Just thought I'd wish everyone a Happy New Year. I've been spending my vacation lazing around and trying to master Guitar Hero III at various family gatherings (since I don't own the game myself).
I have to emphasize "trying" because I'm nowhere as good as the following video, which I'm sure some of you have already seen:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GSLJorGu4vI
I don't know whether to be impressed that this person is so good, or disgusted that he had to waste so much time to be this good.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Effect of family on one's illness
When I was in my rural medicine rotation, we were required to write a short essay answering a question that went along the lines of: considering one of your patients, what effect does family have on his/her illness? Ever since, I have to admit that as dumb as it was to have us to write an essay about that, it's gotten me to look at my patients differently, as I take more consideration of the role that their families play in their illness. Two of my recent patients particularly come to mind when I think about the role their family plays on their illness and how we end up treating them.
My first patient, Ms. C, came into hospital because of persistent swelling and pain in her right leg, and a chronic cough. We diagnosed her with a cellulitis, but because of her homeless status, her past drug use, and "family" of people who she had to live with (she considered them as her family, since there was a particular group that she was quite close to), she was at high risk for getting HIV and tuberculosis. And although she ended up testing negative for these in the end, those possible diagnoses definitely affected how aggressive we were with her treatment.
Ms. C's lifestyle also made her extremely susceptible to recurrence of her illness, which affected how long we kept her in hospital, as we didn't want to send her out too early only to have her back in a few days because she was unable to manage her illness because she would be continually re-infecting herself. We also wanted to be sure that she was weaned off her morphine for pain before she left, as there was no way we would send her off to a homeless shelter with a stockpile of opioids.
Unfortunately for Ms. C, her real family also played an important part in the management of her illness. When she recovered, her sister had agreed to let her stay at her place. Ms. C, in gratitude, used a considerable portion of her savings to pay her sister for 'rent'. Her sister, in turn, used this money to get drunk, and then demanded more money from Ms. C. Ms C, of course, did not have any more money to pay her sister, so now she ended up homeless. On discharge, social work was frantically searching for a residence for Ms. C; and luckily, they found something for her. But I can imagine that this sort of family must be doing wonders for Ms. C's other underlying illnesses, which particularly includes depression.
My other patient is Mrs. M, a kind elderly lady who also came in for a cellulitis on her leg, but this time on her left side. The story behind her illness is that she had been treated for a cellulitis, had been discharged home, but had worsened presumably because her antibiotics weren't responding, as the patient had developed an abscess in her leg. As we begin treating her leg in hospital, it comes out that the patient's diseased husband was a big lawyer in the city, and that she has excellent legal counsel because of that.
Now, the patient was so nice, that we thought nothing out of that. Her family, however, appears to be a little trigger-happy with this legal advice. We found out a few days after starting her treatment that they were suing the previous physician for not 'healing' their mother's cellulitis in the first place, because he had told them that her cellulitis had been 'completely' treated. It's highly doubtful that this physician had actually told this to the family, because one can never say with 100% certainty that something is completely healed.
But anyways, knowing that this was happening, my preceptor is now being extremely cautious about what she says and does in regards to this patient's management. I had the opportunity to meet the son, and it was quite striking that every little thing my preceptor said to the family, he had recorded on a piece of paper, ostensibly for 'evidence' should his mother's medical management be sub-optimal. While Ms. C had a completely inconsiderate family, Mrs. M's family seems to be the other extreme!
So why do I bring all of this up now? Well, I was just thinking that in spite of how much I complain about my family, they're actually not that bad compared to some of the other families I have to deal with in hospital. I guess that's just one more thing I have to be thankful for during this break.
My first patient, Ms. C, came into hospital because of persistent swelling and pain in her right leg, and a chronic cough. We diagnosed her with a cellulitis, but because of her homeless status, her past drug use, and "family" of people who she had to live with (she considered them as her family, since there was a particular group that she was quite close to), she was at high risk for getting HIV and tuberculosis. And although she ended up testing negative for these in the end, those possible diagnoses definitely affected how aggressive we were with her treatment.
Ms. C's lifestyle also made her extremely susceptible to recurrence of her illness, which affected how long we kept her in hospital, as we didn't want to send her out too early only to have her back in a few days because she was unable to manage her illness because she would be continually re-infecting herself. We also wanted to be sure that she was weaned off her morphine for pain before she left, as there was no way we would send her off to a homeless shelter with a stockpile of opioids.
Unfortunately for Ms. C, her real family also played an important part in the management of her illness. When she recovered, her sister had agreed to let her stay at her place. Ms. C, in gratitude, used a considerable portion of her savings to pay her sister for 'rent'. Her sister, in turn, used this money to get drunk, and then demanded more money from Ms. C. Ms C, of course, did not have any more money to pay her sister, so now she ended up homeless. On discharge, social work was frantically searching for a residence for Ms. C; and luckily, they found something for her. But I can imagine that this sort of family must be doing wonders for Ms. C's other underlying illnesses, which particularly includes depression.
My other patient is Mrs. M, a kind elderly lady who also came in for a cellulitis on her leg, but this time on her left side. The story behind her illness is that she had been treated for a cellulitis, had been discharged home, but had worsened presumably because her antibiotics weren't responding, as the patient had developed an abscess in her leg. As we begin treating her leg in hospital, it comes out that the patient's diseased husband was a big lawyer in the city, and that she has excellent legal counsel because of that.
Now, the patient was so nice, that we thought nothing out of that. Her family, however, appears to be a little trigger-happy with this legal advice. We found out a few days after starting her treatment that they were suing the previous physician for not 'healing' their mother's cellulitis in the first place, because he had told them that her cellulitis had been 'completely' treated. It's highly doubtful that this physician had actually told this to the family, because one can never say with 100% certainty that something is completely healed.
But anyways, knowing that this was happening, my preceptor is now being extremely cautious about what she says and does in regards to this patient's management. I had the opportunity to meet the son, and it was quite striking that every little thing my preceptor said to the family, he had recorded on a piece of paper, ostensibly for 'evidence' should his mother's medical management be sub-optimal. While Ms. C had a completely inconsiderate family, Mrs. M's family seems to be the other extreme!
So why do I bring all of this up now? Well, I was just thinking that in spite of how much I complain about my family, they're actually not that bad compared to some of the other families I have to deal with in hospital. I guess that's just one more thing I have to be thankful for during this break.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Hectic day, but at least it's the holidays
I just had one of my longest days at the hospital. It was supposed to be a short day because I was pretty on top of my patients, and I was planning to leave a little early to mark off the start of my winter break. However, I suppose with sick patients, things never quite work out as anticipated.
One of my more stable patients wasn't feeling well this morning, complaining of chills and low appetite. She had also spiked a temperature and had an elevated white blood cell count but otherwise no other symptoms, so we thought she was getting an infection. Nonetheless, given her history of heart failure and cardiac disease, we decided to do an ECG and some stat bloodwork and other investigations. The ECG was unchanged from prior ones, and her chest Xray and abdominal Xray did not look remarkable, so I didn't think much of it right away.
This was already a couple of hours after we had ordered these investigations (it takes a little while to get back the bloodwork, so I decided not to do anything immediately since the patient was pretty stable; and even if she had an infection, there wasn't much we could do), so as the new bloodwork started to get reported, I did a bit of a double-take, as her labs were quite abnormal: low sodium, high potassium, high creatinine and high urea. Not only that, her troponins (usually an indicator of an ischemic heart) were high!
I told the resident this, and he became concerned, so we ordered a repeat Stat ECG. Lo and behold, the patient had new changes on her ECG! We then had to change her med orders and get cardiology involved. And because this was my last day for a week and a half, I had to make a detailed note explaining what happened, and our team's plan for the next little while so that the resident on call would know what was happening with our patient.
That, of course, wasn't the end of my day, as I still had to assess another patient and dictate two discharge summaries; and one of the patients was one I had just inherited recently, so I didn't know her that well so had to spend time reading up on her chart to figure out what exactly had been done while she was in hospital. As you can imagine, after all of that, I didn't get back home until quite late.
On the bright side, I got to discharge three of my patients today, and hopefully by the time I am back, I will only have one or two left to manage. I'm hoping that one of the patients left in my care when I return is the one who destabilized today.
One of my more stable patients wasn't feeling well this morning, complaining of chills and low appetite. She had also spiked a temperature and had an elevated white blood cell count but otherwise no other symptoms, so we thought she was getting an infection. Nonetheless, given her history of heart failure and cardiac disease, we decided to do an ECG and some stat bloodwork and other investigations. The ECG was unchanged from prior ones, and her chest Xray and abdominal Xray did not look remarkable, so I didn't think much of it right away.
This was already a couple of hours after we had ordered these investigations (it takes a little while to get back the bloodwork, so I decided not to do anything immediately since the patient was pretty stable; and even if she had an infection, there wasn't much we could do), so as the new bloodwork started to get reported, I did a bit of a double-take, as her labs were quite abnormal: low sodium, high potassium, high creatinine and high urea. Not only that, her troponins (usually an indicator of an ischemic heart) were high!
I told the resident this, and he became concerned, so we ordered a repeat Stat ECG. Lo and behold, the patient had new changes on her ECG! We then had to change her med orders and get cardiology involved. And because this was my last day for a week and a half, I had to make a detailed note explaining what happened, and our team's plan for the next little while so that the resident on call would know what was happening with our patient.
That, of course, wasn't the end of my day, as I still had to assess another patient and dictate two discharge summaries; and one of the patients was one I had just inherited recently, so I didn't know her that well so had to spend time reading up on her chart to figure out what exactly had been done while she was in hospital. As you can imagine, after all of that, I didn't get back home until quite late.
On the bright side, I got to discharge three of my patients today, and hopefully by the time I am back, I will only have one or two left to manage. I'm hoping that one of the patients left in my care when I return is the one who destabilized today.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
These Kids are Here to Rock and Roll!
Being in Internal Medicine at the Royal Alex has had its ups and downs. It hasn't been as busy as everyone was leading me to believe, but that's because my preceptor is on vacation this week and had lessened her patient load prior to leaving. My most memorable moments so far are as follows:
We have Mrs. M, who's a sweet old lady with dementia who came in with heart failure...well, she's not always sweet, but generally when she's feeling well, she's quite pleasant. She's still cognitively intact but definitely not all there. Last week, she thought I was the best doctor in the world, but when I tried examining her more thoroughly later in the week, she told another doctor that she had "quit" me. There was another time when she was reading the paper and saw us, so she pointed to a headline that said "The Kid is ready to Rock" (referring to Crosby's visit to Edmonton) and told us "These kids are ready to rock and roll!" and then she proceeded to do a little dance in her chair. It was quite amusing.
