2 Weeks of Surgery are Over!!

My first two weeks of surgery rotation are now over and I'm loving every minute of it. The day starts at 4 or 4:40 AM for prerounding. We then round with the residents at 6 for about an hour. We grap a quick breakfast, and then it's off to the OR for the rest of the day. After doing surgeries we have to write post op notes, and we round again with the residents at 6 or 7 PM. Some days we have to meet with the program director (this is normally anytime after 5PM). Then we go home, have a quick dinner and fall asleep. The hours are long, the surgeries can be bloody, but this has to be my favorite rotation so far.

Here are some of the things I have seen so far:

1. The removal of some gallbladders
2. The repair of an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm that had complications (The surgery last 8 hours with blood squirting up to hitting the over-head lights)
3. The removal of a massive cystic lesion from a guy's hip (they let me make the first incision)
4. The removal of a cyst from someone's leg.

I think I found a career I want to go into.

I'm Still Here!!

I know it's been some time since I've blogged. But I have been busy. After passing Step 1 I was sent to New Jersey for 18 weeks to do Internal Medicine and Psychology. Between these 2 rotations I went to Europe for 2 weeks for vacation. After Psych I was sent to Miami, Florida (better known as Northern Cuba) to do family medicine. After that I was actually in Maryland for 3 months to do infectious disease and cardiology. Currently the travelling continues. Right now, I'm in Cape Cod for 12 weeks to do Surgery. From what I hear the days will be long and busy. But I am excited. If things go according to plan, I should be done with everything by December of this year. If my schedule ever calms down, maybe I'll blog a little more.

One Step Closer!!

I will be done my first rotation on Friday. The last 12 weeks have gone so fast. Not sure if I want to do internal medicine for the rest of my life. It was fun but there is just a lot of routine involved. We'll just have to see how the 6 weeks of psych goes. I figure this one should be easy...I mean I should be an expert with dealing with crazy people considering my friends and family.

I found a medical article today and thought I would share it with Jimmy. It was about a kid who had 2 spiders crawl into his ear. And what did James say?

"GAAAAH!!! Why would you send me such a thing! I'm all paranoid now that spiders will crawl in my ears tonight. I'm wearing earmuffs 24/7 from now on. Yeah you think I'm kidding! I though our bodies had protective measures against that sort of stuff?"

Just think, those spiders were probably mating in the kid's ear. Think about that!!!

I Passed Step 1!!!!

Stop The World, I Want To Get Off!!

This has been one strange year so far. First my grandfather passed away on January 5. There were some strange things associated with his passing. Ask me and I'll tell you some time.

After that, I had pick up my books again and study. That's all I've been doing: Studying, Studying and more Studying. My brain is ready to explode. Luckily my USMLE Step 1 test date is on the February 17, so only a few more weeks. Once that's done I can return to a "normal life". I'm ready for the whole school thing to be over. 2 more years to go.

And on top of that, my brother tested for positive for TB. But looking at his PPD test it appears that whoever gave it to him, goofed. So they gave him a CXR and it was negative. But to be on the safe side they gave him some antibiotics. But I'm pretty sure those were the wrong ones. But what do I know, I'm just in medical school and not actually practicing.

Hopefully, I can go skiing after all the stress of the Step is over. I just need a break.

So what's next? Do I really want to know?

Bored, Bored, Bored!!

So here I sit at the condo in Panama City Beach by myself. The only thing I have done for the last week has been studying. I'm sick of it. The worst thing about being here is that I have no real contact with anyone and I have nothing to do except study. Well, one more week of this and then the comp exam. After that I get to go home and do more studying for the step. Will it ever end?