First week of surgery

The week has gotten better. Still feels like we've had no orientation and we're flying by the seat of our pants. But the very helpful and somewhat obnoxious MSIII student shared his wisdom with Jason and I and left for his next rotation. Even better, our new resident is an English speaking intern that likes to teach.

We may learn something yet. If nothing else, I think I'll be able to perform a cholecystectomy myself after this rotation. I scrubbed in for about my fourth gallbladder removal on Friday and am getting pretty good on the camera and closing up. Suturing with gloves is still tricky, so I spent some time practicing last night while watching a movie in the room. Our intern (we call him Chief since he's the first DO surgical resident in the new program here) wants us to study fluid management and nutrition for Monday. So tomorrow is going to very busy preparing for my Peds rotation exam on Monday, studying fluids/nutrition and watching the Super Bowl. Oh, I also have to do laundry.

Yeah, I didn't get a lot done today unfortunately. I was exhausted from the first week. It's a lot more hours and more intense than Peds ER. So I slept in, did a couple errands and borrowed Jason's car. He was kind enough to loan it to me while he takes call this weekend. So I got in some grocery shopping and caught a movie, the very weird Pan's Labyrinth.

We have three surgeries scheduled for Monday, so the week looks pretty good so far. Then I'm going to do call next weekend. All these hours are certainly convincing me that surgery isn't my top choice. Even our attendings work like 90 hours a week. It's crazy.

At the same time I've exchanged a few e-mails with recent FP residency graduates that state my goal of a procedural, rural FP practice is very doable. I even got tips on how to get hospitals to bid against eachother tin order to get the most financial help with student loans and start-up costs. It still feels like a good fit, even though I might get a bit jealous of ER and Anesthesia when they make more on less hours.

One thing is for certain. Toledo isn't where we're going to end up. With the wind chill it's like 10 degrees below zero! The snow is blowing off the drifts into little clouds. Exposed hands get painfully numb just walking across the parking lot. The wind burns your ears and cheeks.

Time to get some sleep for a big day tomorrow.