I also met Mr. B, who initially seems fairly well, but on further discussion, you realize that he has no insight that he's sick. He wouldn't believe us that he had diabetes or cancer, in spite of the clear evidence that he wasn't well. Eventually, he ended up going home against medical advice, but thankfully after we got all of his diagnostic tests done, which would have taken forever for him to get if he was an outpatient.
My new patient, Mr. G., is one of my worse patients in terms of his current condition and his demeanor. Whenever I try and examine him, he resists; and although he's hard to understand, I can clearly hear him swearing at me and telling me to get out. I was a little hurt by this until I found out he treats the nurses the same way. I suppose I can't fault him because he's confused and doesn't really understand what's happening, but it's still discouraging having to deal with patients like him.
I've also done some ward experience on call, which has made me realize how important good nurses are at keeping a unit running like a well-oiled machine. We had one nurse who would page us for the smallest things, and her patients were not being managed well at all. I almost laughed aloud when she paged us about a patient with 'constipation' for two days, and when we arrived, he was in the washroom having a bowel movement! It was a little frustrating at times, though, because we had to cover so many patients, and some of the nurses just didn't get that there were sometimes sicker patients that took a priority over others. No offence, but diabetic ketoacidosis (which can be lethal) trumps a stable patient with nausea any day.
We have Mrs. M, who's a sweet old lady with dementia who came in with heart failure...well, she's not always sweet, but generally when she's feeling well, she's quite pleasant. She's still cognitively intact but definitely not all there. Last week, she thought I was the best doctor in the world, but when I tried examining her more thoroughly later in the week, she told another doctor that she had "quit" me. There was another time when she was reading the paper and saw us, so she pointed to a headline that said "The Kid is ready to Rock" (referring to Crosby's visit to Edmonton) and told us "These kids are ready to rock and roll!" and then she proceeded to do a little dance in her chair. It was quite amusing.
I also met Mr. B, who initially seems fairly well, but on further discussion, you realize that he has no insight that he's sick. He wouldn't believe us that he had diabetes or cancer, in spite of the clear evidence that he wasn't well. Eventually, he ended up going home against medical advice, but thankfully after we got all of his diagnostic tests done, which would have taken forever for him to get if he was an outpatient.
My new patient, Mr. G., is one of my worse patients in terms of his current condition and his demeanor. Whenever I try and examine him, he resists; and although he's hard to understand, I can clearly hear him swearing at me and telling me to get out. I was a little hurt by this until I found out he treats the nurses the same way. I suppose I can't fault him because he's confused and doesn't really understand what's happening, but it's still discouraging having to deal with patients like him.
I've also done some ward experience on call, which has made me realize how important good nurses are at keeping a unit running like a well-oiled machine. We had one nurse who would page us for the smallest things, and her patients were not being managed well at all. I almost laughed aloud when she paged us about a patient with 'constipation' for two days, and when we arrived, he was in the washroom having a bowel movement! It was a little frustrating at times, though, because we had to cover so many patients, and some of the nurses just didn't get that there were sometimes sicker patients that took a priority over others. No offence, but diabetic ketoacidosis (which can be lethal) trumps a stable patient with nausea any day.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
I suppose it was bound to happen...
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to post my experiences from Three Hills yet because my hard drive failed on me, and my laptop's currently getting repaired. Luckily, I backed up most of my data before my computer died on me, so I haven't lost too much, but I won't be able to access most of it until I get my computer repaired. The tech who's working on it seems to always be on coffee break when I call to find out my computer's status, but I'm hoping that I'll get it back in a week or two.
In the mean time, I guess I can post my current experiences on the ward. I finished my short but meaningful stint in palliative care yesterday. I only had three patients to care of, which was boring at times, but good in the sense that I got to know my patients quite well. One gentleman, Mr. H, who had terminal colon cancer and considerable ascites due to liver mets, was quite weird when I first met him because of an underlying schizophrenia; but once I got to know him, he became my "favourite" patient. He had an amazing memory, and was always very courteous to me, even when there were times when he clearly wasn't having a good day. It meant a lot to me when he shook my hand at the end of my rotation and thanked me for taking care of him.
However, because this was the palliative care unit, many of my experiences were not as happy. One of my other patients, Mr. L, was always quite irritable, and things got worse once we realized that blood transfusions were simply not sustaining him anymore. He had hypoactive delirium, but was still cognitively intact enough to realize that his prognosis was not great. He ended up passing away on the last day of my rotation, and we declared his death in the morning. My first witnessed death ever, but I suppose that was inevitable in a palliative care unit. :(
My last patient, Mr. P, the one I had spent a great week wheeling around the ward and hospital wings, also took a turn for the worse over the weekend. While on pass with his wife, something transpired, where he became extremely short of breath and ended up in the emergency department in another hospital. When he eventually came back to our unit, he continued to be short of breath and was extremely distressed. His wife was also mad at us because of what had happened; but really, it was no one's fault, and she understandably needed someone to blame even though she knew this was inevitable. Ultimately, this patient ended up getting palliative sedation because we could do nothing to relieve his shortness of breath and distress. He's quite comfortable now, but he will most likely pass away in the next week or so. That experience had quite an effect on me, as it was such a shock to see his condition change so drastically considering how well he had been last week. It seems so unfair that someone so nice and so young will succumb to cancer, but I guess life isn't designed like that; and I suppose at least this patient had lived a great life and had been able to say his farewells to his family before he was sedated.
There are so many other sad stories that occurred while I was on that unit. There was one lady who the physicians had tried to keep alive long enough to see her newborn grandson from Toronto, but this was not to be, and she died a few days before her daughter was expected to fly in. Another gentleman had extensive head and neck cancer and died quite shortly after he developed a delirium from his condition. However, even though things were not always happy on the unit, I am quite grateful that I got the opportunity to spend some time in that area. We managed to prolong the lives of several patients, and most of them were appreciative of all of the work that we did. These patients knew that their conditions were terminal, and yet many took this in stride. It was amazing seeing what was important to each of these individuals - be it family, pets, and even getting the chance to have ice cream and gingerale as part of end-of-life comfort! I hope these perspectives will remain with me as I continue on the wards and things get busier in my life.
In the mean time, I guess I can post my current experiences on the ward. I finished my short but meaningful stint in palliative care yesterday. I only had three patients to care of, which was boring at times, but good in the sense that I got to know my patients quite well. One gentleman, Mr. H, who had terminal colon cancer and considerable ascites due to liver mets, was quite weird when I first met him because of an underlying schizophrenia; but once I got to know him, he became my "favourite" patient. He had an amazing memory, and was always very courteous to me, even when there were times when he clearly wasn't having a good day. It meant a lot to me when he shook my hand at the end of my rotation and thanked me for taking care of him.
However, because this was the palliative care unit, many of my experiences were not as happy. One of my other patients, Mr. L, was always quite irritable, and things got worse once we realized that blood transfusions were simply not sustaining him anymore. He had hypoactive delirium, but was still cognitively intact enough to realize that his prognosis was not great. He ended up passing away on the last day of my rotation, and we declared his death in the morning. My first witnessed death ever, but I suppose that was inevitable in a palliative care unit. :(
My last patient, Mr. P, the one I had spent a great week wheeling around the ward and hospital wings, also took a turn for the worse over the weekend. While on pass with his wife, something transpired, where he became extremely short of breath and ended up in the emergency department in another hospital. When he eventually came back to our unit, he continued to be short of breath and was extremely distressed. His wife was also mad at us because of what had happened; but really, it was no one's fault, and she understandably needed someone to blame even though she knew this was inevitable. Ultimately, this patient ended up getting palliative sedation because we could do nothing to relieve his shortness of breath and distress. He's quite comfortable now, but he will most likely pass away in the next week or so. That experience had quite an effect on me, as it was such a shock to see his condition change so drastically considering how well he had been last week. It seems so unfair that someone so nice and so young will succumb to cancer, but I guess life isn't designed like that; and I suppose at least this patient had lived a great life and had been able to say his farewells to his family before he was sedated.
There are so many other sad stories that occurred while I was on that unit. There was one lady who the physicians had tried to keep alive long enough to see her newborn grandson from Toronto, but this was not to be, and she died a few days before her daughter was expected to fly in. Another gentleman had extensive head and neck cancer and died quite shortly after he developed a delirium from his condition. However, even though things were not always happy on the unit, I am quite grateful that I got the opportunity to spend some time in that area. We managed to prolong the lives of several patients, and most of them were appreciative of all of the work that we did. These patients knew that their conditions were terminal, and yet many took this in stride. It was amazing seeing what was important to each of these individuals - be it family, pets, and even getting the chance to have ice cream and gingerale as part of end-of-life comfort! I hope these perspectives will remain with me as I continue on the wards and things get busier in my life.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Finding some meaning on the wards
I've been back from Three Hills for a week now, but because I've been studying for my USMLEs (for which I fear I may be screwed because my studying has not been great), I was not planning to post until after that was finished this Saturday. However, I had an experience today that meant a lot to me, so I thought I would share it.
For the next two weeks, I am doing an elective in Palliative Care. I decided to do this because I felt it was important for me to get exposure to this aspect of medicine sooner rather than later, since it's something most doctors will have to face at some point. It's been a little depressing, but not as bad as I was expecting. Most of the patients are pleasant; and in spite of the setting, the atmosphere on the ward is quite positive.
There was one patient that I've been seeing that was fairly stable and seemed to be doing well. Yesterday, though, things took a turn for the worse for him, when he could no longer cough up phlegm from a persistent cough that he was having. He became quite upset because of this and began fearing that he would die from this cough. Now, from our perspective, he was not doing badly and the cough was under control; he would not die from this cause. Nonetheless, even though we felt things would clear up on their own, we offered him a few treatments with the hope that they would help his symptoms.
Looking back, I feel a little guilty about the way I viewed this whole situation, because it was "just a cough". But, from this patient's perspective, this was one more sign that his terminal illness was taking its course and he felt helpless that he couldn't do something as simple as cough up a bit of phlegm. It was amazing how his mood improved today because our simple measures let him do this small task!
We didn't seem to do much, but it felt rewarding knowing that this made such a big difference in this patient's quality of life. I had a great time chatting with this patient today and even spent some time pushing him around in his wheelchair (he asked me to). The nurses thought that was a little amusing, but I figure that even though it's not in my 'job description', I may not have time in the future to interact with patients like this, so I might as well make most of things now. When I'm stressing out on the wards in the future, I hope I'll have more memories like these to remind me why I got into medicine. Plus, the patient, in his gratitude, gave me some food afterwards - an added bonus!
