School

So I really haven't said much about school in a long time. I could really say that I have been too busy to write, but the truth is I just haven't felt the desire. Sometimes I have found writing to be very therapeutic and helpful in dealing with patients or various overwhelming circumstances in life. Sometimes I compose blogs in my head for days prior to writing them and sometimes those compositions never make it to the big screen.

So a lot changed before the semester even got started. I moved. I live in Brentwood now. I sleep in a different bed in a different room in a different house. I drive a different route to school and have to park in a different area of the same level in the same parking garage. I walk the same walk to class.

Classes have been very different this semester though. Last semester I carried 16 graduate hours. They were heavily didactic. In 14 weeks I had 20 tests, wrote a 20 page paper, a 10 page paper, completed 3 case studies, completed a complete head to toe physical exam, and spent five weeks in the SICU. Last semester was by far the hardest semester in my entire life. I humbly learned what it means to live day by day. I was under so much stress that I was brought to tears in ways I never have before. I spent 5 months studying in my "naughty chair". I didn't make a lot of A's but I also didn't end up on Academic probation like 40% of my cohorts did.

This semester has been very different. Classes have been much slower. I've only taken 2 tests. I've already spent 5 weeks in the ICU and loved nearly every minute. I had a patient whose carotid artery exploded. I learned a lot about arterial lines, CVVHD, life sustaining drugs, the importance of breast tape, the importance of bubble tape, etc., etc., etc. I love love love love it.

Last week I started a new 8 week rotation in Manchester, TN. I'm in an internal medicine rotation. So basically I'm in a doctor's office all day. We get to see everything from tick bites (yes, in the coldest February ever), to neck/back/leg/foot/hip/chest pain, to possible CVA's, to sore throats and headaches. We get to see it all. I got to write my first drug prescription today. Yes, it was cosigned, but I got to order drugs. I fumbled through it and was completely taken off guard, but I did it. Amoxil 875 mg 1 po BID.

Do I want to work in a doctor's office? I don't know - never really thought about it.

One thing I learned from the ICU is that nearly all really sick people smoke.
One thing I have learned from the doctor's office is that all people who smoke smell.
One thing I do know is that smoking is stupid. I have learned that beyond measure in the past year. And it infuriates me beyond words.