Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Rotation Schedule

Primary Care - So happy I'm starting with this. I'm theory I'm best prepared for it. It's what I asked for and suppose to be a great site. Hopefully I'll be wrong about not liking Primary Care.

Psych - Far, far commute but suppose to be a great rotation site. Was told by many to sit in on Music Therapy.

Emergency Medicine - Didn't get what I wanted and felt a little taken advantage of, but it's a <15 minute commute and I've heard it's a good site.

Long Term Care - Again, taken advantage of because I have a car. There were two sites 15 minutes from me but they give me the one 1 hour away (before traffic). Oh well, not the end of the world.

Pediatrics (ER) - Got what I asked for, for better or worse. Another really short commute at the same site I have EM. They're going to get to know me there.

Surgery - Got what I asked for. I'm at a site that has like zero students and is very one-on-one with the surgeon. Lots of OR time, again for better or worse.

OBGYN - Easy commute. Heard you don't do much. That is a blessing.

Internal Medicine - Been hearing mixed reviews about this site. I'm very happy it's one of my last rotations. I'll be better prepared for the site, which is important because I want to excel at that site. I'm hoping I can get a job offer at this site.

ICU - This is my elective. It's pure perfection that it's my last rotation AND right after Internal Medicine at the SAME hospital as Internal Medicine.

At first I was feeling taken advantage of because I said I had a car and could live with my family (which is closer to other sites). But you know, none of the sites have bad reviews. I thought it over and realized that this is probably going to be a great experience. Hopefully it means more interesting posts. I'm really excited and eager to start rotations. I feel surprisingly ready for them. My experience of working somewhere that I had no prior experience helps a great deal. I'm not afraid to interject myself, get criticized and say "I don't know."

Start date: Tuesday September 7.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Phase One: Complete

Friday the 13th. The day of the cumulative didactic year final exam.

I'm sorry that we haven't spoken until now. But to be honest I haven't had anything exciting to talk about this semester of PA school. Well I have become more serious about Buddhism. Maybe I'll talk about that in the future.

Psychiatry, Orthopedics, Geriatrics, Rheumatology, Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics. They've all been completed. I really stopped trying nearly as hard as I did during the rest of the year. And I mean I really didn't work very hard. I would read over the lectures a max of once. I'm sure there were topics I didn't read at all, especially Emergency Medicine and Geriatrics. I also stopped going to lecture once Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics came around. I just can't put my sanity through lecture anymore. You know what? I don't regret it at all. I'm probably going to get a B+ in Medicine III and I'm totally cool with that.

I can't say I'm really that nervous for tomorrow's test. Although I am having a hard time falling asleep tonight, so that's probably not entirely true. (I've also been sleeping until 12PM everyday and going to bed at 2-3AM, so that probably plays a role also) I haven't studied that crazily for this test. I've done well in my Medicine class the entire year. I retain the things I learn very well for the long term. I can't imagine they're going to start asking about the thing I wasn't able to learn for the short term. And as mentioned before, I haven't really been studying for tests this semester. It has yet to bite me in the ass. We'll see what happens.

After the test tomorrow I become a Clinical Year student. Should provide much better material to share with all of you. :-)