For the next two weeks, I am doing an elective in Palliative Care. I decided to do this because I felt it was important for me to get exposure to this aspect of medicine sooner rather than later, since it's something most doctors will have to face at some point. It's been a little depressing, but not as bad as I was expecting. Most of the patients are pleasant; and in spite of the setting, the atmosphere on the ward is quite positive.
There was one patient that I've been seeing that was fairly stable and seemed to be doing well. Yesterday, though, things took a turn for the worse for him, when he could no longer cough up phlegm from a persistent cough that he was having. He became quite upset because of this and began fearing that he would die from this cough. Now, from our perspective, he was not doing badly and the cough was under control; he would not die from this cause. Nonetheless, even though we felt things would clear up on their own, we offered him a few treatments with the hope that they would help his symptoms.
Looking back, I feel a little guilty about the way I viewed this whole situation, because it was "just a cough". But, from this patient's perspective, this was one more sign that his terminal illness was taking its course and he felt helpless that he couldn't do something as simple as cough up a bit of phlegm. It was amazing how his mood improved today because our simple measures let him do this small task!
We didn't seem to do much, but it felt rewarding knowing that this made such a big difference in this patient's quality of life. I had a great time chatting with this patient today and even spent some time pushing him around in his wheelchair (he asked me to). The nurses thought that was a little amusing, but I figure that even though it's not in my 'job description', I may not have time in the future to interact with patients like this, so I might as well make most of things now. When I'm stressing out on the wards in the future, I hope I'll have more memories like these to remind me why I got into medicine. Plus, the patient, in his gratitude, gave me some food afterwards - an added bonus!
Monday, October 29, 2007
I am an expert ear wax remover!
That's right, the title says it all. I have more to tell about my time in Three Hills, but it's all written up on my laptop, which I don't have with me. I'll probably post after I'm back in Edmonton, since my internet access is limited.
Oh yah, I can also suture scalp lacerations, but I wouldn't really call myself an expert at that. At least with the ear wax removal, I haven't perforated any tympanic membranes yet!
Oh yah, I can also suture scalp lacerations, but I wouldn't really call myself an expert at that. At least with the ear wax removal, I haven't perforated any tympanic membranes yet!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Gone for a month
Going to Three Hills, Alberta, for a month. I'll try to post pictures and/or interesting cases; but considering that my internet's going to be limited to the hospital (I'm supposed to have dial-up, but the place I'm staying may not have a separate phone line for me to use), chances are I won't post until I get back. So until next time, keep fit and have fun! (line stolen from Body Break)
Friday, October 19, 2007
Psychiatry Rotation Complete!
I finished my final day of my first rotation, and I have to say this was a great way to start this year. Nice patients, great nursing staff, and awesome residents and preceptors. I don’t think I’ll forget this rotation. I thought I’d just spend some time to write about some of my more memorable patients:
O.L – the only patient I followed from start to end. Quite an interesting case, as he believed that his wife and parents had tainted his water and changed his medications and came in believing they were out to get him. He also thought he met a girl on the bus that was the ‘girl of his dreams’. He then started hearing messages about this girl on the radio, in newspapers, and pretty much everywhere and was seen doing some really bizarre behaviour. It was great seeing him progress from an acutely psychotic patient to someone who was quite rational and friendly and no longer believing in those delusions!
G.C – a nice elderly lady who came into hospital a month before I started the rotation; but even when I first saw her, she was pretty much everywhere. Her answers were very convoluted, she was very dependent on others, and had huge anxiety issues. She always addressed me by name, however, and it was always great talking to her. These last few weeks have been especially good for her, because she’s spent time out in public, is going to a new place soon, and is able to focus a lot better. The change with her was more subtle than with O.L., but looking back a month, she definitely made improvements while in hospital.
B.P – this girl is probably only a few years older than me, but she was likely the most difficult patient that we had to deal with. The nurses would always call my preceptor to complain about her (she did things like clog the toilets, throw around other patients’ belongings, and call 911 ALL the time [she called the police so often that they even started ignoring her calls to them!] – and always denying that she did this), and she would always yell at my preceptor during their meetings. And of course, since I was associated with him, she didn’t look too positively on me either. There was one time when she seemed to get better, and then she refused to come back to hospital, so had to be brought back by the police. That time was quite tense, since she almost refused to take her medications altogether, and a lot of coaxing was needed to put her back on. We didn’t think she would ever get better, and then suddenly during these last couple of days, she improved markedly. Things went so well today, that when my preceptor told her that the resident and I were leaving today, she apologized to us for being so difficult during her manic phase (she’s bipolar). That completely floored us!
Anyways, apparently, I got to see more patients recover than a student would normally see during a rotation, since it normally takes a little while for the meds to kick in, etc. I thought it was great seeing so many of these patients improve while in hospital. It’s nice to have that warm and fuzzy feeling before I get thrown into the lion’s den and get torn apart in that rotation fondly known as ‘Internal Medicine’. But I’ll worry about that in 6 weeks time.
O.L – the only patient I followed from start to end. Quite an interesting case, as he believed that his wife and parents had tainted his water and changed his medications and came in believing they were out to get him. He also thought he met a girl on the bus that was the ‘girl of his dreams’. He then started hearing messages about this girl on the radio, in newspapers, and pretty much everywhere and was seen doing some really bizarre behaviour. It was great seeing him progress from an acutely psychotic patient to someone who was quite rational and friendly and no longer believing in those delusions!
G.C – a nice elderly lady who came into hospital a month before I started the rotation; but even when I first saw her, she was pretty much everywhere. Her answers were very convoluted, she was very dependent on others, and had huge anxiety issues. She always addressed me by name, however, and it was always great talking to her. These last few weeks have been especially good for her, because she’s spent time out in public, is going to a new place soon, and is able to focus a lot better. The change with her was more subtle than with O.L., but looking back a month, she definitely made improvements while in hospital.
B.P – this girl is probably only a few years older than me, but she was likely the most difficult patient that we had to deal with. The nurses would always call my preceptor to complain about her (she did things like clog the toilets, throw around other patients’ belongings, and call 911 ALL the time [she called the police so often that they even started ignoring her calls to them!] – and always denying that she did this), and she would always yell at my preceptor during their meetings. And of course, since I was associated with him, she didn’t look too positively on me either. There was one time when she seemed to get better, and then she refused to come back to hospital, so had to be brought back by the police. That time was quite tense, since she almost refused to take her medications altogether, and a lot of coaxing was needed to put her back on. We didn’t think she would ever get better, and then suddenly during these last couple of days, she improved markedly. Things went so well today, that when my preceptor told her that the resident and I were leaving today, she apologized to us for being so difficult during her manic phase (she’s bipolar). That completely floored us!
Anyways, apparently, I got to see more patients recover than a student would normally see during a rotation, since it normally takes a little while for the meds to kick in, etc. I thought it was great seeing so many of these patients improve while in hospital. It’s nice to have that warm and fuzzy feeling before I get thrown into the lion’s den and get torn apart in that rotation fondly known as ‘Internal Medicine’. But I’ll worry about that in 6 weeks time.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Damn you, Disney!
As much as I enjoyed the movie Fantasia, I curse Disney for forever tainting my perception of the songs played in it. Take, for instance, today, when I went to a performance of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. While I was enjoying the melodies, I started to imagine dancing broomsticks and Mickey Mouse in his all-too-memorable sorcerer's robe. That definitely was not the image that I wanted in my head while I was listening to that piece...
I also got to see a performance of Faust et Hélène, by Lili Boulanger, a relatively unknown work. I was quite impressed by the singers...they were so expressive (in voice and facial movements), and the plot was pretty good too. I think I'll have to start going more often to symphony performances. I miss being involved in music, and $15 for a rush ticket is such a bargain!
Sigh, and now back to my life of studying. It'll be nice once I don't have to write exams anymore.
I also got to see a performance of Faust et Hélène, by Lili Boulanger, a relatively unknown work. I was quite impressed by the singers...they were so expressive (in voice and facial movements), and the plot was pretty good too. I think I'll have to start going more often to symphony performances. I miss being involved in music, and $15 for a rush ticket is such a bargain!
Sigh, and now back to my life of studying. It'll be nice once I don't have to write exams anymore.
Friday, October 05, 2007
What's wrong with your toast?
I'm in my fourth week of psychiatry and am really enjoying it. My experience has been a lot better than I expected, and this is now something I would consider as a career. Although I'm not too fond of the drug addicts, and the depressed patients aren't too great to see, there's never a dull moment. Take this new patient that I saw today.
As some background, this patient presented to the emergency department because his mother was worried about him. He has a history of schizophrenia, but was no longer taking his medication. He was also likely high on cocaine or some other stimulant. When he presented to hospital, he was incoherent, and when we saw him yesterday, I think he was hallucinating because at one point he was waving his hand as if he saw something in front of him. Eventually he settled, so he was admitted to our unit.
Fast forward to today. One of the nurses asked me to see this patient because she did not feel he should be with other patients because of the worry that he could be aggressive. He had also apparently been walking around bizarrely in the hallway and looking intensely at staff (in a creepy way) and his surroundings. Then, he started getting agitated because he was not allowed to go outside for a cigarette (he was certified and wasn't allowed to leave the premises until we could be certain he didn't pose a danger to himself and to others).
When I saw him, the patient was eating breakfast. And he seemed troubled by it. I asked him how he was feeling. He told me something was wrong with his toast, but wouldn't go more into that. So I started talking to him, trying to get a sense of what was happening. He had no idea why he was in hospital, and he wanted to know why he couldn't go out for a smoke. I tried explaining this to the best of my abilities, and he seemed satisfied with the answer.
He then again complained about his toast. Trying to find out what was the problem, I asked him more about it, but he seemed frustrated that I just didn't understand what was wrong. Finally, after some coaxing, he explains to me that the toast is just too small. Thinking that he meant that he hadn't been given enough to eat, I told him he was free to ask the nurses for more food. But, when I told him that, the patient said "no, but it's still the same". I still don't quite get what was the problem with the toast, but obviously his perception of things around him weren't quite right if he was being bothered by the size of his toast.
I still sensed that something was bothering him, so I asked him again what was wrong. Eventually, the patient tells me that something is after him, but I can't get much more out of him. The interview ends at that point, as I realize that I can't get much more out of him. Oh yah, and somewhere before the end, he asked me again why he was in hospital and why he was not allowed to go outside to smoke, so he clearly had some memory issues.
