Island Med Student

Check out my post on Medscape to read my thoughts on the importance of bedside manner.

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Yesterday (my birthday) was great! I got tons of happy birthday wishes (thank you, everyone!), and I got to do one of my most favorite things, lay in bed all day, pig out, and watch movies. It was very relaxing, and just what I needed.

Today was long, and wonderful. I just got home from 13 hours at the hospital for my pain management rotation. I’m too tired to share all the juicy details, but I got to see a lot of great cases and meet some wonderful patients. One of them was an ex IVDA (IV drug abuser), whose veins were all shot from years of abuse. He told me that he’d be a hard stick, so I spared him my poking, and got the anesthesiologist to place his IV access. I ended up talking to him for a while before his operation, and afterwards. He really opened up to me and shared some of his most intimate details. He told me how guilty he felt for abusing his body for so many years, and I pointed out to him that the most important thing is that he now takes care of himself, and has grown as a person. Eventually, he was in tears and I held his hand and tried to support him. Those are the moments that make long days completely bearable, and even more than that, meaningful.

Tomorrow I have a residency interview in Brooklyn. But now, it’s time to feed my calorie-starved body!

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

Check out my post on Medscape to read about my medical Spanglish.

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Check out my post on Medscape to read about some common med school myths dispelled!

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I’ve been thinking about this issue a lot lately. When I told everyone that I had decided to go to a Caribbean med school, some people thought I was crazy and said to me the “but you’re such a smart girl, why would you do that?” This post I wrote pretty much sums up my reply. But the gist is that prestige is not my goal.

Now I’m seriously considering a career in family medicine. When I told a doctor friend of mine he said, “but you’re such a smart girl, why would you do that?” I plan on writing a post to explain my thoughts on this, but I have a million reasons for wanting to pursue family medicine, and not a single one of them involves a desire for prestige.

I’ve been interviewing at different hospitals’ family medicine programs. Some of them are at more prestigious, university affiliated hospitals, and some of them are at financially challenged community hospitals. I’m finding myself drawn more to the community hospitals for many reasons that yet again I will write soon in a blog post. I told a friend of mine about this and she said, “but you’re such a smart girl, why would you do that?”

UGGHH! I just don’t get it. What difference does it make if I am the most brilliant girl on the planet?! I want to be an exceptional doctor. I want to provide excellent, compassionate care to anyone who needs it, and I’m particularly drawn to underserved populations. I just don’t understand why prestige is so important to people. I don’t care about winning a nobel prize or publishing a million articles in prestigious medical journals. I just want to be a great doctor and make the world a better place. The only opinions I really care about are my patients’. I want to give them the best and most compassionate care possible. And I doubt I’ll ever have a patient say, “but you’re such a smart girl, why would you do that?”

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

This is the very bestest.

Check out my post on Medscape to vote on whether or not doctors should wear white coats!

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Check out my post on Medscape about taking time to reconnect with the important things in life.

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Check out my post on Medscape to learn some interesting stuff about researching doctors online.

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Check out my post on Medscape to read my thoughts on actually keeping my compassion once I’m a doctor.

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