easily at night and don't sleep quite as well.... When I got up this morning I was suprised by a winter wonderland. It is finally winter in KY. Not just cold, but also white now! It was a little scary though going down the driveway, but I managed to get all the way to the hospital without any major problems..... Probably also because there weren't all that many moroons on the street yet! They day in the hospital wasn't very spectacular. It was a good day. I got to assist change the dressing on my patient and do a few other things with our resident. Unfortunately I still did not get to put a central line in, but my resident knows that I would love to do that before the rotation is over and I hope I'll get the chance sometime during the next two weeks.
Now I am back home, hoping that the roads won't be too slippery tomorrow....
Freitag, 16. Januar 2009
exciting night on call
Yesterday was my second night on call with the trauma team. When I went in in the morning it was cold, dark and I didn't really expect much to happen. The cold is really great, it is really clear and during the day it is just beautiful. This is how winter has to be, not gray and nasty, but sunny and cold. Once I can see the sun come up and light up the bridges crossing the Ohio river, my day gets a whole lot better! The dark is really what bother's me the most in the morning, having that feeling to get there in the middle of the night and it scares me more and more each day. For some reason I start thinking more about what could happen to me on the way from the Parking lot on Jefferson to the hospital at Jackson street (about 4blocks). The worst part is the bridge.... Maybe it has something to do with all the gun shot wounds that we keep seeing.....
Anyway the day started out as usual, I went to see my three patients and then Sara, Kathy and I tried to find places to hang out and study till something happened. It is really hard to find a place in the hospital that is somewhat quiet, but not reserved for residents and where the phone still works. There is a lounge in the basement, but cell phones won't work down there and therefore we can't really go there, because we would not know when something happens.....and I don't have a pager like most of the other students do. It is really helpfull to stay close to the residents, because than the chance of missing something is very small. The most exciting thing in the morning was a chest tube placement that I got to watch. I was had already talked to the Orthopedic guys if I could scrub in with them on one of our patients, since there seemed to be nothing happening on our service. But their case got postponed several times as well..... At some point in the afternoon my resident sat down to study himself and I tried to find a computer at a quiet place so that I could read in my ebooks. I found it, but it was in the basement, without cell phone reception. So I figured I stay for about 30minutes and then go back up to check on things. When I went back things had changed quite a bit. The team was in the OR taking care of a gun shot wound to the groin.... Me and one of the other students never received a message about it, so we both got there late.... It didn't seem to be a big deal, but I still felt sort of bad. But it is not easy to hang out with the residents, cause it is never quiet around them, and I when I got the time I would like to get some reading done, but it seems as if I found a good place later during the day yesterday.... I'll keep investigating that tomorrow (doesn't seem very crowded and still got cell phone reception and computers!!!!) But now back to the gun shot - the story of the day. The guy came in talking and hemodynamically stable. On X-ray the bullet was still seen overlying his pelvis. When they took him to the OR and opened him up his blood pressure started to drop and they really saw what had happened to him. His iliac vein got torn appart, about two inches of just didn't really exist anymore and he had two holes in his sigmoind colon. So they resected he destroyed part of the colon. When they turned their attention to the vein, they had to call a second attending in.... It was not easy, but unfortunately for everybody who was not scrubbed in and even for two of the guys who were scrubbed in, there wasn't much to see, because the four primary surgeons were working deep down in the pelvis and anesthesia didn't want anybody in their area, because he was not really stable anymore. During the surgery the patient received 17units of blood and all kinds of fluids and procoagulatory agents.... At the end there were more than 7l of fluid suctioned out of the operating field..... After two hours of desperately trying to see something I left and went to stick to my resident, read about post op management of people, who have lost large amount of blood, and wait till they called us to get him out of the operating room. While we were waiting we got called to the ER to check out a high level emergency (a level 1 or as they would say in Switzerland a D1). When we got there, the ER team had already CPR and there wasn't much we could do for her..... But there was some action going on in the ER, next time when there is nothing going on upstairs I might just hang out in the ER area.... Then we went back to the OR to check on our future patient. They had finally fixed all the holes in the vessels. Even though I did not see much