After that, I just couldn't get over how messed up that conversation was! I've seen similar patients before, and it's just amazing how well they respond once they're on the appropriate treatment. This patient may just have a drug-induced psychosis (hahah, although he adamantly denied EVER taking drugs in spite of his history showing substantial substance abuse), but it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. For now, he's much too volatile to be with other patients, so he's been moved to a more isolated room.
As some background, this patient presented to the emergency department because his mother was worried about him. He has a history of schizophrenia, but was no longer taking his medication. He was also likely high on cocaine or some other stimulant. When he presented to hospital, he was incoherent, and when we saw him yesterday, I think he was hallucinating because at one point he was waving his hand as if he saw something in front of him. Eventually he settled, so he was admitted to our unit.
Fast forward to today. One of the nurses asked me to see this patient because she did not feel he should be with other patients because of the worry that he could be aggressive. He had also apparently been walking around bizarrely in the hallway and looking intensely at staff (in a creepy way) and his surroundings. Then, he started getting agitated because he was not allowed to go outside for a cigarette (he was certified and wasn't allowed to leave the premises until we could be certain he didn't pose a danger to himself and to others).
When I saw him, the patient was eating breakfast. And he seemed troubled by it. I asked him how he was feeling. He told me something was wrong with his toast, but wouldn't go more into that. So I started talking to him, trying to get a sense of what was happening. He had no idea why he was in hospital, and he wanted to know why he couldn't go out for a smoke. I tried explaining this to the best of my abilities, and he seemed satisfied with the answer.
He then again complained about his toast. Trying to find out what was the problem, I asked him more about it, but he seemed frustrated that I just didn't understand what was wrong. Finally, after some coaxing, he explains to me that the toast is just too small. Thinking that he meant that he hadn't been given enough to eat, I told him he was free to ask the nurses for more food. But, when I told him that, the patient said "no, but it's still the same". I still don't quite get what was the problem with the toast, but obviously his perception of things around him weren't quite right if he was being bothered by the size of his toast.
I still sensed that something was bothering him, so I asked him again what was wrong. Eventually, the patient tells me that something is after him, but I can't get much more out of him. The interview ends at that point, as I realize that I can't get much more out of him. Oh yah, and somewhere before the end, he asked me again why he was in hospital and why he was not allowed to go outside to smoke, so he clearly had some memory issues.
After that, I just couldn't get over how messed up that conversation was! I've seen similar patients before, and it's just amazing how well they respond once they're on the appropriate treatment. This patient may just have a drug-induced psychosis (hahah, although he adamantly denied EVER taking drugs in spite of his history showing substantial substance abuse), but it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. For now, he's much too volatile to be with other patients, so he's been moved to a more isolated room.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
First real call
"Hi, we have a patient down here with a rash that suddenly appeared today. He took some codeine earlier, and he was worried he was reacting to that."
Me: big pause. (my head went completely blank)
"Um, can you come in to see him?"
Me: "Okay"
On the car ride to the hospital, my mind suddenly kicks in: Ohmigod, what if he's having a reaction to the codeine? I should have asked about the patient's status, like they told us to do in our practice session. What if he's going to die? Maybe I should have told the nurses to get some epinephrine or something ready!
In hindsight, I suppose if the patient was in immediate danger, the nurses would have sounded more concerned on the phone; but as you can see, I probably should have handled that phone call a bit better.
As it turns out, the patient had what appears to be a reaction to a type of soap, so the crisis was averted. In future, however, I should ask a bit more when I'm answering a call!
Me: big pause. (my head went completely blank)
"Um, can you come in to see him?"
Me: "Okay"
On the car ride to the hospital, my mind suddenly kicks in: Ohmigod, what if he's having a reaction to the codeine? I should have asked about the patient's status, like they told us to do in our practice session. What if he's going to die? Maybe I should have told the nurses to get some epinephrine or something ready!
In hindsight, I suppose if the patient was in immediate danger, the nurses would have sounded more concerned on the phone; but as you can see, I probably should have handled that phone call a bit better.
As it turns out, the patient had what appears to be a reaction to a type of soap, so the crisis was averted. In future, however, I should ask a bit more when I'm answering a call!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Gee as a Tree 3!
Tree 3: Gee as an Angel Oak Tree
When I was in China, I was fascinated by all of the ancient trees that I saw. However, since I haven't had a chance to transfer the pictures I took of those, I decided to search for other ancient trees in the world to use for Gee as a Tree. One tree in particular caught my attention because of its massive branches: the Angel Oak. Apparently, this is a 1400 year old tree located in South Carolina, and its largest branch spans 27 m in length! Anyways, if you want to find out more about this tree, go look it up on Wikipedia.
The best image I could find was in black and white, from a wedding website (http://juneseventeenth.com/), but there are numerous colour photos online if you're interested in seeing this tree in its glory.
Since I thought it would help me look wise and old, I decided to add a beard to the picture. Sigh, if only I could actually grow decent facial hair in real life. :P Click on picture to see a larger version. Original picture taken from juneseventeen.com.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
My own front-row drama
I know it's rude to eavesdrop on other people, but on my way home from Shanghai, the "couple" in front of me was so loud, I couldn't help but overhear initially; and as things progressed, I HAD to listen to what was transpiring.
Why, do you ask?
Well, it all started at the beginning of this very long 11-hour flight, when one of the guys in front of me asked the person beside him if he'd be willing to switch seats with a girl (either someone he knew from a while back, or someone he just met on the plane; I'm not too sure which is correct). Already, I'm sure some of you are thinking "ooh, tell me more, Chris." And even if you didn't think that, I'll tell you what happened anyways.
As soon as the flight started, the two started chatting away non-stop. Not so interesting. But then, when the flight attendants started serving drinks, their conversation warmed up as they drank more and more alcohol: they were definitely flirting with each other. I began to wonder: would this turn into something more than flirting?
Unfortunately, a snag emerged as the girl pressed the guy for intimate details about his life: it turned out he was "happily" married with a son. End of romance, right? Wrong. The girl continued to show interest in this married man and proceeded to get more alcohol from the back (the flight attendants were obviously not serving them fast enough).
Seven hours into the flight, the moment you've all anticipated occurs: they start making out. And I'm sure that had they not been in a plane, they would have done the beast with two backs at that point. Alas, such was not the case, and as their heat subsided, the guy regretfully remembered that he had a wife. The two continue to slobber on each other; but by then, it is getting quite late, so they decide to go to sleep, cuddling with one another.
Their love story ends for now, and I will never know the conclusion of this little ordeal (although I'm sure it won't end well), but the drama continued. A few hours after they go to sleep, the girl gets up and heads to the washroom. She doesn't emerge from the washroom. Her newfound friend grows worried. What has happened to his potential adulteress?
After persistent knocking on the washroom door, our valiant hero goes...and finds a stewardess, who opens the door and finds the girl unconscious in the washroom. It turns out that someone had a BIT too much alcohol and had passed out.
Eventually, after some coaxing, she is wakened and led back to her seat. The rest of the flight is uneventful, and I part ways with my live drama. It's such a shame that my cast consisted of a relatively old and unattractive couple.
As you can imagine, with all of what happened during that flight, I got little sleep, as those two were a little noisy during most of the trip. But at least I'm back in Edmonton now. Expect a new "Gee as a Tree" in a few days or so (provided I don't get sidetracked by something else)!
Why, do you ask?
Well, it all started at the beginning of this very long 11-hour flight, when one of the guys in front of me asked the person beside him if he'd be willing to switch seats with a girl (either someone he knew from a while back, or someone he just met on the plane; I'm not too sure which is correct). Already, I'm sure some of you are thinking "ooh, tell me more, Chris." And even if you didn't think that, I'll tell you what happened anyways.
As soon as the flight started, the two started chatting away non-stop. Not so interesting. But then, when the flight attendants started serving drinks, their conversation warmed up as they drank more and more alcohol: they were definitely flirting with each other. I began to wonder: would this turn into something more than flirting?
Unfortunately, a snag emerged as the girl pressed the guy for intimate details about his life: it turned out he was "happily" married with a son. End of romance, right? Wrong. The girl continued to show interest in this married man and proceeded to get more alcohol from the back (the flight attendants were obviously not serving them fast enough).
Seven hours into the flight, the moment you've all anticipated occurs: they start making out. And I'm sure that had they not been in a plane, they would have done the beast with two backs at that point. Alas, such was not the case, and as their heat subsided, the guy regretfully remembered that he had a wife. The two continue to slobber on each other; but by then, it is getting quite late, so they decide to go to sleep, cuddling with one another.
Their love story ends for now, and I will never know the conclusion of this little ordeal (although I'm sure it won't end well), but the drama continued. A few hours after they go to sleep, the girl gets up and heads to the washroom. She doesn't emerge from the washroom. Her newfound friend grows worried. What has happened to his potential adulteress?
After persistent knocking on the washroom door, our valiant hero goes...and finds a stewardess, who opens the door and finds the girl unconscious in the washroom. It turns out that someone had a BIT too much alcohol and had passed out.
Eventually, after some coaxing, she is wakened and led back to her seat. The rest of the flight is uneventful, and I part ways with my live drama. It's such a shame that my cast consisted of a relatively old and unattractive couple.
As you can imagine, with all of what happened during that flight, I got little sleep, as those two were a little noisy during most of the trip. But at least I'm back in Edmonton now. Expect a new "Gee as a Tree" in a few days or so (provided I don't get sidetracked by something else)!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Talk about bad luck
I'm nearing the end of my China trip, and as enjoyable as things have been, I have to say that my sister and I have the worst luck ever. So far, I've been generally impressed with the service we've received on our trip. Our tour guides are amazing (they'll literally bend over back to serve us, even when we tell them they don't need to), the food is pretty good with fast service too, and the sights have been pretty amazing (pictures will eventually be posted on facebook).
I've also found it incredible how humble the service industry is. Waiters will accomodate our demands without complaint (although not so much in the larger cities), salespeople will open late to meet our schedule, and there's even VIP lines for foreigners to see the big sites - and according to our guides, even though this is unfair to the local people, they don't complain about it!
In spite of all of this, my sister and I have had a few bumps in our trip in terms of our hotel rooms. It's not that the rooms have been bad, although a few were less than desirable. However, we have been having issues with our washrooms, which to me is such an important part of the trip, as I can't stand disgusting toilets (yes, I'm a little high-strung).
