After the excitement and emotional exhaustion of Match week I barely managed to study for my IM shelf test at all. I rested and started to get back into an exercise, but didn't even want to think about school.
Monday I made my way to Banner Good Samaritan hospital at the appointed hour of 8:30a hoping that the folks there knew we fourth year students just wanted a pass at this point. Senioritis had hit me strong. I soon learned that Trauma Critical Care is not the place to expect leniency.
First, I was frustrated with the amount of running around for badges and paperwork. Then my Resident had no idea was coming. Oh, the schedule is basically 6am every morning but Monday and Friday when it starts at 5am. Thursday are Grand Rounds, so coat and tie are required. Moreover, Friday we are on call, so I will be spending the night and doing rounds in the morning. In other words, Friday's shift is from 4am when I wake up until Saturday around noon when I can go home!
The PGY-2 surgical Resident and I are on different planets but I'm trying to be nice to her. And I am learning stuff. It's just that she's young, strong-willed and extremely confident. No life experience, lots of book knowledge and ambition. As the week progressed, I proved I do the work, write good notes and even perform procedures adequately so I earned some respect.
I was able to do my first central line (left subclavian) , suture a big laceration and do an I & D. I also learned quite a bit from the Resident and our Attending on rounds. Didactics were pretty poor this week, but the PD was on vacation so we'll see how this week goes.
So I'm already tired and dreading my Friday night, expecting no sleep and lots of scut work. The evening started with me fetching dinner, paid for by the Attending, and charting a couple minor traumas. Then I got to sleep in my own immaculate call room. I was woken up once for minor call and then went back to sleep. My Resident even sent me home in the morning saying she would round on my patients! It was like being gifted a day in your life you nevre expected to have.
I was fairly rested and got home before 9am. I took a long nap and got a lot of home stuff done. It was great. I know Residency is coming and won't be nearly so forgiving, but as a fourth year with about 70 days until graduation, I really want to slack and enjoy myself.
Tomorrow starts at 4am, in five hours so time for a little sleep before another long day. I hope to get the OK for a house hunting trip back to Hartford that will take a few CC days and one Friday night call. That would make this month a little less painful.
Finally, no one came through the house this weekend, even after lowering the price to $249,000. Looks like we won't have the cash to go to Europe before graduation and will have to scrape by to pay for the move to Connecticut. Becky is starting to job hunt and we're hoping for a good bump in her salary. So both the house and the job are hanging over our heads at the moment.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Match Day!
Yesterday was crazy! I'm so glad I took the day off. First, I thought the results were released at 9am, the same time we learned if we Matched on Monday. So we had a few frustrating moments until I realized we were an hour early. Their was also a bunch of family e-mails flying around asking for news. And the kids were feeding off the stress by making a commotion with their two friends who were over for a play day (one kinda invited himself somehow).
So around 9:45a I get a text message from a classmate that she got her first choice. I'm excited for her, but jealously wondering why I haven't received anything. A few minutes later the text messages really start to fly and I'm hitting refresh constantly, alternating between my e-mail account and the NRMP website. Finally, around 9:55a I refresh the NRMP site and instead of saying "Congratulations, you've Matched" as it had for the last three days, it adds three new text lines under this:
Program Code: blah blah blah
Emergency Medicine
U COnnecticut Hlth Ctr
I Matched UConn!! I will admit there was a moment of disappointment as I had been getting used to the idea of having the name Hopkins on my CV. But I remembered how much I liked the area and the people. I matched one of my top three EM programs! There was a frenzy of text messages flying among classmates. I even started texting friends I had met along the externship and interview trails. I especially enjoyed talking with Jeremy with whom I both rotated at UMass and interviewed at UMass. We had similar feelings about it and UConn where he was going to medical school. So it was fun to talk, for the first time, with a fellow incoming intern.
I also had to look up some of my notes on UConn to refresh my memory on the program. I didn't do a second look there, so some of the details were muddled up with the other ten programs I interviewed at. Finally, there were lots of family e-mails, cell phone calls and Skype calls. Becky was overjyoed with relief. The boys were a bit ambivalent because they just didn't grasp the significance of the whole thing.
