It’s done

Can’t believe its over. 

6 years of school. Thats 4 of an undergraduate degree, and 2 in a professional program. Working through each and every summer. Blood, sweat and tears into exams, assignments, labs. Then my last and final year doing clinical placements throughout different areas of the hospital.

Some memorable moments

• The Australian medical resident who looked like Dr. House
• Icecream everyday at 4 pm for 2 weeks with a certain preceptor in internal medicine
• Being called “Anna” or Dr Anna, on every rotation despite introducing myself as “Anne, the PA Student”
• Being able to be first assist in every orthopedic surgery I attended
• Being mistaken for a medical student, or resident
• Overnight call at a hospital while I was doing my surgery rotation, and SM stayed with me at the hospital all night, even brought pho to the hospital, when I was hungry!
• Free sushi at a big city academic hospital for rounds!
• Being told I had the qualities and potential to become a physician by many of my preceptors
• Getting to know the patients and their families
• Being able to take the time to provide quality care, and receiving appreciation from patients
• Discovering things I never realized about myself:
• Emotionally and physically, I am a lot stronger than I thought I would be
• That I probably can’t do shift work
• I love team work (I’m usually shy)
• When receiving didactic-type lecturesthat the rotation I dreaded the most (internal medicine) ended up being the rotation I loved most!
• I’ve finally grown up.

After everything, I made it. Sorry if I sound cheesy, I’m simply overwhelmed. Glad to be done

My last week in orthopedics

One of the reasons why I chose this rotation was how drawn I was to Emergency Medicine. I felt it would strengthen my knowledge base and skills to increase my chances of employment in that area. I also had the opportunity to see a graduated PA working with a doc. My previous experience with a general rotation was, well, miserable, excruciating, and competitive. The team  I was put on previously had TWO residents, TWO fellows, and THREE medical students per physician. So, we got to do nothing in the OR, very little teaching time, and most of the time left to our own devices without very much guidance or mentorship. We rarely if ever got to scrub in.

This rotation, for orthopedics, I scrubbed in and assisted in every single surgery. I saw 20-30 patients at every clinic, with a review and feedback with the physician after EACH case I had seen. I worked on a weekly basis on my goals which my preceptor helped me set and achieve, and I received constructive feedback. By far the most structured learning environment and rewarding rotation (my second last one too!) I’ve had so far. Good teachers are hard to come by.

Upon conclusion of finishing my last week in orthopedic surgery, I feel like I’ve learned a tremendous amount. I love how fast-paced the environment was, the variety of work you get to do – whether it is clinic, the OR watching the surgeon performing cutting-edge techniques, teaching sessions and research – and this was something I didn’t anticipate going into the clinic, just how much I could learn. It was originally a placement I did because I wanted to supplement my knowledge in the context of Family Medicine and ER, but it seems I’ve broadened my horizons a bit and am now considering a possibility of a career in Orthopedics (of course this depends on job opportunities upon graduation).

I definitely got used to seeing a lot of “carpentry” tools in the OR. Things I used to see my dad take out of his tool box in his garage. Surgeon to scrub nurse:  ”Mallet, Spectrum, Screw, Anchors, Drill!”  The surgeries were quick too, 1.5 – 2 hours for most routine procedures. I enjoyed and got the hang of retracting, local, staples, stitching. It was a great experience!

The residents and staff were amazing to work with. It’s fantastic being able to work in a high-efficiency, high-yield environment – and this structural organization, attitude and leadership of all members of the team is something I want to take with me.  I knew that I enjoyed this rotation, simply because I just loved coming to the hospital/clinic everyday.

Last rotation is coming up next week before graduation. Can’t believe its so soon!

Almost there

It’s terrible that almost all of my past entries have been about school, but I’ve been so entrenched in my placements and studying that I’ve barely had time for my life outside of school.

SM enlightened me to the fact that I was only 2 months away from finishing, then 7 weeks, then now… it’s hard to believe I am only 6 weeks away from finishing my program, and possibly university – forever!!

That moment, seemed so far away a mere few weeks ago. I’ve started preparing my resume, my cover letters, gathering my references, and preparing what may be a permanent move back away from my university town and back to my home city.

I’ve had a long list of things I wanted to do once I finished.  Pay off my student loans first and foremost, move out, get my own place…

This seems strange, I’ve been used to being a student for so long, the idea of not having classes in the fall, purchasing binders, pens, organizing a class schedule. Life will definitely be different, but I have to say the thought of no more midterms or exams is exciting.

Lost and found

So I purchased a roots “flat” handbag for my internal medicine rotation. Opting in to sport a bag rather than a white coat with all of its pockets. I am able to fit a few pocket handbooks, as well as having something to hook my pager onto.

Well, I realized since the start of this morning that I had no idea where my handbag was. I knew it had to be somewhere in my house. I searched every conceivable place, even calling up SM to see if it was there with him.

As I became frantic, I realized my bag has my pager. So I called the hospital’s paging system, and explained that I lost my pager and required just a few “pings”.

I heard it, and to my relief I heard it somewhere in the house (that pager is LOUD). I ran upstairs to my mom’s room, called the hospital again to ping my pager and they did. I discovered it hidden behind a towel hanging behind the door. How embarassing T_T My mom started lecturing me and my dad came in laughing, since he witnessed my relentless search and then my victorious find almost an hour later.

My aunt then said to me, “Some things never change…” in reference to all the things I used to lose when I was little (my sweater, my lunch bag, my gloves, my socks, my toys, the list goes on). I guess I’m just more clever at finding it (versus the lost and found at daycare for the things I lost when I was little) – really is just a matter of time.