The first time we had an issue, we should have suspected something was wrong, when we opened the toilet and saw that it was stained BLACK inside the bowl. Talk about losing one's appetite. And then, to make matters worse, the toilet handle was broken, so we ended up switching rooms, where that toilet ended up clogging (not my doing, for once :P )! And no, we could just use a plunger to fix it, since those weren't readily available in our room. Eventually, we called room service, and had everything fixed, but we didn't get to sleep until midnight, and we had an early wake-up call the next day. That happened to be one of our worse hotels ("5-star hotel" has such a wide spectrum of quality control in China), and during one of the more strenuous parts of the trip, so that was probably one of our worst experiences during these past two weeks.
Since then, things seemed to pick up a bit, until today, when we arrived at this really nice hotel in Shanghai (a REAL 5-star hotel). We just arrived from a long bus trip across the country, so we were looking forward to washing up and going to bed. However, because our parents wanted to be on the same floor as us, we ended up getting the room with the leaky faucet in the washroom! And not just a small leak: I'm talking about really wet floor leaky. When I called room service to have a look at this, they initially told us we would have to wait until the morning, to which I replied (in a politer manner than I'm writing now), "Hell no, we have to use that washroom, and there's no way we're going to use it unless we have a working sink!" After that, we ended up switching to another room, which appears to be in good working order , and hopefully we won't run into any other problems. But out of everyone else in our trip, my sister and I seem to be the only ones having these issues! With this luck, I'm sure one of us will end up busting the shower or break something obscure like a floor tile in the next couple of days.
I realize some of you may think I'm a little pampered complaining about my 'bad luck' when things could be a lot worse than having problems in a 5-star hotel, but after long 7+hour bus trips, the least you could expect from these places is a functional washroom!
I've also found it incredible how humble the service industry is. Waiters will accomodate our demands without complaint (although not so much in the larger cities), salespeople will open late to meet our schedule, and there's even VIP lines for foreigners to see the big sites - and according to our guides, even though this is unfair to the local people, they don't complain about it!
In spite of all of this, my sister and I have had a few bumps in our trip in terms of our hotel rooms. It's not that the rooms have been bad, although a few were less than desirable. However, we have been having issues with our washrooms, which to me is such an important part of the trip, as I can't stand disgusting toilets (yes, I'm a little high-strung).
The first time we had an issue, we should have suspected something was wrong, when we opened the toilet and saw that it was stained BLACK inside the bowl. Talk about losing one's appetite. And then, to make matters worse, the toilet handle was broken, so we ended up switching rooms, where that toilet ended up clogging (not my doing, for once :P )! And no, we could just use a plunger to fix it, since those weren't readily available in our room. Eventually, we called room service, and had everything fixed, but we didn't get to sleep until midnight, and we had an early wake-up call the next day. That happened to be one of our worse hotels ("5-star hotel" has such a wide spectrum of quality control in China), and during one of the more strenuous parts of the trip, so that was probably one of our worst experiences during these past two weeks.
Since then, things seemed to pick up a bit, until today, when we arrived at this really nice hotel in Shanghai (a REAL 5-star hotel). We just arrived from a long bus trip across the country, so we were looking forward to washing up and going to bed. However, because our parents wanted to be on the same floor as us, we ended up getting the room with the leaky faucet in the washroom! And not just a small leak: I'm talking about really wet floor leaky. When I called room service to have a look at this, they initially told us we would have to wait until the morning, to which I replied (in a politer manner than I'm writing now), "Hell no, we have to use that washroom, and there's no way we're going to use it unless we have a working sink!" After that, we ended up switching to another room, which appears to be in good working order , and hopefully we won't run into any other problems. But out of everyone else in our trip, my sister and I seem to be the only ones having these issues! With this luck, I'm sure one of us will end up busting the shower or break something obscure like a floor tile in the next couple of days.
I realize some of you may think I'm a little pampered complaining about my 'bad luck' when things could be a lot worse than having problems in a 5-star hotel, but after long 7+hour bus trips, the least you could expect from these places is a functional washroom!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
...and I thought Edmonton drivers were crazy
This is more of an observation than anything, but I noticed that the drivers in China have a more cavalier attitude on the road than in North America. I'm sure you've all heard this before from other people, but this has stuck out more than anything else while I've been here. I guess it has to do somewhat with the crowded population and the fact that lanes are a lot narrower than they are in North America, but it seems that the concept of actually staying in lanes is an abstract idea. Drivers weave in and out of half a lane, and there was one time where they even created a new lane in-between all the others!
Other things that I've noticed is that they use their horns a lot more than we do; but I think that's for the better, as it's quite useful to do when other drivers switch lanes so frequently, and the pedestrians cross the roads so carelessly sometimes. We had one bus driver (who we ended up letting go for other reasons) who was so bad that we were literally inches away from a pedestrian, and several times almost crashed into other vehicles. On the other hand, the driver we have right now is pretty good; even though he seems to have close calls with ongoing traffic, he clearly has a good sense of his vehicle, and we feel quite comfortable with him.
Surpisingly, we saw very few accidents, but I suppose that's because the drivers are used to these conditions. I'm just glad that I don't have to drive here, because if I did, I would most likely be road kill in 10 minutes. :P
Other things that I've noticed is that they use their horns a lot more than we do; but I think that's for the better, as it's quite useful to do when other drivers switch lanes so frequently, and the pedestrians cross the roads so carelessly sometimes. We had one bus driver (who we ended up letting go for other reasons) who was so bad that we were literally inches away from a pedestrian, and several times almost crashed into other vehicles. On the other hand, the driver we have right now is pretty good; even though he seems to have close calls with ongoing traffic, he clearly has a good sense of his vehicle, and we feel quite comfortable with him.
Surpisingly, we saw very few accidents, but I suppose that's because the drivers are used to these conditions. I'm just glad that I don't have to drive here, because if I did, I would most likely be road kill in 10 minutes. :P
Friday, August 10, 2007
In Beijing
Just writing a quick entry from Beijing. Things were pretty tiring when I got in, since I hadn't gotten much sleep on the 11-hour plane ride (who would, when there's free food, and movies too? I finally got to see Spiderman 3 :P). Thankfully, day 1 didn't involve that much sight-seeing. Instead, we spent the afternoon shopping on "Silk Street", where I ended up getting four dress shirts for $30 (quality questionable, but at that price, who cares?). I also bought a pair of dress pants in a department store for $50 at half price, and hemmed within 10 minutes!
We then spent the evening going out with my mom's cousin, who works for the consulate. She took us to this really nice restaurant, where I tried some interesting food (no camel hump, though!). I'll have photos posted on facebook of the food and its amazing presentation when I return. It was also my dad's birthday, so we celebrated that, albeit it was a shortened day since we lost half a day on the time transition.
The rest of the evening was spent shopping for pearls (zzz), since my mom's cousin knows a supplier where they can buy stuff for at least half the price in Canada. Fortunately, day 2 should be more interesting, as we're going to be touring the Forbidden City, and seeing some acrobat dancers in the evening.
We then spent the evening going out with my mom's cousin, who works for the consulate. She took us to this really nice restaurant, where I tried some interesting food (no camel hump, though!). I'll have photos posted on facebook of the food and its amazing presentation when I return. It was also my dad's birthday, so we celebrated that, albeit it was a shortened day since we lost half a day on the time transition.
The rest of the evening was spent shopping for pearls (zzz), since my mom's cousin knows a supplier where they can buy stuff for at least half the price in Canada. Fortunately, day 2 should be more interesting, as we're going to be touring the Forbidden City, and seeing some acrobat dancers in the evening.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
So long, farewell...for now
Yes, I know, my "Gee as a Tree" feature flopped after 2 weeks. But it will hopefully be back after I return from China and have a camera phone (if it's not TOO expensive). Right now, the camera's the limiting factor, as I've been trying to take photos using my sister's camera when she's not around, since I don't want to go through a discussion of, "What the hell are you doing?" Hopefully, with my own camera, I won't have to go through that hassle anymore.
Oh yah, and for those of you that didn't figure it out, I'm going to China in a few days with my family and some of my extended family. We'll see how much fun I have, since it sounds like we're going to a lot of places in a two-week span. I'd prefer something more laid-back, but since I'm not paying for the trip, I'll just tag along and see how it goes. I don't understand or speak the language, nor do I intend to learn it for just a two week trip, but perhaps that's for the best, so that I don't understand any of the insults thrown at me.
Anyways, it's been kind of sad having to say bye to some people, as one friend in particular is going to school somewhere else, and I won't get the chance to see her for another couple of months. Hahah, actually, because of how awkwardly I dealt with her farewell last day, I have dubbed myself the "King of Awkward" (I won't even delve into why I got that title. I'm sure those of you who know me can figure out that it's just in my nature to be awkward). That being said, I say to my friend (who I know reads this blog), I could have handled it a lot worse, couldn't I? Be thankful you even got a farewell!
Alright, if anything interesting happens, I will try and post while on my trip; otherwise, you won't hear from me for at least 2 weeks.
Oh yah, and for those of you that didn't figure it out, I'm going to China in a few days with my family and some of my extended family. We'll see how much fun I have, since it sounds like we're going to a lot of places in a two-week span. I'd prefer something more laid-back, but since I'm not paying for the trip, I'll just tag along and see how it goes. I don't understand or speak the language, nor do I intend to learn it for just a two week trip, but perhaps that's for the best, so that I don't understand any of the insults thrown at me.
Anyways, it's been kind of sad having to say bye to some people, as one friend in particular is going to school somewhere else, and I won't get the chance to see her for another couple of months. Hahah, actually, because of how awkwardly I dealt with her farewell last day, I have dubbed myself the "King of Awkward" (I won't even delve into why I got that title. I'm sure those of you who know me can figure out that it's just in my nature to be awkward). That being said, I say to my friend (who I know reads this blog), I could have handled it a lot worse, couldn't I? Be thankful you even got a farewell!
Alright, if anything interesting happens, I will try and post while on my trip; otherwise, you won't hear from me for at least 2 weeks.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Not the kind of thing you want to hear from a girl
I went to lunch with some people today to meet up with one of my junior high school friends that I haven't seen in a while since she's been in Japan. Apparently, she was back in Edmonton as a surprise visit to her parents, so it was great catching up.
Anyways, after lunch was over and we headed out of the restaurant, she says, "Oh my god, Chris, I wish I had your legs!" I'm very puzzled at this, because I'm a very scrawny person, so did she mean that she wished that she had legs as feminine as mine? Great.