About 10:15a as fate would have it, a real estate agent called about showing the house. So in the midst of the Match frenzy and the four wild boys we had to clean-up the house for a showing - that ended up as a No Show anyway.
I then went to lunch with three of my closest friends in the class. We had a nice lunch congratulating eachother, texting friends/family and even fielding calls from the programs welcoming into our new programs. It was a little weird in that the three had more certainty about there choices going in and ended up getting their first choices. I felt I had a good chance at Hopkins, but wasn't certain at all. So my feelings were a little more mixed.
I went home after doing a few errands and got ready to have Tucker and his family over for dinner. We went very casual but made sure to have a good stock of wine on hand. I got pleasantly tipsy as we talked the night away about Southbend, ID for him, and Hartford, CT for me.
It's kinda scary in that I still feel a little sketchy about the program I'm going to be starting at as a new intern in three months. There's not much on the web and I don't know any of the Residents well enough to call them for a long chat. But I know I felt very comfortable there and confident of receiving a great education.
The previous week I probably averaged 4-5 hours of sleep a night. In fact, I caught a cold from the lack of sleep. However, last night, after some wine and the relief of knowing where I Matched, I slept almost 10 luxurious hours.
So around 9:45a I get a text message from a classmate that she got her first choice. I'm excited for her, but jealously wondering why I haven't received anything. A few minutes later the text messages really start to fly and I'm hitting refresh constantly, alternating between my e-mail account and the NRMP website. Finally, around 9:55a I refresh the NRMP site and instead of saying "Congratulations, you've Matched" as it had for the last three days, it adds three new text lines under this:
Program Code: blah blah blah
Emergency Medicine
U COnnecticut Hlth Ctr
I Matched UConn!! I will admit there was a moment of disappointment as I had been getting used to the idea of having the name Hopkins on my CV. But I remembered how much I liked the area and the people. I matched one of my top three EM programs! There was a frenzy of text messages flying among classmates. I even started texting friends I had met along the externship and interview trails. I especially enjoyed talking with Jeremy with whom I both rotated at UMass and interviewed at UMass. We had similar feelings about it and UConn where he was going to medical school. So it was fun to talk, for the first time, with a fellow incoming intern.
I also had to look up some of my notes on UConn to refresh my memory on the program. I didn't do a second look there, so some of the details were muddled up with the other ten programs I interviewed at. Finally, there were lots of family e-mails, cell phone calls and Skype calls. Becky was overjyoed with relief. The boys were a bit ambivalent because they just didn't grasp the significance of the whole thing.
About 10:15a as fate would have it, a real estate agent called about showing the house. So in the midst of the Match frenzy and the four wild boys we had to clean-up the house for a showing - that ended up as a No Show anyway.
I then went to lunch with three of my closest friends in the class. We had a nice lunch congratulating eachother, texting friends/family and even fielding calls from the programs welcoming into our new programs. It was a little weird in that the three had more certainty about there choices going in and ended up getting their first choices. I felt I had a good chance at Hopkins, but wasn't certain at all. So my feelings were a little more mixed.
I went home after doing a few errands and got ready to have Tucker and his family over for dinner. We went very casual but made sure to have a good stock of wine on hand. I got pleasantly tipsy as we talked the night away about Southbend, ID for him, and Hartford, CT for me.
It's kinda scary in that I still feel a little sketchy about the program I'm going to be starting at as a new intern in three months. There's not much on the web and I don't know any of the Residents well enough to call them for a long chat. But I know I felt very comfortable there and confident of receiving a great education.
The previous week I probably averaged 4-5 hours of sleep a night. In fact, I caught a cold from the lack of sleep. However, last night, after some wine and the relief of knowing where I Matched, I slept almost 10 luxurious hours.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Twelve more hours!
I finished my Internal Medicine rotation today. It ended pretty uneventful. However, as always, there are a couple patients I would follow as their diagnosis is established. Now, with a week to go before the shelf test, I have to get serious about studying.
