Island Med Student

Check out my post on Medscape to read my rant about med students who slack off, and then blame everyone else for not learning anything!

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I just got home from a long day of peds ER. Luckily, our attending let us go a bit early, so I actually have about 8 ounces worth of energy to post a blog entry.

Still loving the kiddies and emergency medicine. Saw about 100,000,000 viral URIs (maybe I exaggerate a little bit) and AGEs. Still getting used to restraining kiddies. It’s strange because as a psych tech, I restrained about a million adults, but for some reason, it seems more tragic and difficult doing it to a child. Holding them down to draw blood or put in an IV line can be challenging! Kids are WAY more strong than I gave them credit for before doing a pediatrics rotation. I’ve also learned the ins and outs of putting on urine bags, which is a new skill for me.

I’ve learned that handling the parents and their concerns is a very important skills in peds. I’ve also gotten a lot better at performing exams on unwilling kiddies. Always auscultate BEFORE you perform an otoscopic or abdominal exam! That way you can listen before they start screaming and crying. I’ve also learned that it’s sometimes easier to examine a baby while you’re holding them (and bouncing up and down) so that they aren’t crying and wiggling away.

The most important that I’ve learned is that the director of the program really hit the nail on the head when she said, “children are not just small adults.” There really is an art to understanding the intricacies of pediatrics. Kids are not just small adults, for sure!

Note: Photos all taken during my walk home from the hospital today. I love my little Bushwick bodegas!

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

Hours at hospital: 13
Bags of canine poop collected: 4
Patients examined: 8-10
Things learned: too many to count
Babies I made cry: less than usual
Dogs neglected: 2
Stickers given to children: 3
Destruction of apartment when returning home from hospital: more than I had anticipated
Heplocks removed: 2
Regrets: only one…neglecting my doggies
Kids I made smile: 6
Happiness because of being allowed to experience the gift of learning from kiddies: priceless

This weekend was quite pleasurable, and it really got my creative juices a’flowin. My partner Micah is in art school in Baltimore, Maryland (pursuing an MFA at MICA), and he’s been working on his thesis project, which will be installed in the Decker Gallery this month. I’ve been helping him work on the project (more than he gives me credit for…:) ) for the past few weeks. Last weekend we shot some footage in Times Square and Arturo’s restaurant in Manhattan. This past weekend involved a trip to Coney Island, climbing up to my apartment building’s rooftop, and recording footage during my bubble bath.

As you can tell, this is going to be an amazing project! I think I might even be more excited about it than Micah is.

In other news, the weather for the past few days has been AMAZING! Sunny, and in the high 50’s. Yesterday I went for an absolutely lovely run, and today I’m planning on taking the doggies to the park, and maybe spending some time at an outdoor cafe.

Yes, it’s Monday, but I don’t have to be at the hospital today. The next two weeks I will be working in the pediatric emergency room. I only have to do three 12-hour shifts each week, so you’ll likely be hearing a lot more from me. This will be a vacation compared to the 80+ hours I put in last week!

Oh yes, and happy birthday to my little sister Corina today! And belated happy birthday to my daddio yesterday!

Tired. LONG week. Nursery/NICU was awesome. Next is two weeks of pediatrics ER. More to come!

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

Check out my post on Medscape to read about a patient experience involving a vision of an angel. I hope you’ll find this post thought provoking. Also, there is a fun poll that you can take!

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I feel like lately I have a million ideas/things to write about during the day. But by the time I get home, I have lost the energy to write about them. Please do forgive me. But I am loving working in the nursery/NICU, and I’m learning many things every day.

I was following one newborn in particular, whose story turned quite interesting. I can’t share the details, for privacy sake, but I can say that it involved a psychiatric consult for the mother. Out of all the newborns in the nursery, I happened to have one whose stay involved a psych consult! It was sad for the patient, but incredibly interesting for me. I was able to use my psych knowledge and background to assist in the hospital care. I really was thrilled that I had insight into the case, and it served to further clench my decision to pursue psychiatry. I can say right now that I definitely made the right specialty choice. Psychiatry truly is a perfect fit for me!

My apologies for being too tired to share any more wonderful insights. Please enjoy my photos for now!

1) A tea party gone wrong?
2) People selling drugs on my block?
3) My shopping cart addiction
4) Barbie homicide crime scene
5) Bumper cars

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

I’m really pooped right now, but otherwise I would share more. Today was my first day of hospital nursery. I finally feel comfortable examining a neonate. This makes me happy! Also, I gave a presentation today on pediatric brain tumors.

Yesterday, my partner Micah and I went to Times Square to shoot some video for his thesis art project. Since I spend most of my time in Brooklyn, sometimes I forget how cool it is that I’m a 20 minute subway ride into Times Square (even if it is a tourist trap). I really do heart NYC.

I just picked up my car from the shop (they fixed it sooner than expected). I now have a car with a driver side window, and most of the broken glass on the seats has been vacuumed up. I also figured out a very ghetto way to rig my car stereo so that it would work (involving duct tape and cardboard).

Life is good. But I’m tired and have to work on a presentation on breastfeeding, which is due by Wednesday. So I’ll share more soon! Oh, and happy birthday to my doggy Molly! She turns 3-years old today!

Photos: 1) Live chickens (taken a few blocks from my apartment. 2) Times Square 3) Inside the car window repair shop

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

Check out my post on Medscape to read my message to all you students who are matching this year!

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Check out my post on Medscape to learn about my feelings about matching (I forgot to post this last week).

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