while they were operating, I did get an awesome explanation when I asked the attending afterwards about what had been done. In order to get to the shredded part of the iliac vein they had to cut the right iliac artery overlying the vein. Because the venous walls are so thin they basically only ligated them and cut of the venous blood supply to the left leg through one of the main arteries. Fortunately there are smaller collaterals that have to develop into bigger veins now, but that is going to take several weeks..... It was still pretty amazing to see what can be done to the human body and what it can deal with eventually. Because it was an emergency surgery and the most important thing was to fix the lethal injuries and stabilize the patient they did not finish the surgery. They did not close his abdomen, they just covered it and will take him back tomorrow to take care of his bowel and close him up.... I had only seen that on TV before! It was really cool and he is my patient now, because I was on call and I get to follow him now!!!!!!!!!!!! Since they cut of his femoral vein, he basically now has a deep vein thrombosis in his left leg and it did do all the things an extremity that does not drain blood properly is supposed to do. It was just amazing to see it in reality, so in addition to all the other procedures, he also got a faciatomy to his lower leg (cutting the skin and fascia around the muscles to decompress the structures in his leg and prevent it from getting necrotic and dying). While doing that I got to sow up his scalp, where he had been hit with the weapon. That was really cool and since I had already head practice sowing up wounds (thanks to all the doctors in Rheinfelden) I didn't hesitate a bit when asked if I wanted to fix his head. So I did clean it out, made a big mess (had to change clothes afterwards) and sowed up his scalp and my residents loved it and it still looked good this morning!). So I was really excited. Then we followed him for the rest of the night and he is amazingly stable. Tomorrow he will go back to the OR and I will be scrubbing in, for the first time since having started trauma.
I also got another patient to see regularly now, an old man, who fell down the stairs and had a subdural hematoma, that had to be evacutated because his brain had started to shift within the head... His prognosis is not quite as good, but I get to do a neurological exam every morning now.
So overall it was a very productive and exciting night. Unfortunately I could have done even more that night, but for whatever reason the phone in my on call room stopped working over night.... My cell phone didn't work because I was in the basement and the other phone went dead without me noticing it..... Otherwise I could have helped sow up another open wound and probably a lot more. I felt really bad thing morning at 4 when I woke up and realized what had happened, but luckily my resident is such a nice guy and didn't get mad. This whole arrangement with the call rooms for students so far away from the residents is not a good thing, because they do not always have time to call us and then sometimes calling us doesn't work..... The arrangement at Kosair was a lot better, where we had a room right next to our resident and they just had to knock on the door to take us with them.
This morning we had conferences again. It was extremely intersting, but due to that I didn't get to leave till 11am this morning... It was a long night, but it was all worth it! And I hope my next call night (my last call night) will be equally interesting!
Anyway the day started out as usual, I went to see my three patients and then Sara, Kathy and I tried to find places to hang out and study till something happened. It is really hard to find a place in the hospital that is somewhat quiet, but not reserved for residents and where the phone still works. There is a lounge in the basement, but cell phones won't work down there and therefore we can't really go there, because we would not know when something happens.....and I don't have a pager like most of the other students do. It is really helpfull to stay close to the residents, because than the chance of missing something is very small. The most exciting thing in the morning was a chest tube placement that I got to watch. I was had already talked to the Orthopedic guys if I could scrub in with them on one of our patients, since there seemed to be nothing happening on our service. But their case got postponed several times as well..... At some point in the afternoon my resident sat down to study himself and I tried to find a computer at a quiet place so that I could read in my ebooks. I found it, but it was in the basement, without cell phone reception. So I figured I stay for about 30minutes and then go back up to check on things. When I went back things had changed quite a bit. The team was in the OR taking care of a gun shot wound to the groin.... Me and one of the other students never received a message about it, so we both got there late.... It didn't seem to be a big deal, but I still felt sort of bad. But it is not easy to hang out with the residents, cause it is never quiet around them, and I when I got the time I would like to get some reading done, but it seems as if I found a good place later during the day yesterday.... I'll keep investigating that tomorrow (doesn't seem very crowded and still got cell phone