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On the Wards – Pediatrics

August 13, 2007 by Leave a Comment

At Orientation I learned that I had been assigned to Pediatrics for my first two weeks before classes begin. Not quite sure what to expect, I followed the directions and found myself sitting in a conference room Monday morning with the rest of the Freshman who had been assigned to Pediatrics.

The group in the conference room also included third and fourth years who were on their Pediatrics rotations. After an orientation to how things were done in the Children’s Hospital, the Attending Physician took sent us off to find the teams we were assigned to. Some first years went to the cardiology consult team, others to the GI team, some to the NICU and others to the PICU.

I, along with one other first year, headed to the Pediatric Teaching Office (PTO). The PTO is located across the street from the Children’s Hospital.

I quickly found out that the PTO is a very relaxing place to rotate through. Over my one week there, most of my time was spent sitting in the office along with the residents.

When the residents did go in to visit patients I was able to go in with them and watch, hand out lolipops, smile, and ask the parents some questions regarding the development of their child. The residents/attendings were really nice about letting me listen to some sounds with my stethoscope. One of the interesting things I had a chance to listen to was a heart murmur that indicated that the patient had a ventricular septal defect.

In between patients, there was not much to do. I did not bring a textbook to study. I would have found it interesting to talk to the 3rd year medical students or even the residents and attendings. But I didn’t want to get in their way. Those not seeing patients were busy looking up things on the internet, reading an article, telling jokes, discussing wedding plans, and describing the latest exciting cases going on across the street in the main hospital.

As a first year it was at times very overwhelming because I had no idea what the acronyms and jargon meant. I couldn’t chime in on the discussions of exotic childhood diseases or advise on the appropriate vaccination for a 6 month old coming in for a “well child check-up.” I did, however, appreciate being able to watch a number of different doctor interacting with their patients. It is interesting to note the different styles — some bad, but mostly good. Those little things will definitely be something to pay attention to as I cultivate my own style in dealing and interacting with patients.

Part of me feels like I just want to get through these first two weeks of “Clinical Experience” and start lectures. At least I will have something to do. And I will know what to do — study. But I realize that once lectures start I will miss the PTO.

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Ooops

January 26, 2007 by Leave a Comment

Well here’s the update: I am no longer attending classes. Why not? Have I decided that I can learn better on my own than by listening to a lecture? Nope. Do I hate the teachers and profs? Nope. Do I have trouble getting along with the person sitting next to me in class? Nope. I am no longer attending classes because I have requested a leave of absence.

Last quarter was a challenge. I never got my “head into the game.” I could not get focused and struggled with motivating myself to study. It just was not working out. And so, two days ago I turned in my signed request for a leave of absence until this coming August when I will be joining the new incoming class.

I think it’ll work out fine. I now know what needs to be done. Well, I guess I now know how not to study.

In the meantime, I’m considering brushing up on some espanol to keep me occupied. It will give me an opportunity to re-energize and recharge for August.

Filed Under: Medical School, My Life
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T-Minus 2 Weeks and Counting

November 27, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Alright, well it has been over a month since I last wrote in. It was really good to have the 3 days off for Thanksgiving break. Although after the break, I was not ready to go back to school. Now I’m just looking forward to Christmas break.

But to get to Christmas Break, I have to get through another test week. Stress levels are up now. During our last set of exams, the class didn’t do so well on the Physical Diagnosis (Cardiac) exam. We need a 68% to pass the class. Class average for the exam was 66%. Yeah, there weren’t very many happy people after that week.

Fortunately, the professors decided that its more important for us the learn the material. They said that they will take all the questions from the first test and put about 5 in each of our tests from now until the end of the year. At years’ end, we will be able to replace the score from our first test by adding up the points from the cardiac questions that were scattered throughout the year.

Since the last set of exams we have also started Auscultation Lab. Its pretty cool. We sit in this amphitheater and each student is given a pair of “stethophones.” The top part is just like a stethoscope but there is not diaphram attached to it. Instead, there is a box that holds the battery, volume control, and IR receiver. The instructor then can play any heart sounds they want and we all hear the same thing. Next quarter we get to use the simulation lab with the dummy where we can listen to all the heart sounds, measure JVP, BP, and other vitals. Oh what fun $250,000 can buy you these days.

Filed Under: Medical School, My Life
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Pine Springs Ranch Retreat

October 1, 2006 by 1 Comment

This past weekend we just had our Pine Springs Ranch Retreat. Every year, Loma Linda University School of Medicine invites all their students on a weekend retreat to Pine Springs Ranch. The Pine Springs Ranch tradition began in the 1970s and in the 1990s an endowment fund was created with the hopes of ensuring that future retreats would have the necessary funds. The event is free of charge to the students and a guest if they decide to bring one.

