Intern Picnic

Becky and the kids returned from a week in Seattle yesterday. It was nice to have some company, besides the dogs, in the house again. Most importantly, Colton got to have a birthday party with most of his cousins and two of his grandmothers, a tradition he loves.

Today is actual birthday, but the focus seemed like it was my Intern picnic. In the morning I participated in a suturing and splinting workshop at Hart Hospital that one of our Chief Residents put on. I made it back home just in time to make a few sushi rolls and pack the sushi making gear along with some extra clothes. Then we all hopped in the van and drove the 45 minutes to our Program Directors home.

UConn has a tradition where every year the new Interns show off a "talent" at a picnic during orientation. The picnic had to be postponed until today due to weather. And today was a beautiful day for it. Nonetheless, we Interns have spent a lot time trying to come up with something simple, entertaining and not too cheesy. Needless to say, in general medical students talents are primarily reading and test taking. So my idea was a quick presentation on sushi making, something I really knew nothing about a month ago!

I purchased a kit online that looked braindead simple and practiced once before today. I also purchased a decent rice steamer, fresh seafood and supplies (nori, wasabi, soy sauce, vinegar).

As we were forewarned the picnic started off with some good food and lots of people getting tossed into the pool. I finally tossed one of the chiefs in with myself, hoping that my self-sacrifice will the damage the Chief does to shift schedule in the next year for retribution. We played some volleyball, frisbee and bean bag toss, socialized with spouses and families and, surprisingly, kept the shop talk to a minimum.

The talent show went over pretty well. Everyone put in some effort and we all enjoyed some laughs. Then many of headed for work, or in my case, family priorities. Colton was desperate for his present and some play time. Moreover, Becky needed time to review paperwork and prepare for her first day on the job as Chief Admin Officer at a local non-profit.

Otherwise it has been a pretty quiet day. I've got two more shifts at the UConn hospital, then it's two weeks of Hartford Hospital Emergency Dept shifts, a week of denistry and a week of vacation. We're hoping to use the last week in August for a trip to see the Cape and Maine before the kids start school. So time to get some sleep, five days of shifts in a row is going to be pretty tiring, especially since the third through fifth shifts are all in EDs I'm not familair with; Hartford Blue Pod, Gold Pod then the Peds ED across the street.