reception and computers!!!!) But now back to the gun shot - the story of the day. The guy came in talking and hemodynamically stable. On X-ray the bullet was still seen overlying his pelvis. When they took him to the OR and opened him up his blood pressure started to drop and they really saw what had happened to him. His iliac vein got torn appart, about two inches of just didn't really exist anymore and he had two holes in his sigmoind colon. So they resected he destroyed part of the colon. When they turned their attention to the vein, they had to call a second attending in.... It was not easy, but unfortunately for everybody who was not scrubbed in and even for two of the guys who were scrubbed in, there wasn't much to see, because the four primary surgeons were working deep down in the pelvis and anesthesia didn't want anybody in their area, because he was not really stable anymore. During the surgery the patient received 17units of blood and all kinds of fluids and procoagulatory agents.... At the end there were more than 7l of fluid suctioned out of the operating field..... After two hours of desperately trying to see something I left and went to stick to my resident, read about post op management of people, who have lost large amount of blood, and wait till they called us to get him out of the operating room. While we were waiting we got called to the ER to check out a high level emergency (a level 1 or as they would say in Switzerland a D1). When we got there, the ER team had already CPR and there wasn't much we could do for her..... But there was some action going on in the ER, next time when there is nothing going on upstairs I might just hang out in the ER area.... Then we went back to the OR to check on our future patient. They had finally fixed all the holes in the vessels. Even though I did not see much while they were operating, I did get an awesome explanation when I asked the attending afterwards about what had been done. In order to get to the shredded part of the iliac vein they had to cut the right iliac artery overlying the vein. Because the venous walls are so thin they basically only ligated them and cut of the venous blood supply to the left leg through one of the main arteries. Fortunately there are smaller collaterals that have to develop into bigger veins now, but that is going to take several weeks..... It was still pretty amazing to see what can be done to the human body and what it can deal with eventually. Because it was an emergency surgery and the most important thing was to fix the lethal injuries and stabilize the patient they did not finish the surgery. They did not close his abdomen, they just covered it and will take him back tomorrow to take care of his bowel and close him up.... I had only seen that on TV before! It was really cool and he is my patient now, because I was on call and I get to follow him now!!!!!!!!!!!! Since they cut of his femoral vein, he basically now has a deep vein thrombosis in his left leg and it did do all the things an extremity that does not drain blood properly is supposed to do. It was just amazing to see it in reality, so in addition to all the other procedures, he also got a faciatomy to his lower leg (cutting the skin and fascia around the muscles to decompress the structures in his leg and prevent it from getting necrotic and dying). While doing that I got to sow up his scalp, where he had been hit with the weapon. That was really cool and since I had already head practice sowing up wounds (thanks to all the doctors in Rheinfelden) I didn't hesitate a bit when asked if I wanted to fix his head. So I did clean it out, made a big mess (had to change clothes afterwards) and sowed up his scalp and my residents loved it and it still looked good this morning!). So I was really excited. Then we followed him for the rest of the night and he is amazingly stable. Tomorrow he will go back to the OR and I will be scrubbing in, for the first time since having started trauma.
I also got another patient to see regularly now, an old man, who fell down the stairs and had a subdural hematoma, that had to be evacutated because his brain had started to shift within the head... His prognosis is not quite as good, but I get to do a neurological exam every morning now.
So overall it was a very productive and exciting night. Unfortunately I could have done even more that night, but for whatever reason the phone in my on call room stopped working over night.... My cell phone didn't work because I was in the basement and the other phone went dead without me noticing it..... Otherwise I could have helped sow up another open wound and probably a lot more. I felt really bad thing morning at 4 when I woke up and realized what had happened, but luckily my resident is such a nice guy and didn't get mad. This whole arrangement with the call rooms for students so far away from the residents is not a good thing, because they do not always have time to call us and then sometimes calling us doesn't work..... The arrangement at Kosair was a lot better, where we had a room right next to our resident and they just had to knock on the door to take us with them.
This morning we had conferences again. It was extremely intersting, but due to that I didn't get to leave till 11am this morning... It was a long night, but it was all worth it! And I hope my next call night (my last call night) will be equally interesting!
