Thursday, April 22, 2010

i operated on a live pig!

...in heels. I accidentally left my tennis shoes/clogs at home. It was dumb. It was especially dumb because my partners were shorter than me and the table height was a slight problem because I was in heels. Fail.

Happily, we did not fail to remove the gallbladder, spleen and kidneys from our pig! It was pretty great to be the one doing something for once during a surgery.

My partners and crime, and our poor pig:


I have much more explicit photos of her insides, but I decided to leave those out in case someone found them shocking/gross. And don't worry, she was anesthetized.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

this is what i ate today

1) sweet & salty mix, consisting of peanuts, sunflower seeds, raisins, and m&ms. 290 calories
2) 1 and 1/2 nutrigrain bar
3) york peppermint patty
4) fun size butterfinger bar
5) cherry flavored tootsie roll pop (#s 3-5 all during a meeting)
6) stolen coffee.

I don't think interns or residents eat. Pretty sure attendings do, since they get to show up late and leave early, but the only stuff I ever see the underlings eat/drink is stuff they steal for free out of pantries, which mostly consists of saltines, graham crackers, coffee, juice, and jello. Obviously, this is one of the least fun parts of the rotation for me. Everyone knows I like to eat. I can only hide so many treats in my white coat, though - other stuff has to fit in there too.

Anyway, I am getting more used to this rotation. I feel like there are moments of teaching - and therefore learning - brilliance, but most of the time it's all over the place. Some surgeons ask you nothing, and don't speak during the entire operation except to the first assist. Some grill you the entire time. Some like to talk about mundane stuff (obviously, my favorite variety). But you never know what you're going to get, or how much you're going to learn. It is sometimes difficult trying to fill in the gaps yourself when you are not nearly as good at identifying your gaps in knowledge as they are. I'm getting some really basic knowledge through my preceptor group, which I'm not sure is meant to serve that purpose. But I'll take it. And I will try my best to remember it.

Blarg. Anyway, 3 hours until hopeful bedtime. I am bleaching my white coat for the first time (yes, I have washed it before) because it was getting super scraggly. Can't be looking all scraggly when you're seeing patients or they won't let you tap them on the face to check for Chvostek's sign. No, they will not.