But that isn't going happen for the next day or so. At 9am tomorrow, noon East Coast time, I will hear where I matched. Becky and I have taken Thursday and Friday off from work and the kids are on Spring Break. So we will celebrate and commiserate together. Then we're having some friends over tomorrow night for a small get together. Friday, the whole class is having a get together at a restaurant near campus. Finally, Friday night the whole and everyone's families have been invited to large gathering. I'm not sure if we'll make all three events, but it will be nice to release some tension with fellow classmates.
Becky is pretty stressed. I've come down with a cold from poor sleep secondary to stress. According to the common paradigm, I go into my cave when stressed, which for me has been playing World of Warcraft online. Unfortunately, I'm not very at releasing stress by working out more or doing something more productive. But at least it will be over soon.
Once we learn where we're going, it will time to get serious about selling or renting the house, studying for the shelf test, getting in shape, house hunting wherever we're going and helping Becky start to look for a new job. The listing sure hasn't started a stampede. We've had about five showings in two weeks. The financial news has been terrible, culminating in Bear Stearns imploding in the last week. On the good side, the Fed has reduced interest rates around two points in the last month so loans, if you have good credit, are pretty affordable.
Oh, most importantly, Becky and my entire family, our friends and acquaintances all want to hear exactly where we're going the moment we learn the Program we've Matched. So from about nine am until probably noon I'll be on the phone and sending out e-mails.
But that isn't going happen for the next day or so. At 9am tomorrow, noon East Coast time, I will hear where I matched. Becky and I have taken Thursday and Friday off from work and the kids are on Spring Break. So we will celebrate and commiserate together. Then we're having some friends over tomorrow night for a small get together. Friday, the whole class is having a get together at a restaurant near campus. Finally, Friday night the whole and everyone's families have been invited to large gathering. I'm not sure if we'll make all three events, but it will be nice to release some tension with fellow classmates.
Becky is pretty stressed. I've come down with a cold from poor sleep secondary to stress. According to the common paradigm, I go into my cave when stressed, which for me has been playing World of Warcraft online. Unfortunately, I'm not very at releasing stress by working out more or doing something more productive. But at least it will be over soon.
Once we learn where we're going, it will time to get serious about selling or renting the house, studying for the shelf test, getting in shape, house hunting wherever we're going and helping Becky start to look for a new job. The listing sure hasn't started a stampede. We've had about five showings in two weeks. The financial news has been terrible, culminating in Bear Stearns imploding in the last week. On the good side, the Fed has reduced interest rates around two points in the last month so loans, if you have good credit, are pretty affordable.
Oh, most importantly, Becky and my entire family, our friends and acquaintances all want to hear exactly where we're going the moment we learn the Program we've Matched. So from about nine am until probably noon I'll be on the phone and sending out e-mails.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Match Week!
Work at St. Luke's has been going ok. Reasonable schedule, occasionally an interesting patient and free food. But my sleep, studying and working out has started to suffer. Becky noticed before I did that I was going into my usual 'stress survival' mode. I didn't even realize how much stress I was feeling.
I just don't do well when everything is out of my control. It's just a waiting game now. Tomorrow (Monday), by noon, I should hear that I've Matched at one of the 11 programs on my ROL. If not, Tuesday at noon, the Scramble starts for 48 hours of hell. I would be clinically depressed at that point.
Assuming all goes ok and I hear I Matched somewhere tomorrow, it's three more long days of waiting. Thursday by noon, I hear where we are actually going. I'm scheduled to work on Thursday, but will try to get off early. I already got permission to take Friday off.
I can't predict how I'll be feeling on Friday, but I'm pretty sure working won't be high on the list. Our class has a party planned for Friday night. But I may not wait until Friday to start celebrating.
Residency Match is an exciting time, but nothing is as much fun when the outcome is totally out of your control.
I just don't do well when everything is out of my control. It's just a waiting game now. Tomorrow (Monday), by noon, I should hear that I've Matched at one of the 11 programs on my ROL. If not, Tuesday at noon, the Scramble starts for 48 hours of hell. I would be clinically depressed at that point.
Assuming all goes ok and I hear I Matched somewhere tomorrow, it's three more long days of waiting. Thursday by noon, I hear where we are actually going. I'm scheduled to work on Thursday, but will try to get off early. I already got permission to take Friday off.