Mittwoch, 14. Januar 2009
doing doctor stuff
This morning I once again got to see my three patients. It is really nice to focus on just a few, see them every day and be able to comment on them during rounds. It feels like I actually know what I am doing!!!! I hope it continues to be like that. After rounds I also got to write oders, just a doctor!!!! Then the resident did follow me, read over them and just signed. It feels great to be involved in patient care and having the chance to think about what the patient should have done during the day (which treatment, which labs, diagnostic studies....) and it feels even better when the resident agrees on what I thought!
It was just a short day, but a good one. Tomorrow I will be on call again (my second last call!). I am looking forward to it, I want to do a few exciting things, but on the other hand I would also like to get a few hours of sleep....We'll see how that goes.
Overall the working hours are not quite as bad anymore. Since my team is post call every other day, I get out early every other day, but unfortunatly I still need to get up really early and so far I have not figured out how to sleep well during the day. It feels good to get out of the hospital early and get to a non hospital environment for studying, just knowing that I could do whatever I want to is really great, except that I am usually to awake to take a nap and too tired to really study.... But overall I am glad that I don't have to spend more than 70h per week in the hospital anymore!
It was just a short day, but a good one. Tomorrow I will be on call again (my second last call!). I am looking forward to it, I want to do a few exciting things, but on the other hand I would also like to get a few hours of sleep....We'll see how that goes.
Overall the working hours are not quite as bad anymore. Since my team is post call every other day, I get out early every other day, but unfortunatly I still need to get up really early and so far I have not figured out how to sleep well during the day. It feels good to get out of the hospital early and get to a non hospital environment for studying, just knowing that I could do whatever I want to is really great, except that I am usually to awake to take a nap and too tired to really study.... But overall I am glad that I don't have to spend more than 70h per week in the hospital anymore!
Dienstag, 13. Januar 2009
First PEG
Today I got to place my first PEG (tube trough the skin into the stomach for people who can't swallow). It wasn't a clean, easy case. My resident had some trouble getting the camera into the stomach and the patient tried everything possible to fight the tube..... Since there was so much going on and everybody was busy I didn't get really great instructions and even though it worked out fine I felt as if it all could have been a little more oranized. But hopefully there will be a next time. The resident is really great. I have already worked with him before at the childrens' hospital and asked the senior resident today if I could do something during the procedure. I didn't expect the something to be the whole thing, but he basically made sure that I didn't just have to watch!!!!
In the morning I also had had the chance to examine three patients and that was a totally different start to the day. It just makes a difference if I actually get to have some patient contact or just collect data. I am trying to follow those three patients over the next days, just to get a better understanding of what is done to intensively take care of them and get the whole picture about a few instead of pieces of all of them.
Later in the OR I once again only got to watch, but I guess I can't have everything. I am not the only student anymore like I had been at Kosair, where I got to pick whatever I wanted to see or do..... Now I have to share again......
Overall it was a quiet day and I had a lot of time to get some reading done. I have no idea how much is actually going to stick, but it does feel good, getting home after 12hours knowing that I have gotten something done (some studying as well as some practical experience)!
In the morning I also had had the chance to examine three patients and that was a totally different start to the day. It just makes a difference if I actually get to have some patient contact or just collect data. I am trying to follow those three patients over the next days, just to get a better understanding of what is done to intensively take care of them and get the whole picture about a few instead of pieces of all of them.
Later in the OR I once again only got to watch, but I guess I can't have everything. I am not the only student anymore like I had been at Kosair, where I got to pick whatever I wanted to see or do..... Now I have to share again......
Overall it was a quiet day and I had a lot of time to get some reading done. I have no idea how much is actually going to stick, but it does feel good, getting home after 12hours knowing that I have gotten something done (some studying as well as some practical experience)!
Montag, 12. Januar 2009
another rare case
Today ended up being a really good day. Getting up this morning wasn't extremely hard and since this is the second week at the Trauma Unit things aren't new and I know what I have to get done in the morning. We had walk rounds this morning. Those are really interesting. Each trauma teams presents a few interesting cases they had in the ICU the past week. That is really great for learning purposes. They present interesting cases or rare procedures or complications that one needs to be aware of or just social issues related to patient care. For Example this week my team presented a case where the guy had been in a car accident with his two children. One of the kids had severe head injuries and died last week. It was really a difficult situation, because the Mom didn't want to withdraw care with the Dad having seen the kid once more, but the Dad was in our ICU and had a severe liver injurie and several broken bones. But they still managed to get him over to the children's hospital (required a lot of phone calls and talking...) But I thought it was really great how the solved the problems and that the team took the time to come up with a solution.