And then she adds, "or at least, the back of your legs. You have practically no hair on them!"
Sigh. And then she proceeds to point this out to her sister (and her other friends, because at this point everyone else is staring at my legs). I guess fair's fair, since I spent most of the lunch making fun of her.
Anyways, after lunch was over and we headed out of the restaurant, she says, "Oh my god, Chris, I wish I had your legs!" I'm very puzzled at this, because I'm a very scrawny person, so did she mean that she wished that she had legs as feminine as mine? Great.
And then she adds, "or at least, the back of your legs. You have practically no hair on them!"
Sigh. And then she proceeds to point this out to her sister (and her other friends, because at this point everyone else is staring at my legs). I guess fair's fair, since I spent most of the lunch making fun of her.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Gee as a Tree 2!
Week 2: Gee as a carnivorous plant
Okay, this isn't technically a tree, but I found a picture of a carniverous plant, Sarracenia purpurea (some sort of pitcher plant) that looked kind of cool. Since the website that I got this picture from states that the Sarracenia is a carnivorous plant, I thought it would be fitting if I looked like I was ready to eat something.
Okay, this isn't technically a tree, but I found a picture of a carniverous plant, Sarracenia purpurea (some sort of pitcher plant) that looked kind of cool. Since the website that I got this picture from states that the Sarracenia is a carnivorous plant, I thought it would be fitting if I looked like I was ready to eat something.
Okay, maybe it looks like I'm grimacing more than trying to eat.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
A new weekly feature on snappythegrouch.blogspot.com!
I have been told by some people (one person mainly) that my page needed some added 'pizzazz.' Some 'razzle dazzle'. Well, not quite in those words, but that was the gist of it. So it was suggested that in order to keep my reader(s) interested, I should update my blog more regularly. Maybe throw in a weekly feature. So after several intensive focus groups and listening to the people, I have decided to start a weekly feature called....
Gee as a Tree!!!
Okay, so perhaps there was no focus group. But this same friend who told me I needed to liven my page told me that I needed something else besides my stories of the ward. Maybe I could have a Tree of the Week feature. Now, because I figure that posting a Tree of the Week isn't going to intrigue that many people, I thought I'd add something to that suggestion.
So here I am brainstorming away, and then it hit me. I don't know if any of you ever visited Eric Conveys an Emotion, but that's some pretty funny stuff. My facial expressions are not nearly as funny as this guy's, nor do I have the time to create poses as great as his, but since this page is mostly for my own amusement, I figured I could photoshop my face (in a desired expression) onto pictures of unusual trees and show you guys what I would look like as a tree, hence "Gee as a Tree" (for anyone that doesn't already know, my last name is Gee).
If you have any suggestions of trees/expressions that I should make, feel free to comment, and I'll try and incorporate them into upcoming 'poses'.
Provided that I'm diligent, I'll post these every Friday, except for this week, since I'm away tomorrow, so I'll post today. Enjoy!
Week 1: Gee as a Bonsai Tree
I picked a bonsai tree this week because originally this was going to be a 'bonsai tree of the week' kind of thing, but then I felt this would limit me too much in selection.
Bonsai tree constructed from a Zinfandel grape vine. I'm at peace since bonsai tree cultivation is such a peaceful process!
Gee as a Tree!!!
Okay, so perhaps there was no focus group. But this same friend who told me I needed to liven my page told me that I needed something else besides my stories of the ward. Maybe I could have a Tree of the Week feature. Now, because I figure that posting a Tree of the Week isn't going to intrigue that many people, I thought I'd add something to that suggestion.
So here I am brainstorming away, and then it hit me. I don't know if any of you ever visited Eric Conveys an Emotion, but that's some pretty funny stuff. My facial expressions are not nearly as funny as this guy's, nor do I have the time to create poses as great as his, but since this page is mostly for my own amusement, I figured I could photoshop my face (in a desired expression) onto pictures of unusual trees and show you guys what I would look like as a tree, hence "Gee as a Tree" (for anyone that doesn't already know, my last name is Gee).
If you have any suggestions of trees/expressions that I should make, feel free to comment, and I'll try and incorporate them into upcoming 'poses'.
Provided that I'm diligent, I'll post these every Friday, except for this week, since I'm away tomorrow, so I'll post today. Enjoy!
Week 1: Gee as a Bonsai Tree
I picked a bonsai tree this week because originally this was going to be a 'bonsai tree of the week' kind of thing, but then I felt this would limit me too much in selection.
Bonsai tree constructed from a Zinfandel grape vine. I'm at peace since bonsai tree cultivation is such a peaceful process!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Why don't we ask the medical student?
At my current elective, they have rounds held by the residents every monday, where they present cases to the doctors to illustrate important clinical points, as a source of 'refresher'. One pattern that I've noticed is that at each of these talks, they always decide to ask the 'medical students'. Of course, since there's only one medical student in the clinics right now, guess who has to answer the questions? You guessed it...me!
Last week, I managed to wiggle my way out of the question by pretending to have not heard the resident until too late, but the other two times, the residents were kind enough to warn me in advance that they would pick on me. Not that it helped me too much. "Oh, by the way, you should know your dermatology", or "do you remember how to interpret ECGs?" Like I'm going to have time in the next 5 minutes to look up the relevant information to refresh my memory.
Both of these times, I've lucked out and pulled out decent responses, partly because my studying for the comprehensive exam seems to have paid off. But for the dermatology question, I was seriously pulling things out of my ass: "um, that lesion looks like it is macular in appearance, with regular borders, and oh yah, maybe it's erythematous too, with some blood vessels invading it!" :P
At least with the ECG question, the resident gave me a hint: there's something wrong with the QT interval. So it was pretty obvious (to anyone who's had some cardiology training) that this was going to be a prolonged QT interval case, which is then bad because it can lead to a heart arrhythmia known as a Torsades de Pointes. So other than a bit of difficulty calculating the heart rate (apparently my mental math goes down the drain when I'm under pressure!), it didn't go too bad.
So even though these weren't that bad, I'm here thinking, "sure, pick on the med student, will you? Pick on the guy with the least knowledge out of everybody!" I'm told the residents were being nice warning me in advance, but if they REALLY were nice, they'd let me enjoy my free food in peace.
(fyi, it really wasn't bad, but I just feel in a complaining sort of mood today, and I needed something to write about in my blog too)
Last week, I managed to wiggle my way out of the question by pretending to have not heard the resident until too late, but the other two times, the residents were kind enough to warn me in advance that they would pick on me. Not that it helped me too much. "Oh, by the way, you should know your dermatology", or "do you remember how to interpret ECGs?" Like I'm going to have time in the next 5 minutes to look up the relevant information to refresh my memory.
Both of these times, I've lucked out and pulled out decent responses, partly because my studying for the comprehensive exam seems to have paid off. But for the dermatology question, I was seriously pulling things out of my ass: "um, that lesion looks like it is macular in appearance, with regular borders, and oh yah, maybe it's erythematous too, with some blood vessels invading it!" :P
At least with the ECG question, the resident gave me a hint: there's something wrong with the QT interval. So it was pretty obvious (to anyone who's had some cardiology training) that this was going to be a prolonged QT interval case, which is then bad because it can lead to a heart arrhythmia known as a Torsades de Pointes. So other than a bit of difficulty calculating the heart rate (apparently my mental math goes down the drain when I'm under pressure!), it didn't go too bad.
So even though these weren't that bad, I'm here thinking, "sure, pick on the med student, will you? Pick on the guy with the least knowledge out of everybody!" I'm told the residents were being nice warning me in advance, but if they REALLY were nice, they'd let me enjoy my free food in peace.
(fyi, it really wasn't bad, but I just feel in a complaining sort of mood today, and I needed something to write about in my blog too)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Too much trust?
Did my first history and physical today without ANY supervision. I reported some findings to the doctor I was shadowing, and he seemed to believe me without checking them out himself. I either think that he trusts me too much (if I were in his situation, I wouldn't believe any findings a second year medical student reported!), or he felt that the patient was so well that my examination was irrelevant. I'm thinking (and hoping) it was the latter, since I was also given the responsibility of dictating the progress report. Not the best experience in the world, since I couldn't figure out how to re-record over mistakes that I made for the longest time, but at least I won't be completely incompetent when I have to do that when I'm on the wards!
Saturday, June 09, 2007
...it only took two weeks!
Yes, this post is a little late in the evening, but that's because I was about to go to bed, and then I saw my friend who's visiting Africa online, so while I'm chatting with her, I decided to write this up.
For the past two weeks, I've been doing an elective in Medical Genetics, which hasn't exactly been the most exciting experience. Not that it's been bad; I've seen a wide range of patients that I'll probably never see again (and apparently some interesting neurology cases, according to the Neuro resident who was there too). The problem, however, is that since they see mostly kids, I'm not allowed to do a lot of the examinations due to my lack of experience.
So these last couple of weeks, all I've been doing is observing mainly, and getting the occasional bone thrown to me. "Chris, you can measure that baby's head!" or "listen to the heart!" Finally, on the very last day of my elective, having even skipped the floor picnic, on the last patient for this elective, one of the preceptors that I was following let me do something more 'invasive'. That's right: not only did I get to listen to the baby's heart, but I felt his hepatosplenomegaly (enlarged liver and spleen)! It ONLY took two weeks, but I finally examined my first real patient. Let's hope I'll see much more during my upcoming elective. :P
For the past two weeks, I've been doing an elective in Medical Genetics, which hasn't exactly been the most exciting experience. Not that it's been bad; I've seen a wide range of patients that I'll probably never see again (and apparently some interesting neurology cases, according to the Neuro resident who was there too). The problem, however, is that since they see mostly kids, I'm not allowed to do a lot of the examinations due to my lack of experience.
So these last couple of weeks, all I've been doing is observing mainly, and getting the occasional bone thrown to me. "Chris, you can measure that baby's head!" or "listen to the heart!" Finally, on the very last day of my elective, having even skipped the floor picnic, on the last patient for this elective, one of the preceptors that I was following let me do something more 'invasive'. That's right: not only did I get to listen to the baby's heart, but I felt his hepatosplenomegaly (enlarged liver and spleen)! It ONLY took two weeks, but I finally examined my first real patient. Let's hope I'll see much more during my upcoming elective. :P
Sunday, May 13, 2007
I love Opus
I don't know if I'm really allowed to post comics on my blog, but this week's Opus really spoke to me (I got it from the washington post website):
You need to click on the image to view it properly.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Good help is so hard to find
My big comprehensive exam is coming up, so I decided that I should organize my notes a bit so that they would be easier to review; and while I was at it, I decided that I might as well get them bound because the university does it for a pretty reasonable price.
