Rotations Underway
Hey! Long time since my last entry. No surprise, really, I had a lot keeping me busy since January... I mean first there was skit night, that took a while, and then I had to study for the boards, that took almost as long, and now I'm already just about done with my second rotation. Time flies when you're chronically sleep-deprived.
We started 3rd-year rotations in June. The point of these rotations is to expose us to many fields and get our wards senses to sprout. We have to do Internal Medicine (12 wks), Surgery (8wks), Psychiatry (6wks), OB/GYN (6wks), Geriatrics (2wks), Pediatrics (8wks), Radiology (2wks), and Family Medicine (4wks).
We have little input regarding the order of our rotations - we get assigned a specific schedule, but we can trade with a classmate - but the order isn't really that important, anyway, unless what you want to do is last. (Well, that depends who you ask, truthfully. Some would tell you it's really important and determines what field you will go into. I guess for some people that would be true, but most of us follow more concrete determiners of what we should practice - for example, what we think we will enjoy doing.) As the title of my blog suggests, I'm more than a little bit interested in surgery. I originally had it last in my schedule, and that is a big reason to switch. Why? Well, you don't want to go the whole third year thinking you're really interested in something and blowing off every other specialty (which you really shouldn't do anyway but alas) only to find out at the end of the year that what you thought you'd love all along really isn't for you. So I switched. My schedule is still mostly the same, but now I have the three "hardest" rotations (OB/GYN, Medicine, and Surgery) back to back to back.
At this point, I've got one down, though! OB/GYN was tough, but manageable. I got to deliver a baby while on call during my birthday. That was an exciting night. I also have been practicing my suturing skills, and I'm now getting really comfortable with that ever-important skill any surgeon takes for granted. Also, I've been having lots of patient interaction. I'm feeling pretty good about my ability to talk to patients, not just about their medical issues, but also just making them comfortable about being in the hospital, which people are generally none too excited about.
One thing that was really interesting about starting with Psychiatry and moving to OB/GYN is that all the OB/GYN attendings were telling me that I was adequately prepared to talk to their patients because I had done Psych. I kinda didn't know what they meant until I watched a delivery. Then it all made sense. Things are just slightly crazy during a delivery. There's blood and amniotic fluid and who knows what else getting all over the place (that's part of the reason we wear spacesuits). Needless to say, there's lots of crying and social issues and difficult stuff also, it's not all happiness and joy. Also, these doctors never get a break... babies are always being born. And they get sued left and right. And I can't deal with hormonally-driven madness in my everyday patients. I think it's safe to say OB/GYN is ruled out for me.
I think by kal v'chomer reasoning, you can deduce that Psychiatry is also out of the question.
Next week, I'm on vacation. Then medicine. Then a week's vacation. Then surgery. Should be a fun winter.... here's hoping I see the sun.
We started 3rd-year rotations in June. The point of these rotations is to expose us to many fields and get our wards senses to sprout. We have to do Internal Medicine (12 wks), Surgery (8wks), Psychiatry (6wks), OB/GYN (6wks), Geriatrics (2wks), Pediatrics (8wks), Radiology (2wks), and Family Medicine (4wks).
We have little input regarding the order of our rotations - we get assigned a specific schedule, but we can trade with a classmate - but the order isn't really that important, anyway, unless what you want to do is last. (Well, that depends who you ask, truthfully. Some would tell you it's really important and determines what field you will go into. I guess for some people that would be true, but most of us follow more concrete determiners of what we should practice - for example, what we think we will enjoy doing.) As the title of my blog suggests, I'm more than a little bit interested in surgery. I originally had it last in my schedule, and that is a big reason to switch. Why? Well, you don't want to go the whole third year thinking you're really interested in something and blowing off every other specialty (which you really shouldn't do anyway but alas) only to find out at the end of the year that what you thought you'd love all along really isn't for you. So I switched. My schedule is still mostly the same, but now I have the three "hardest" rotations (OB/GYN, Medicine, and Surgery) back to back to back.
At this point, I've got one down, though! OB/GYN was tough, but manageable. I got to deliver a baby while on call during my birthday. That was an exciting night. I also have been practicing my suturing skills, and I'm now getting really comfortable with that ever-important skill any surgeon takes for granted. Also, I've been having lots of patient interaction. I'm feeling pretty good about my ability to talk to patients, not just about their medical issues, but also just making them comfortable about being in the hospital, which people are generally none too excited about.
One thing that was really interesting about starting with Psychiatry and moving to OB/GYN is that all the OB/GYN attendings were telling me that I was adequately prepared to talk to their patients because I had done Psych. I kinda didn't know what they meant until I watched a delivery. Then it all made sense. Things are just slightly crazy during a delivery. There's blood and amniotic fluid and who knows what else getting all over the place (that's part of the reason we wear spacesuits). Needless to say, there's lots of crying and social issues and difficult stuff also, it's not all happiness and joy. Also, these doctors never get a break... babies are always being born. And they get sued left and right. And I can't deal with hormonally-driven madness in my everyday patients. I think it's safe to say OB/GYN is ruled out for me.
I think by kal v'chomer reasoning, you can deduce that Psychiatry is also out of the question.
Next week, I'm on vacation. Then medicine. Then a week's vacation. Then surgery. Should be a fun winter.... here's hoping I see the sun.
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