A virgin no longer
It finally happened. One of my patients passed away yesterday while I was post-call i.e.sleeping. The same patient I blogged about last time. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but it doesn't make things easier. I had spoken with the family and the patient and we all thought it was best to transfer her to the palliative ward. I would have preferred to do it last week, considering she was getting worse, but my attending still had hope. Still, it was tough to come in this morning to find out that not only had my patient been transferred, but that she had passed away. I hope she went peacefully...she was ready to go.
On another note, last evening I attended a seminar put on by a friend of mine about how to get into family practice residencies for next year. I learned a lot...some things to think about and prepare for. One thing I did learn was that one rotation that I am confirmed for is an Obs/Gyne rotation. Cool, I thought to myself...I'm gonna want some more practice catching babies and in gyne surgeries if I want to be a GP. I found out that my preceptor only does reproductice endocrinology (for same sex couples) as well as sexual reassignment surgeries (ie sex change operations) in a town 1 hour drive away. HELL NO!!!!! I think it would be a super cool elective and I'd learn a whole bunch, but for me, I just want the basic man-and-woman-make-baby-it-comes-out-of-vagina/C-section type of experience. If I'm gonna be a rural doc, I don't think there's a huge market for that type of experience. I'm currently trying to get out of that one!
I've also recently set a new record for time slept when on call! My last call shift was Monday night. I had one admission to do from 7-8pm, then I ate dinner (sushi with my senior resident), watched TV for a bit (enthralling School of Rock movie), and went to bed at 11pm. Awoke refreshed at 7am for rounds. No pages in the middle of the night! That's a whole 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep!!!!!! Has to be a record! FYI- call shifts are usually sleepless- we average 2-4 hours total and this is usually broken up throughout the night! But wouldn't you know it, I went home 'post-call' and slept another 2 hours! Oh lazy life! Here's to hoping that karma won't bite me in the ass!
On another note, last evening I attended a seminar put on by a friend of mine about how to get into family practice residencies for next year. I learned a lot...some things to think about and prepare for. One thing I did learn was that one rotation that I am confirmed for is an Obs/Gyne rotation. Cool, I thought to myself...I'm gonna want some more practice catching babies and in gyne surgeries if I want to be a GP. I found out that my preceptor only does reproductice endocrinology (for same sex couples) as well as sexual reassignment surgeries (ie sex change operations) in a town 1 hour drive away. HELL NO!!!!! I think it would be a super cool elective and I'd learn a whole bunch, but for me, I just want the basic man-and-woman-make-baby-it-comes-out-of-vagina/C-section type of experience. If I'm gonna be a rural doc, I don't think there's a huge market for that type of experience. I'm currently trying to get out of that one!
I've also recently set a new record for time slept when on call! My last call shift was Monday night. I had one admission to do from 7-8pm, then I ate dinner (sushi with my senior resident), watched TV for a bit (enthralling School of Rock movie), and went to bed at 11pm. Awoke refreshed at 7am for rounds. No pages in the middle of the night! That's a whole 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep!!!!!! Has to be a record! FYI- call shifts are usually sleepless- we average 2-4 hours total and this is usually broken up throughout the night! But wouldn't you know it, I went home 'post-call' and slept another 2 hours! Oh lazy life! Here's to hoping that karma won't bite me in the ass!
posted by MSI (Med Student Intern) @ 5:17 PM
1 Comments:
At 7:34 AM,
Anonymous said…
Congratulations to you on your call karma...I had many nights like that when I was covering the wards for internal medicine. I think that the resident just prefers to work alone sometimes. Enjoy it while it lasts, O&G was definitely my worst call experience with many sleepless nights!
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