So, on Tuesday, I spent my whole day organizing my notes, making cover pages, etc, to make them look nice, and I brought them in to the print centre today to get tape bound (I prefer that over coiling). Now, because I've gotten notes bound before, I know approximately how thick they bind, but out of courtesy, I ask the girl at the desk anyways. Her immediate response is to take out one of the tape binds and point to it. Yes, very good, that's what I want, but HOW THICK? I had to repeat the question, and she still didn't know the answer. That should have been a sure sign for me to ask for someone else at that point.
I then showed her one of my sets of notes, to which she tells me that their machine can't do it, which I find hard to believe since I've gotten notes just as thick bound before (and in fact, she managed to bind another set of my notes that were just as thick, so go figure). However, I'm in a rush, so I tell her to just coil bind that set and to tape bind the rest.
When I return to pick up my notes, she's looking all guilty, so I think to myself, "my god, what has she done now?" It turns out she managed to bind one of my notes on the wrong side (think japanese manga format). Now, because it's tape binding, the bind is hard to peel off, so I'm pretty much stuck with this. She didn't charge me for her gaffe, but I'm just thinking...seriously, the tape binding machine is all automated. The only thing she has to do is make sure the stack of notes is correctly oriented. Couldn't she at least put some thought into that task?!?
I realize that the job market is tight, but I think for some jobs, employers should post "some brains required."
So, on Tuesday, I spent my whole day organizing my notes, making cover pages, etc, to make them look nice, and I brought them in to the print centre today to get tape bound (I prefer that over coiling). Now, because I've gotten notes bound before, I know approximately how thick they bind, but out of courtesy, I ask the girl at the desk anyways. Her immediate response is to take out one of the tape binds and point to it. Yes, very good, that's what I want, but HOW THICK? I had to repeat the question, and she still didn't know the answer. That should have been a sure sign for me to ask for someone else at that point.
I then showed her one of my sets of notes, to which she tells me that their machine can't do it, which I find hard to believe since I've gotten notes just as thick bound before (and in fact, she managed to bind another set of my notes that were just as thick, so go figure). However, I'm in a rush, so I tell her to just coil bind that set and to tape bind the rest.
When I return to pick up my notes, she's looking all guilty, so I think to myself, "my god, what has she done now?" It turns out she managed to bind one of my notes on the wrong side (think japanese manga format). Now, because it's tape binding, the bind is hard to peel off, so I'm pretty much stuck with this. She didn't charge me for her gaffe, but I'm just thinking...seriously, the tape binding machine is all automated. The only thing she has to do is make sure the stack of notes is correctly oriented. Couldn't she at least put some thought into that task?!?
I realize that the job market is tight, but I think for some jobs, employers should post "some brains required."
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Weirdest Mother's Day present yet
Went with my sister today to buy our mother a Mother's Day present. In the past, we used to guess what our mom wanted and would often end up returning the gift. Case and point: a few years ago, I bought my mom a cappuccino machine, and she promptly made me return it. So nowadays, my sister and I have decided that the best way to do this is to ask my mom what she wants, so that she can get something that she will actually use. Most mothers, they want jewellery or something fancy. My mother? She wants a rice cooker. To make things weirder, she doesn't want us to buy it at any of the 'regular' stores (ie. the Bay, Le Gnome, etc)...she wants us to buy it at T&T.
I have no problems with T&T. It's a great place to buy cheap food and bubble tea. But when it comes to purchasing items like rice cookers, that's a little more shady. First of all, the rice cookers they have on display are different from the one they're actually selling. Next, it doesn't help that neither my sister or I speak or understand Chinese. With no actual price tags on the rice cookers, for all we know, they could have been making up whatever price they felt like for one of these doo-dads. When the sales counter tried entering the bar code, it wouldn't register, and they gave us a generic receipt! Apparently, there's a 7 day return policy and one year warranty, but I swear the lady who told us that was just pulling that out of her ass.
Anyways, it was amazing to see what sort of 'technology' they have for rice cookers nowadays. A rice cooker is essentially a glorified pot in which you boil rice. Can you believe they have electronic cookers that sell for $250+? That rice better turn into gold at that price. Needless to say, my sister and I did not purchase one of those; I'm of the philosophy anyways that the more fancy the technology, the more likely it will break down, and the more costly it will be to fix. Just in case our mom wants a different rice cooker, though, my sister and I have decided to give it to her today so that she has time to exchange for a new one. For all I know, she may decide that it is high time that our family eats in luxury and opt for the behemoth of all rice cookers.
Oh yah, and apparently I'm not the only one who thinks this is a weird purchase. You cannot imagine the funny stares we got on the way back to my car. One girl seriously couldn't keep her eyes off the box.
I have no problems with T&T. It's a great place to buy cheap food and bubble tea. But when it comes to purchasing items like rice cookers, that's a little more shady. First of all, the rice cookers they have on display are different from the one they're actually selling. Next, it doesn't help that neither my sister or I speak or understand Chinese. With no actual price tags on the rice cookers, for all we know, they could have been making up whatever price they felt like for one of these doo-dads. When the sales counter tried entering the bar code, it wouldn't register, and they gave us a generic receipt! Apparently, there's a 7 day return policy and one year warranty, but I swear the lady who told us that was just pulling that out of her ass.
Anyways, it was amazing to see what sort of 'technology' they have for rice cookers nowadays. A rice cooker is essentially a glorified pot in which you boil rice. Can you believe they have electronic cookers that sell for $250+? That rice better turn into gold at that price. Needless to say, my sister and I did not purchase one of those; I'm of the philosophy anyways that the more fancy the technology, the more likely it will break down, and the more costly it will be to fix. Just in case our mom wants a different rice cooker, though, my sister and I have decided to give it to her today so that she has time to exchange for a new one. For all I know, she may decide that it is high time that our family eats in luxury and opt for the behemoth of all rice cookers.
Oh yah, and apparently I'm not the only one who thinks this is a weird purchase. You cannot imagine the funny stares we got on the way back to my car. One girl seriously couldn't keep her eyes off the box.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
substandard service (and other things)
I don't know how many of you listen to Sonic FM (an Edmonton station for those of you who don't live in this neck of the woods), but they occasionally have a segment titled their "Salute to Substandard Service", where listeners can call in to tell their stories about substandard service, which is becoming more prevalent as it becomes harder to find employees and companies have to settle for less-than-ideal workers.
Since my cousin's too timid to call in about this (she claims our story isn't "good enough" for retelling on the air waves), and I'm normally driving when this segment comes on, I shall recount our story of substandard service, which happened last week after we celebrated our final neurology exam (longest block ever!).
My classmates and I normally go out after an exam to celebrate its completion. It's become a tradition, although I notice that we find reasons to go out for the heck of getting away from school (take, for instance, our outings following anatomy reviews to 'celebrate' the fact that we finished torturing ourselves in the lab for the last time before the bellringer). So because this time it was J's turn to select a location, and he likes to pick fancy, we ended up going to a French restaurant downtown. A nice small place, with a reasonably priced menu.
No problems yet, right? Well, as soon as we sit down and start ordering, our waiter asks us "where are [we] from?" Bear in mind that all of us speak FLUENT ENGLISH, with NO FOB ACCENT, so the obvious answer is "Canada." That being said, I think the guy was trying to make small talk, so he can't really be faulted for this. It was just kind of a sign of things to come.
As with any other meal, we get our customary pre-meal bread. The slices were smaller than normal (1 piece = 1 bite), but it was good bread. Naturally, because we're students and hungry, the bread didn't last, so we asked for more, for which we were told only if there was any left in the back. Weird answer, but at least we got more bread. This is important a bit later.
The meal comes along - decent food, no complaints there. Someone's meal is missed; the server blames the chef (although I'm sure it was his fault), but still no biggie.
Then comes the end of the meal. Here's where our server shines.
First, one of my friends asks if she can get her meal packed away. Our server says sure, goes away (without taking her meal), and comes back with a box and a soggy bag. Turns out my friend can pack it herself and bag it away in a soggy Save-on-Foods bag. No offence to this guy, but if we wanted to pack our meals away ourselves, we would have bought cheap chinese food. My friend, who incidentally works in the service industry, was not pleased, to say the least.
Next, comes the bill. Our server has neglected to tell us two things. One, that our meal comes with a mandatory 15% tip; and two, that the extra bread cost extra money! With the former, it would have been nice to tell us this in advance just out of courtesy more than anything; and with the latter, excuse me? Since when was two loaves of bread worth $3.50? And since when did restaurants start charging for bread...I've been in fancier places that will "stretch their budget" so that we get our fill.
To make matters worse, the guy can't split our bills, because he claims the system can't do that (I'm thinking he's too technologically inept to do it). That's not a big deal, but then when it comes for us to pay our separate bills, he has the nerve to give one of us a calculator to make sure we don't underpay him. So, here's one of my friends, sitting with all of these receipts in his hand, calculating away to make sure that we've paid our bill. It was a funny sight, but at the same time, I'm thinking "You're making us pay a 15% tip without telling us in advance...shouldn't you work a LITTLE to earn this money?"
That brings us to the end of my substandard service story. My friend J swears to this place's food, so I'm hoping this was just an isolated incident. The server looks like he's been there for a while, so I hope he was just having a bad day.
Anyways, that was a few days ago by now. I just needed to get it out of my system. The last block approaches. I tell people that I like (learning about) cancer, so I'm hoping this will be my favourite section of this year. I'm not too stressed out yet about our comprehensive exam and final clinical skills exams, but it seems like some of my classmates are more than compensating for my lack of worry, so I'll let them take all of the stress.
Since my cousin's too timid to call in about this (she claims our story isn't "good enough" for retelling on the air waves), and I'm normally driving when this segment comes on, I shall recount our story of substandard service, which happened last week after we celebrated our final neurology exam (longest block ever!).
My classmates and I normally go out after an exam to celebrate its completion. It's become a tradition, although I notice that we find reasons to go out for the heck of getting away from school (take, for instance, our outings following anatomy reviews to 'celebrate' the fact that we finished torturing ourselves in the lab for the last time before the bellringer). So because this time it was J's turn to select a location, and he likes to pick fancy, we ended up going to a French restaurant downtown. A nice small place, with a reasonably priced menu.