After rounds we had a surgery. I didn't get to scrub in, but it was still interesting to watch, because it was a rare hernia that they operated (a spiegelian hernia) Usually they are falsy diagnosed and turn out to be inguinal hernia during surgery, but this was didn't.... So I had to take quite a few pictures during the surgery and this case will be presented next week!
Since today was a post call day for my team I got to go home shortly after noon, but I talked to my resident first and made sure that I will get to see patients tomorrow morning and not just do paper work! So I am really excited about that. Being in the hospital without a lot of patient contact is just not much fun!
I spend the afternoon taking a nap, watching some TV and studying a little. When Tim got home we decided to go to a Sport's bar for dinner to have a real Burger (still had that left on my list of things to do) and watch the first half of UofL vs. Notre Dame. It was an amazing game, fast paced and really close all the way to the end. But UofL won during overtime!
And now after all the excitement I will go to bed and get up tomorrow knowing that I will get to see at least three patients......
After rounds we had a surgery. I didn't get to scrub in, but it was still interesting to watch, because it was a rare hernia that they operated (a spiegelian hernia) Usually they are falsy diagnosed and turn out to be inguinal hernia during surgery, but this was didn't.... So I had to take quite a few pictures during the surgery and this case will be presented next week!
Since today was a post call day for my team I got to go home shortly after noon, but I talked to my resident first and made sure that I will get to see patients tomorrow morning and not just do paper work! So I am really excited about that. Being in the hospital without a lot of patient contact is just not much fun!
I spend the afternoon taking a nap, watching some TV and studying a little. When Tim got home we decided to go to a Sport's bar for dinner to have a real Burger (still had that left on my list of things to do) and watch the first half of UofL vs. Notre Dame. It was an amazing game, fast paced and really close all the way to the end. But UofL won during overtime!
And now after all the excitement I will go to bed and get up tomorrow knowing that I will get to see at least three patients......
Sonntag, 11. Januar 2009
things get better
On Friday I had a really good. After the week had started out pretty slow, Friday was sort of bussy in the ICU. I also have to admit, that during the day when our residents had to meet with the new applicants to talk about the program I did not spend the hour studying or having breakfast, but took a nap... That definetely made the day a whole lot better! I was the only senoir in the ICU and got to attend two tracheotomies and one PEG placement. That was really cool and it made the day go by so much faster, since I actually had something to do. And after that it got even better, I got to see a patient for a consult all by myself, write the note and then present to the resident who would only add his assessment and plan!!! I got to do some real work there.
Later that night Deb and I had a short girl's night out, because Tim was out of town. We had dinner at Panera's Bread and then went to Hobby Lobby (a craft store) Those stores are dangerous and I think my family can be really glad that we do not have stores that big and with so much craft stuff in Germany. During my crafty years that would have been very dangerous......
Since Friday was such a great day, I decided to go back in on Saturday and be the only student again that day instead of going in on Sunday and sharing the work with two seniors again. It of course also meant that I had to get all the paperwork done for rounds by myself, but at least that kept me bussy. After rounds we only had to do one bronchoscopy. It is really amazing what the trauma surgeons do themselfs. I don't think any German trauma surgeon would know how to do a bronchoscopy, esophagoscopy..... Their work is very different from German trauma surgeons. What I have seen the trauma surgeons do in Germany is covered by orthopedics over here and what the trauma surgeons do here is more like what the German inteventional medicine doctors and thoracic and abominal surgeons do. I believe that our trauma surgeons in Greifswald would never fix an aortic aneurysm or resect part of a liver due to a gun shot wound (not we would ever get to see gun shot wounds there....) But their responsibilities are very different over here and I really like that, even though I will not get to see many broken bones and how they are fixed (which is something I definetely would need to see for studying purposes.....)