All of the first year guys were assigned to cabins. All married couples as well as the rest of the students got to stay in the lodge.

The retreat began on Friday and concluded on Sunday. However, most students left Saturday night after the ever-popular talent show featuring the medical students.

I think the weekend was a great experience. It was nice to get to know more of our classmates in a setting other than the classroom or anatomy lab. It was also a chance to meet the other classes and talk to them as well.

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Test Week

September 25, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Last week was test week for the Freshman class here at Loma Linda University. On Monday we had Gross Anatomy; Tuesday we had Cell Structure & Function; Wednesday was Medical Biochemistry and Medical Physiology; Thursday was Neuroscience and Evidence Based Medicine. And Thursday afternoon we had our Anatomy Lab Practicum as well as our Histology Lab practicum.

All of the exams, except for the two lab practicums were scantron exams. It was nice because we got most of the results emailed to us within two days.

So how’d I do? Well let’s just say that I learned a great deal about what not to do when preparing for exams. From the time we got to campus, people were congratulating us for making into medical school and then telling us not to stress out too much. The problem with me was tha I was not stressing out enough! They also told us that we could not study like we did in undergrad. I should’ve listened.

At this point, all I can do is learn from my mistakes and make sure to avoid them for the next round of exams that are coming up in about 4 weeks. I’ve re-organized my day so that it will hopefully aid in more efficient study. Hopefully that will be enough.

Filed Under: Medical School, My Life
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Fuzzy Lines

September 4, 2006 by Leave a Comment

The school year “began” on August 7. The first two weeks, however, were not spent in the lecture hall. Instead, we had two weeks of wards experience. Most people were assigned to a third or fourth year student and we followed them on their two-week rotation.

I was assigned to a fourth year student who happened to be doing a rotation through MICU/CCU. During the first week, our attending was a cardiologist and so the majority of our patients were on the CCU service; although there were times when we did venture out of the CCU.

On one of the mornings I came in and sat as the fourth year student I was assigned to wrote his notes. We were sitting at the nurses’ station in the CCU. A nurse came and stood beside me. She looked like she was getting something at the printer. But then, another nurse called her for help and off she ran to a patient’s room. Then the blue light above the doorway of that room began flashing and an alarm went off.

Chaos ensued. Nurses, medical students, and residents ran to do the room. I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I follow? Should I stand at the nurses’ station? Could I go watch? I ended standing near the doorway so as to peer in at what was unfolding.

The team grabbed the crash cart. Someone got the defibrilator ready. A loud voice yelled, “Clear!”

Nothing happened. They tried again. Still, nothing happened. They yelled for another machine. Someone rushed one over from down the hallway…

A couple other first-year students gathered with me outside the room. Someone yelled to page surgery because the patient was a surgery patient. Soon a surgical resident arrived and asked us (the first year students) who the resident was inside. He just looked inside and started working on his pager…

As we stood outside watching we saw a medical student (3rd or 4th year) get on the bed and begin chest compressions. He would trade off with another person every few minutes. I am not too sure what happened about using the defibrilator….

A nurse walks into the room and tells the team that the family has asked that they stop. The patient was coding for over 15 minutes. I heard the resident call the time of death…

I had always thought of the line between life and death as a solid line. One was either dead or alive, right (and please don’t bring up Schrödinger’s cat)? There is no in between. But for over a quarter of an hour, I watched as a patient lay on a bed with no change in condition. There was no breathing throughout that time, nor was there a heartbeat. But only when they declared the time of death was the patient “dead.” If you ask me, that’s a pretty fuzzy line…

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White Coat Ceremony

August 10, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Loma Linda University held a White Coat Ceremony for the incoming class of 2010 on Thursday evening (after our first day of orientation). Prior to this ceremony I had heard many opinions that the White Coat ceremony was just a big waste of time. After all, the faculty members just help the students to put on a short white coat. These same people conceded that the ceremony was more for the families, spouses, and significant others than for the medical student.

Is it worthless? Well the opposing viewpoint is that the White Coat ceremony symbolizes transition from layperson to physician. It marks the beginning of one’s journey into the profession of medicine.

In the morning, during orientation, the Dean of the School of Medicine (Dr. Hadley) spoke to us about the significance of the white coat. He spoke on the responsibilities of a doctor – responsibilities and obligations that continue to exist outside the walls of a hospital and in the absence of any white coats. That evening Dr. _____, famous for the first infant transplant surgery, spoke to us about being a doctor.

So maybe it was useless. Maybe it was worthless. The white coat ceremony was probably of little use to the students, as far as our medical education goes. But we were warmly “welcomed into the profession.” Maybe it was our first baby steps as we received our new white coats and stethoscopes, and recited the Physician’s Oath.

Filed Under: Medical School, My Life