No problems yet, right? Well, as soon as we sit down and start ordering, our waiter asks us "where are [we] from?" Bear in mind that all of us speak FLUENT ENGLISH, with NO FOB ACCENT, so the obvious answer is "Canada." That being said, I think the guy was trying to make small talk, so he can't really be faulted for this. It was just kind of a sign of things to come.
As with any other meal, we get our customary pre-meal bread. The slices were smaller than normal (1 piece = 1 bite), but it was good bread. Naturally, because we're students and hungry, the bread didn't last, so we asked for more, for which we were told only if there was any left in the back. Weird answer, but at least we got more bread. This is important a bit later.
The meal comes along - decent food, no complaints there. Someone's meal is missed; the server blames the chef (although I'm sure it was his fault), but still no biggie.
Then comes the end of the meal. Here's where our server shines.
First, one of my friends asks if she can get her meal packed away. Our server says sure, goes away (without taking her meal), and comes back with a box and a soggy bag. Turns out my friend can pack it herself and bag it away in a soggy Save-on-Foods bag. No offence to this guy, but if we wanted to pack our meals away ourselves, we would have bought cheap chinese food. My friend, who incidentally works in the service industry, was not pleased, to say the least.
Next, comes the bill. Our server has neglected to tell us two things. One, that our meal comes with a mandatory 15% tip; and two, that the extra bread cost extra money! With the former, it would have been nice to tell us this in advance just out of courtesy more than anything; and with the latter, excuse me? Since when was two loaves of bread worth $3.50? And since when did restaurants start charging for bread...I've been in fancier places that will "stretch their budget" so that we get our fill.
To make matters worse, the guy can't split our bills, because he claims the system can't do that (I'm thinking he's too technologically inept to do it). That's not a big deal, but then when it comes for us to pay our separate bills, he has the nerve to give one of us a calculator to make sure we don't underpay him. So, here's one of my friends, sitting with all of these receipts in his hand, calculating away to make sure that we've paid our bill. It was a funny sight, but at the same time, I'm thinking "You're making us pay a 15% tip without telling us in advance...shouldn't you work a LITTLE to earn this money?"
That brings us to the end of my substandard service story. My friend J swears to this place's food, so I'm hoping this was just an isolated incident. The server looks like he's been there for a while, so I hope he was just having a bad day.
Anyways, that was a few days ago by now. I just needed to get it out of my system. The last block approaches. I tell people that I like (learning about) cancer, so I'm hoping this will be my favourite section of this year. I'm not too stressed out yet about our comprehensive exam and final clinical skills exams, but it seems like some of my classmates are more than compensating for my lack of worry, so I'll let them take all of the stress.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Memorial Service
Now that Anatomy is finally done, I found that going to the memorial service held for the families by the faculty added nice closure to the whole ordeal. As much as I despised the course (particularly the smell), I can appreciate why we go through the process, and I don't think I would have learned a lot of the concepts that we learned this year without the anatomical understanding that came with the labs.
I have to say that I was impressed with today's service. The visual display was well done, the choir was in tune, and the speeches not too long. The only downside was the cellphones ringing at the beginning of the presentation. Who the heck answers a cell phone when it rings at one of these things? I can understand forgetting to turn it off, but to actually answer it to cause further disruption is just disrepectful.
I have to say that I was impressed with today's service. The visual display was well done, the choir was in tune, and the speeches not too long. The only downside was the cellphones ringing at the beginning of the presentation. Who the heck answers a cell phone when it rings at one of these things? I can understand forgetting to turn it off, but to actually answer it to cause further disruption is just disrepectful.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Presenting to you...Dr Gee!
Okay, not yet. But apparently, someone already thinks I am a resident.
I signed up for an elective this summer just to gain/hone/improve (pick one, although the first one is probably most accurate) my clinical skills. It's been a bit of a bureaucratic process; my initial email has been forwarded to a couple of different people, so as you can probably imagine, something could break down in the communication. And it did!
I got an email today from someone (who I've never been in communication with, even) needing to confirm my dates for my elective, because she needed to 'put me on the call schedule'. What threw me off guard was the first line "Hi Dr. Gee" followed by "I'm xx and I look after the evening resident on-call schedule here at xx." She then went on about how she needed my pager number, yada yada.
I replied rather quickly, emphasizing that I was only a second year medical student, and, oh, incidentally, I don't even have a pager yet. Can you imagine how detrimental it would have been if they had put me on their call schedule as a resident? Paging "Dr." Gee, code blue. Wtf, why are you wearing a student's clinical jacket? Oh dear.
I signed up for an elective this summer just to gain/hone/improve (pick one, although the first one is probably most accurate) my clinical skills. It's been a bit of a bureaucratic process; my initial email has been forwarded to a couple of different people, so as you can probably imagine, something could break down in the communication. And it did!
I got an email today from someone (who I've never been in communication with, even) needing to confirm my dates for my elective, because she needed to 'put me on the call schedule'. What threw me off guard was the first line "Hi Dr. Gee" followed by "I'm xx and I look after the evening resident on-call schedule here at xx." She then went on about how she needed my pager number, yada yada.
I replied rather quickly, emphasizing that I was only a second year medical student, and, oh, incidentally, I don't even have a pager yet. Can you imagine how detrimental it would have been if they had put me on their call schedule as a resident? Paging "Dr." Gee, code blue. Wtf, why are you wearing a student's clinical jacket? Oh dear.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Is this a sign of things ahead?
I know it's been forever, but even though you would think I would have something interesting to talk about, I don't really. I just have a quick story to relate about my medical training. My whole life involves being stuck in class nowadays, so unfortunately, you'll just have to bear with these stories until I get a real life.
I signed up for a clinical skills session today taught by family physicians. The sign-up process for this session was a little weird; because of limited space, it was based on a first-come, first-serve process. Which is actually quite a dumb way to do this, because it is much fairer to do something like this via random draw. Anyways, because I know how the email system works, I managed to submit a request at 12:30:00 (submissions were for 12:30) and secure a spot for the session.
So what's the big deal about this session, you may ask? Nothing really. In fact, if you know your clinical skills, this type of session would be quite a waste of time. But I have to admit that my skills are a little lacking, so I decided to attend to hone them a little. And because I did, I now know what I'm doing when I look into someone's ear or eye. Two skills down pat, only a couple of thousand left to master!
I signed up for a clinical skills session today taught by family physicians. The sign-up process for this session was a little weird; because of limited space, it was based on a first-come, first-serve process. Which is actually quite a dumb way to do this, because it is much fairer to do something like this via random draw. Anyways, because I know how the email system works, I managed to submit a request at 12:30:00 (submissions were for 12:30) and secure a spot for the session.
So what's the big deal about this session, you may ask? Nothing really. In fact, if you know your clinical skills, this type of session would be quite a waste of time. But I have to admit that my skills are a little lacking, so I decided to attend to hone them a little. And because I did, I now know what I'm doing when I look into someone's ear or eye. Two skills down pat, only a couple of thousand left to master!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
I seem to be so lucky...
I guess this is a few day's old now, but I've lost another cadaver in our dissections. As you may or may not recall, my group from last year had problems with our cadaver, because its head had grown mold. This year, with a new group, and a new body, things were looking up. We worked well together, and with the exception of her absent reproductive system, our cadaver had very nice organs to look at.
So what happened? Well, that's still up in the air, but I suspect she was not preserved properly. We always noticed that our cadaver was 'fresher' than everyone else's...she was a lot more moist than the others, and the muscles were quite red. We never knew why this was the case, but in hindsight, I think it was because the preservative hadn't seeped through the whole body and replaced the water content.
Anyways, before Christmas, there was some mold growing on her back, but it wasn't a big deal. With that sort of problem, you just normally cut it off, and the tech would just treat it so that the mold doesn't come back.
With our cadaver, however, I suspect that a combination of us not coming in over an extended time to 'moisten' the body with preservative, the fact that the whole back was opened up (thus exposing the inner, less preserved layers), and the initial infection, all led to ideal conditions for the mold to spread.
Our group, however, didn't realize this when we came back. We worked hard at studying the structures at the front of the body and were actually quite pleased with our progress, noticing that our cadaver was a little smellier than usual, but otherwise oblivious to what was happening. It wasn't until we flipped her over that we noticed that something was not wrong.
Now, if you looked at our cadaver and another group's, you wouldn't have seen a difference. The back looked as dry as everyone else's, and there weren't any obvious signs of mold. However, our group knew that ours was always a bit moister than the others. So that's how we noticed the 'film' covering all of her back. One of the instructors didn't even think anything was wrong until he touched the body himself and wiped off a layer of 'slime' from her back.
To make a long story short, the mold had pretty much invaded the entire back, and we were no longer allowed to work on our cadaver, with the fear that we would spread the infection to other bodies in the lab. All of our work this year is shot, and we'll probably have to join other groups to finish off the rest of the year. And just when I was starting to not mind anatomy lab as much anymore! I'm probably the only person in our class who has lost two cadavers to mold. :P
So what happened? Well, that's still up in the air, but I suspect she was not preserved properly. We always noticed that our cadaver was 'fresher' than everyone else's...she was a lot more moist than the others, and the muscles were quite red. We never knew why this was the case, but in hindsight, I think it was because the preservative hadn't seeped through the whole body and replaced the water content.
Anyways, before Christmas, there was some mold growing on her back, but it wasn't a big deal. With that sort of problem, you just normally cut it off, and the tech would just treat it so that the mold doesn't come back.
With our cadaver, however, I suspect that a combination of us not coming in over an extended time to 'moisten' the body with preservative, the fact that the whole back was opened up (thus exposing the inner, less preserved layers), and the initial infection, all led to ideal conditions for the mold to spread.
Our group, however, didn't realize this when we came back. We worked hard at studying the structures at the front of the body and were actually quite pleased with our progress, noticing that our cadaver was a little smellier than usual, but otherwise oblivious to what was happening. It wasn't until we flipped her over that we noticed that something was not wrong.
Now, if you looked at our cadaver and another group's, you wouldn't have seen a difference. The back looked as dry as everyone else's, and there weren't any obvious signs of mold. However, our group knew that ours was always a bit moister than the others. So that's how we noticed the 'film' covering all of her back. One of the instructors didn't even think anything was wrong until he touched the body himself and wiped off a layer of 'slime' from her back.
To make a long story short, the mold had pretty much invaded the entire back, and we were no longer allowed to work on our cadaver, with the fear that we would spread the infection to other bodies in the lab. All of our work this year is shot, and we'll probably have to join other groups to finish off the rest of the year. And just when I was starting to not mind anatomy lab as much anymore! I'm probably the only person in our class who has lost two cadavers to mold. :P
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)