I can't predict how I'll be feeling on Friday, but I'm pretty sure working won't be high on the list. Our class has a party planned for Friday night. But I may not wait until Friday to start celebrating.
Residency Match is an exciting time, but nothing is as much fun when the outcome is totally out of your control.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
House on the market
We put the house on the market last weekend after several weeks of Becky's mom (and her BF) doing lots of little repair jobs around the house, then the four of us doing some thorough clean-up for the last two weeks.
The house looks great. I still have to do a little bit of exterior touch-up painting out back, and we've managed yet again to kill much of the lawn. But our agent, the same one we used to buy the house, likes the property and the price we are asking.
We'll make a little if we don't have to come down much. But the stories going around sound like it could be months on the market unless we are ready to negotiate. At least with the Match, we know the outcome will be decided on March 20th. With the house we have no control over the timeframe.
The house looks great. I still have to do a little bit of exterior touch-up painting out back, and we've managed yet again to kill much of the lawn. But our agent, the same one we used to buy the house, likes the property and the price we are asking.
We'll make a little if we don't have to come down much. But the stories going around sound like it could be months on the market unless we are ready to negotiate. At least with the Match, we know the outcome will be decided on March 20th. With the house we have no control over the timeframe.
Internal Medicine
The schedule this month is much more enjoyable than Trauma. I get in around 7am, have breakfast in the Doctor's lounge and meet the team at St. Luke's ICU around 7:30am. My preceptor and I then efficiently see the 14-16 patients we have until lunch time. Another decent and free meal in the Doctor's lounge follows.
In the afternoon we see any stragglers, but I able to leave by 3pm at the latest. Traffic is still surprisingly bad from downtown back to Glendale, but I have time to do swimming with Connor at LA Fitness or help the boys with their homework. The former is a real treat.
The whole family put on weight while we had relatives in town. And even though I seem to be the only one that can say no to bad food, my travel schedule and lack of consistent exercise (the month of flu and pneumo didn't help) leaves me with an extra 10-15 lbs to shed before residency. So Connor and I share a lane and workout together. He's a very swimmer and so far it's been fun and motivational for both of us.
I couldn't swim tonight as I'm healing from a dumb abscess. After sitting on it for a week, I finally went in to an Urgent Care and an I&D and some Keflex. Now I can empathize much better with my patients about how the lidocaine burns, and it doesn't always numb the pockets that have to be opened up for drainage. Anyway, tonight I was able (forced) to coach Connor from the poolside. It was nice to provide some tips on his stroke and see what he can do.
As for my duties on this rotation, I get to write out H&Ps on new patients and SOAP notes for current patients. I see the patients, do a quick exam and write as good a note as I can. No procedures and very little teaching. Not much time for studying up on cases or my post-rotation exam objectives either. So it's a mixed bag. But I'm digging the schedule and REALLY glad I'm going in EM versus IM/hospitalist.
In the afternoon we see any stragglers, but I able to leave by 3pm at the latest. Traffic is still surprisingly bad from downtown back to Glendale, but I have time to do swimming with Connor at LA Fitness or help the boys with their homework. The former is a real treat.
The whole family put on weight while we had relatives in town. And even though I seem to be the only one that can say no to bad food, my travel schedule and lack of consistent exercise (the month of flu and pneumo didn't help) leaves me with an extra 10-15 lbs to shed before residency. So Connor and I share a lane and workout together. He's a very swimmer and so far it's been fun and motivational for both of us.
I couldn't swim tonight as I'm healing from a dumb abscess. After sitting on it for a week, I finally went in to an Urgent Care and an I&D and some Keflex. Now I can empathize much better with my patients about how the lidocaine burns, and it doesn't always numb the pockets that have to be opened up for drainage. Anyway, tonight I was able (forced) to coach Connor from the poolside. It was nice to provide some tips on his stroke and see what he can do.