Today was a resting and catching up on things day. I didn't do anything really exciting, just writting a few emails, studying, organizing stuff..... And now we just got back from a Dinner at a Mexican restaurant!!!! Very tasty!
I have also managed to get through the first severe phase of homesickness. (or more a boyfriend sickness) It was not easy and I never had to experience that before. Whenever I traveled before I had a few short episodes of missing certain people/things/events, but I never had a whole week of not being able to really get over those feelings of missing someone really badly. It was a new experience.....
Later that night Deb and I had a short girl's night out, because Tim was out of town. We had dinner at Panera's Bread and then went to Hobby Lobby (a craft store) Those stores are dangerous and I think my family can be really glad that we do not have stores that big and with so much craft stuff in Germany. During my crafty years that would have been very dangerous......
Since Friday was such a great day, I decided to go back in on Saturday and be the only student again that day instead of going in on Sunday and sharing the work with two seniors again. It of course also meant that I had to get all the paperwork done for rounds by myself, but at least that kept me bussy. After rounds we only had to do one bronchoscopy. It is really amazing what the trauma surgeons do themselfs. I don't think any German trauma surgeon would know how to do a bronchoscopy, esophagoscopy..... Their work is very different from German trauma surgeons. What I have seen the trauma surgeons do in Germany is covered by orthopedics over here and what the trauma surgeons do here is more like what the German inteventional medicine doctors and thoracic and abominal surgeons do. I believe that our trauma surgeons in Greifswald would never fix an aortic aneurysm or resect part of a liver due to a gun shot wound (not we would ever get to see gun shot wounds there....) But their responsibilities are very different over here and I really like that, even though I will not get to see many broken bones and how they are fixed (which is something I definetely would need to see for studying purposes.....)
Today was a resting and catching up on things day. I didn't do anything really exciting, just writting a few emails, studying, organizing stuff..... And now we just got back from a Dinner at a Mexican restaurant!!!! Very tasty!
I have also managed to get through the first severe phase of homesickness. (or more a boyfriend sickness) It was not easy and I never had to experience that before. Whenever I traveled before I had a few short episodes of missing certain people/things/events, but I never had a whole week of not being able to really get over those feelings of missing someone really badly. It was a new experience.....
Donnerstag, 8. Januar 2009
a slow, slow day
So there is a question - what's a surgeon that doesn't get to cut or treat injured people: A bored, depressed, hall wandering someone... Surgeons and wannabe surgeons need to have frequent access to the OR! It's like an addiction and you all might know what happens if you deprive a junkee of his drugs.... They go crazy. So yesterday was a day when I desperately needed some OR time and nothing happened all day. I didn't even get to see patients in the morning, because once again the chase behind the intern has started.... I don't want to get to the Hospital at 4 in the morning just to make sure that I actually do get so one or two patients before the intern sees them. That would be insane. It didn't even help much telling him the day before that I wanted to see two particular patients and that he did not have to see them.... This was not a good start to a long day. I need a daily dose of patient contact! (otherwise I will just have too much time to think about who I really miss most being so far away from Germany....) Rounds were sort of intersting, at least we didn't just sit around waiting for people to come into the ER. But once rounds were over, time didn't want to go by. There was just nothing to do. Kosair did have quite a lot of surgeries and that did keep me busy quite a bit, but actually I did enjoy that a whole lot more than sitting around waiting for an Emergency to happen. Not even the ICU had anything interesting to offer. And studying in a crowded room did not really work that well either.... I tried to keep myself busy, but when you got nothing to do, being sleep deprived and far away from a loved one is really hard to deal with. But I got to admit there was one slight moment of excitment when we got called to the ER for a consult on a patient that had lost conciousness while holding a sharp knife. But the knife didn't even go all the way through her subcutanoius belly fat.... So not quite as exciting as it sounded at first, and definetely not exciting with three med students arounds..... I want to do stuff and not just watch! When I finally got to go home after having spend almost 6hours just sitting around, I got out into grey Louisville winter weather.... That didn't really raise my spirits. Back home I studied for a little while, watched some TV and went to bed early just hoping for this slow slow day to be over quickly and hopefully waking up to a better day.... And today did turn out to be better. I had something to do in the morning, not just chase interns/residents, and since today was a post call day for my trauma team I got to leave after rounds, cause there was nothing else to do and the resident taking care of our patients today did fortunately realize that. So I got to leave before noon and had lunch with Tim and Deb at Papa John's!!!! That was great and in addition to that the sun was out today. It was cold, but sunny. And that puts the whole world into a different perspective!!!! Back home I didn't need to crash right away and worry about not getting enough sleep at night because I still had things to do. It felt good to catch up on important Emails, making some phone calls, clean up a little and then study for a while... It was an afternoon like I hadn't had it for quite a while, but definetely needed! Tonight I will go to bed a lot more satisfied and I already know that I will have things to do tomorrow, because I will be the only senoir in the ICU. That does mean that I have to get up 3.30 again, but I it also means that I will have work to do!!!!! During those past few days, I did realize how nice it was to have been the only student at Kosair for three weeks! I had to work more, but I never got bored and had to sit around waiting for things to happen......
