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.