Island Med Student

I just realized a few minutes ago that I had know idea what the date was. Life has been a bit of a blur lately. Not that I’m complaining. It’s just that I’ve realized again for the one billionth time that I am horrible at doing nothing. Really, I suck at it.

On Sunday I went to the Mr. Transman 2010 show in Brooklyn. It was SOOOO awesome! I got to see some friends (I love you Filthy, Nate and Jen!) that I hadn’t seen in forever and well, I just had a total blast. I forgot to take photos, but I did take some videos, which I might be uploading in the future.

Yesterday I was a total sloth. I stayed in bed all day long and ate horribly fattening foods and watched reruns on Netflix Instant Play.

My life has become a series of “wake up, drink coffee, run, eat, dance, sleep” on infinite repeat. But it ain’t so bad. Life is pretty darn good, actually.

Enjoy the photos with this post. The top one is me with my sweet new bumper sticker, purchased at the show. The second two were taken yesterday during my walk to pick up pizza. I heart my new hood.

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

My apologies to everyone for my last rant/post about UPS. I actually had a great day today, save for UPS pissing me off (and I don’t piss off easily).

Anyway, let’s get back to the good stuff.

I will be a doctor in less than one day. Today was a very long day of endocrinology. I had to wake up very early in the morning, and I just now got home (it’s now 8 p.m.). Long day for an elective. But guess what? I learned sooo much. And so I am not upset about the hours.

Tomorrow is my last day of endocrinology. It’s also my last day of med school. MY LAST DAY OF MEDICAL SCHOOL! My apologies if I’m too excited. But guess what, I’M EXCITED!! In less than 24 hours I will have fulfilled all of the requirements to become a medical doctor in the USA. Yes, I will not actually receive my diploma for a few weeks. But that is merely a piece of paper. I am almost a doctor.

It’s exciting and scary and wonderful and terrifying, all at the same time. I’ve worked soooo very hard to get where I am now. And it has all been worth it. All the blood, sweat, tears, and money…. But after tomorrow I will be a doctor. And no one can take that away from me. Eat that, UPS! (Okay, I have obviously not gotten over that yet!)

Photos: I took both of them today. The first one was taken very close to my hospital. I parked far away enough to catch this on my walk. (RIP Kendoggz…one of my nicknames, by the way.) Second one was taken out of my car window on the drive home. Turns out you have to get creative if you’re not a “walker.”

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

So, I know you are all sick of hearing this, but documenting my life is one of my most favorite hobbies, and is therapeutic in many ways. Although I’ve used all kinds of expensive and nice cameras to take photos, I’m currently quite obsessed with my iPhone. No, the quality is not nearly as nice as other cameras. But guess what? Even the best camera can’t take a photo if you don’t have it with you. And I carry my iPhone with me pretty much everywhere I go. Because of that, I take many great photos that would have otherwise gone unphotographed. The quality suffers (in some ways, is cooler, though), but the quantity is much higher.

I could tell you all about my wonderful day today, but I lack the energy to do so. I went for a great run this morning and then I went in for my endocrinology rotation at the hospital. Today was a good day. I drove to the hospital, so I don’t have any great photos from my walks today, but I have some cool ones (in this post) that I’ve taken over the past few days in my neighborhood and in Manhattan yesterday. Enjoy. (And thank my iPhone for them!)

Photos:

1) The cool 3-sided painting beside the subway stop outside of my apartment.
2) Pay phones. They still exist?
3) Same painting, with a person passing.
4) Another pay phone. Think it actually works?
5) Same painting as above, sans person.

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

Today is Monday. It’s rained almost non-stop for the past 4 days. The streets are flooded and I have zero pairs of dry jeans left. Rain, rain, go away!

I really shouldn’t complain so much, though. At least I’ve been lucky to have the past few days off. I don’t have to go back in to the pediatric ER until tomorrow night.

More importantly, today is MATCH DAY!! I’ve already heard from a few of my friends who have matched (and none so far who haven’t matched). CONGRATS to everyone, whether or not you matched! Either way, you’ve earned the right to be proud of where you are!

I hope you enjoy the photos with this post. I took them all yesterday during a very wet doggy walk. They are also a part of my new photo series, “Trash Talkin: Giving a Voice to the Discarded.” My “Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” photo series was becoming a little inundated with trash, so I have now gone through and edited that collection a bit. My “Trash Talkin” series will now include only photos of trash, taken anywhere and everywhere, and my “Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” series will be dedicated to all other Brooklyn related photos. Enjoy!

“Trash Talkin” Photo Series

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

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

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

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

“The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best – and therefore never scrutinize or question.”
- Stephen Jay Gould

Today was a wonderful day of pediatrics clinic. I saw, I learned, I made way too many kids cry with my prodding and poking. During some downtime today started talking with another med student about taking patient histories. He commented how that was his least favorite part of being a doctor. I realized that it was my most favorite part of being a doctor. For me, there is nothing as fascinating as getting to know a person, and hearing their story.

I guess it’s no surprise that I ended up in psychiatry. Psych is all about getting to know the stories that made and make a person an individual. To me, taking a history or listening to someone share their life’s details with me is like opening a gift box. I enjoy peeling back the layers to reveal the gift inside.

Please enjoy the trashy photos along with today’s post. I took them all on my walks to and from the hospital today. It occurred to me as I was snapping the shot of the discarded hotdog that one of the reasons I enjoy (and am possibly obsessed with) taking photos of trash is because I’m interested in the stories they tell. How did that pile of smashed up computer parts end up so non-randomly assembled on the sidewalk? Why did someone discard that hotdog after only one small bite?

Perhaps just as fun as knowing the stories behind the trash, is making up my own stories for them.

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

Ever since I wrote about matching to a residency position, it seems as though everyone was very curious as to where and in which specialty I matched. I’m happy to announce that I’ll be starting my residency in psychiatry on July 1st at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, New York. There, I spilled the beans!

When ERAS opened, I originally applied to three specialties: psychiatry, family medicine and emergency medicine. My “problem” was that I felt truly passionate about all three specialties. I ended up getting interviews in all three. It was a very difficult decision for me to make, because I really could see myself in any one of those fields. I ended up choosing psychiatry, because I ultimately saw it as the best match for me. I really liked all of the programs that I interviewed at, but the SUNY Downstate program really seemed like a good fit for me. I liked the fact that they have a lot of research that I’m interested in, and everything about their program seemed like a good fit. In addition, the location is perfect. I really did want to stay in Brooklyn. The diverse patient population was also an important factor. So, when I went in for the interview, I was already very excited. The interview day was amazing. I loved all the faculty, residents, and program directors. So, when I was offered a pre-match position, there was really no decision to be made. I knew it was a perfect match for me.

So, there you have it. I will soon be beginning my residency in psychiatry. Also, I just made a wonderful discovery a few mintutes ago. I thought that I would be finishing up my electives by April 30th, but I just realized that I’ll be finished on April 16th! So, I will even have to update my MD countdown. In less than 7 weeks, I’ll be a doctor!

I couldn’t be happier right now! I just got home from a day of pediatrics clinic, which I absolutely loved. Maybe it’s a good thing that I’m doing this pediatrics rotation late in the game, because I love peds so much that I could see myself doing this as well!

Note: Photos were all taken with my iPhone on the way to the hospital this morning. My obsession with trash continues. And now that I’m going to be living in Brooklyn for 4 more years, expect much more trash to come!

“Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series