Dienstag, 6. Januar 2009
first day of Trauma
My first Trauma day is over. I have also already had my first on call night. It was very slow day - now they want me to take with them every night.... I don't quite think so! During the day there were only two surgeries, which both happened at the same time..... So I only got to watch debridement surgery, because there were already three surgeons scrubbed in and there wouldn't have been much to do for me. So I watched, which was still pretty cool, because I had not seen that before, harvasting the skin, making it thinner and than transplanting it to the site of the burn. The case of the patient was really interesting. He has already been in the hospital for 44days. He got hit by an electric cable when he cut a tree. He got burned really bad and even now you could still see where he had had the keys and change in his pocket. That was all pretty impressive and the exit wound was so small.... It is kind of neat to see the things we learned in forensic medicine live! At night we admitted another burn victim and since there was nothing else going on, I could observe the initial treatment and the residents I am with now, they like to explain what they're doing! So I actually learn things!!!!! The patients case was really interesting and it is amazing how hard it is to first judge the depth of a burn when a patient comes in. When I first looked at the patient I would not have imagined his whole face to be third degree burns.... It was pretty impressive and it smells very weird!
The residents I have met so far are all really nice and interesting in teaching. So I believe even though working hours will be long again, that I will still learn quite a lot. I will spend this week with the residents who take care of the patients on the floor, cover the ICU and most of the surgeries and next week I will be with the resident who is in the ICU and learn more about intensive care. For all the other students it is usually either one or the other depending on whether they're senoirs or junoirs. I will have to take two more call nights and I am hoping that they will be sort of quiet. At the new hospital we actually get to stay in room where they got to typical bunk beds seen in movies. They aren't all the comfortable, but at least I didn't have to share it!
This morning after I got off I took the chance and finally stop by the pediatric cardiology office to say hi to all the girls and chat for a while. It was so good to see them all again... I wish I had more time for social activities... But that's just how it goes for medical students in America (after this experience I am glad that I am a med student in Germany....), and they are not allowed to complain cause there is always at least one residents that has already worked more hours and is more tired and they don't want to hear any complaints.....Just suck it up!
The residents I have met so far are all really nice and interesting in teaching. So I believe even though working hours will be long again, that I will still learn quite a lot. I will spend this week with the residents who take care of the patients on the floor, cover the ICU and most of the surgeries and next week I will be with the resident who is in the ICU and learn more about intensive care. For all the other students it is usually either one or the other depending on whether they're senoirs or junoirs. I will have to take two more call nights and I am hoping that they will be sort of quiet. At the new hospital we actually get to stay in room where they got to typical bunk beds seen in movies. They aren't all the comfortable, but at least I didn't have to share it!
This morning after I got off I took the chance and finally stop by the pediatric cardiology office to say hi to all the girls and chat for a while. It was so good to see them all again... I wish I had more time for social activities... But that's just how it goes for medical students in America (after this experience I am glad that I am a med student in Germany....), and they are not allowed to complain cause there is always at least one residents that has already worked more hours and is more tired and they don't want to hear any complaints.....Just suck it up!
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