Finals are here! Snow is here!

Today is the last day of my psychiatry clerkship, as well as my Justice Ethics class.

Due to the… ah hem… inclement weather, our exams were postponed by 2 hours. Fortunately, I only have to drive three miles to school, so I should be able to make it on time. I just want this exam to be over so I can check off the psychaitry box of life.

The rotation was a good experience for what it was. I am so glad that there are angels out there who are driven by that type of medicine. Mental health is a much bigger problem than many people acknowledge. Knowing all that, I know that it is not the field of medicine for me.

I’m so ready for vacation! I don’t go back to school until January 5! I can’t believe how much time we get off. We’re soooooo lucky!

Nearly Half Way

Next Friday, I will submit by term paper for my Justice Ethics class and I will take my final exams for my Psychiatry clerkship. It is hard to believe that Friday is the half way mark for my third year of medical school, making me 5/8 of a doctor. It’s also the half way mark of my Masters of Arts in Bioethics and Health Policy program. Scary.

I’ve been consistently followed by the thought that I will go into surgery. There is still half a year left of clinical rotations, including internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, and pediatrics, so the jury is not out quite yet. But on that note, I don’t know that I can avoid the operating room. I really miss it. The most likely rotation to sway me is Ob/Gyn (esp. urogynecology or gynecological oncology), however, I’m not sure that I want a practice limited to women. There are so many factors to consider. I kind of wish that I was drawn to something with fewer hours and stress, but at the same time, I don’t want to enter a practice that I wouldn’t find wholly satisfying.

I’ve been consulting with several surgeons and residents at my institution. They have been really helpful in giving advice and helping to give me some direction. I’m particularly pleased that they have offered to write me letters (which will be an important component of my application) and continue to provide support.

One surgeon directed me to the American College of Surgeons wibsite, which has been helpful: So You Want to Be a Surgeon: Residency Search. It allows you to search for residency programs by region. The location of my residency will be particularly important, since most doctors practice where they were trained. It includes information on the number of surgeries completed by residents, call schedule, vacation time, family leave policies (which would include maternity leave), childcare access, etc.

Psych Call Saturday

I’m currently on an 8am Saturday to 8am Sunday call for my psychiatry rotation. So far, I have seen one patient and my partner in crime (another third year medical student) has seen another.

At 8:30am, I went to see a woman with a substance abuse history regarding her suicidal/homocidal ideation, but she was so snowed (likely from the combination of cocaine withdrawal and administration of Ativan) that she couldn’t provide much information. I went back to re-evaluate her at 11:30 and she had a little more to say, but still had to be constantly stimulated in order to stay awake. When my resident went to see her at 4pm, she was much the same.Most likely, she will not be awake enough to discuss her situation coherently for at least another day.

Otherwise, I’m working on my SPPAAM (Students Presenting on Psychiatric Aspects of Medicine) project. I’m covering alcoholism and it’s correlation with traumatic injury.

Psych!

Psychiatry Clerkship Starts Tomorrow… AKA Crazies at Christmas (my clerkship also covers Turkey Day)

I’m not exactly looking forward to this rotation. It’s very slow moving and you don’t do very much. However, since I’m assigned to a consultation service, we have to be there all day to wait with bated breath for someone to become demented or something. On the upside, we will apparently have our own office in which to study, etc. (read = knit). I also have several papers I’d like to finish soon, so I’m planning on using my time for that as well. Who knows, maybe I’ll even blog more. We will see where this crazy train takes us.

I know that my current attitude will not help the situation, but I also know me – this is my way of preparing myself for the worst so that later I can be relieved that my expectations were left unmet. I also know that because I have dealt with person with mental illness many times during my life that I’m not interested in doing it on purpose.