As for my duties on this rotation, I get to write out H&Ps on new patients and SOAP notes for current patients. I see the patients, do a quick exam and write as good a note as I can. No procedures and very little teaching. Not much time for studying up on cases or my post-rotation exam objectives either. So it's a mixed bag. But I'm digging the schedule and REALLY glad I'm going in EM versus IM/hospitalist.
ROL list
My Rank Order List is submitted. The one thing I changed in the days preceding the Feb. 27th deadline was to put Maricopa higher in the list. While I have some concerns about the hospital it sounds like they have addressed all but 6 of the original 30 or so problems JHACO identified. Even more importantly, the RRC (residency review committee) for the EM program gave Maricopa it's highest approval rating.
Maricopa would have some additional benefits that weighed on me over the last few weeks. The weather here in Phoenix is just perfect this time of year. We can do anything outdoors now; bike, run, hike, etc. Selling the house is going to be as stressful as the Match given the awful housing and financing market. Lots of nightmare stories getting thrown around. So we could keep stay in the house and commute until the right buyer or renter came along. Finally, Becky would have more flexibility of when to leave St. Mary's Foodbank.
The final ROL came out as:
1) Hopkins: tough call with #2, but the name, prestige and integrated fellowship may really help my career later on. Also, between Baltimore and DC, Becky has lots of options.
2) Christiana: I would be thrilled to go here with no reservations whatsoever. It just doesn't have the name, especially on the West Coast, that Hopkins. The program though is equal or better IMHO.
3) UConn: the people are terrific and the program is top notch. Again, I wouldn't have any problem ending up in Hartford, CT.
4) Maricopa: old facility, some problems with the hospital and questions about a few of the residents, but #4 for the reasons mentioned above.
5) UMass: incredible facility and lots of great residents, I just didn't like that so many of the Attendings seemed focused on moving patients with little interest in teaching residents.
6) Case/Metrohealth: the tie-in with Cleveland Clinic makes this a top notch program. The area is my biggest concern.
7) St. Vincent's: like Case, great program in the wrong location but even more so. I really like people and the program (great incorporation of moonlighting into training), but the area's economy follows Detroit and there's little to love about Toledo.
8) Cooper: I would much rather end up here than scramble for a spot, Camden is a rough town.
9) Baystate/Tufts: great recreational area, but the place is in shambles and no seems to care.
10) Morris: tiny program that felt like a tight knit family.
11) Drexel: Phili would be doable, but I would be disappointed if I matched this far down my list.
Maricopa would have some additional benefits that weighed on me over the last few weeks. The weather here in Phoenix is just perfect this time of year. We can do anything outdoors now; bike, run, hike, etc. Selling the house is going to be as stressful as the Match given the awful housing and financing market. Lots of nightmare stories getting thrown around. So we could keep stay in the house and commute until the right buyer or renter came along. Finally, Becky would have more flexibility of when to leave St. Mary's Foodbank.
The final ROL came out as:
1) Hopkins: tough call with #2, but the name, prestige and integrated fellowship may really help my career later on. Also, between Baltimore and DC, Becky has lots of options.
2) Christiana: I would be thrilled to go here with no reservations whatsoever. It just doesn't have the name, especially on the West Coast, that Hopkins. The program though is equal or better IMHO.
3) UConn: the people are terrific and the program is top notch. Again, I wouldn't have any problem ending up in Hartford, CT.
4) Maricopa: old facility, some problems with the hospital and questions about a few of the residents, but #4 for the reasons mentioned above.
5) UMass: incredible facility and lots of great residents, I just didn't like that so many of the Attendings seemed focused on moving patients with little interest in teaching residents.
6) Case/Metrohealth: the tie-in with Cleveland Clinic makes this a top notch program. The area is my biggest concern.
7) St. Vincent's: like Case, great program in the wrong location but even more so. I really like people and the program (great incorporation of moonlighting into training), but the area's economy follows Detroit and there's little to love about Toledo.
8) Cooper: I would much rather end up here than scramble for a spot, Camden is a rough town.
9) Baystate/Tufts: great recreational area, but the place is in shambles and no seems to care.
10) Morris: tiny program that felt like a tight knit family.
11) Drexel: Phili would be doable, but I would be disappointed if I matched this far down my list.
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