Excited for 2019!

Goodbye 2018!

 

Happy New Year!!!! Yes, I realize this post is a month and a half late, but better late than never, right? 2018 was such a crazy year, and if I only had one sentence to describe it, I would quote from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities and say "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times". I experienced the high of becoming a doctor and the low of not matching. The joys of international travel and the sadness of domestic travel away from everything and everyone I know and love. Boss status with presidential suites and selfies with senators to a more humble status complete with a small apartment and being a broke resident. From the carefree laid-back lifestyle of the second half of my final year of medical school to spending insanely long hours working my ass off as an intern resident physician. But despite the highs and lows, you know what? 2018 was an amazing ride! I learned so much about myself over the year, and every day I grew more in love with the woman I am becoming. If 2018 taught me nothing else, it taught me how to remain resilient in the face of uncertainty while staying true to myself, the importance of prioritizing self-care, and the value of a good support system. It was a year of transition, and I will forever be grateful for the lessons it taught me, but now I can happily say to 2018 (in my Ariana Grande voice): Thank you, Next!

32 and loving it!

As for 2019, this year is shaping up to be an amazing one! I started off the year with a vacation week that gave me the opportunity to ring in the new year with a bang, and spend time with my daughter and loved ones, while also getting in some much needed rest and relaxation. I also celebrated my 32nd birthday a couple of weeks ago with another week off spent in Atlanta. Even though my Saints got robbed, it was fun joining in on some of the Super Bowl activities, and it was even better getting away from the frigid cold in Philadelphia.

No more medical board licensing exams for me!

The best part of 2019 thus far was last week when I found out that I passed my final medical board licensing exam, otherwise known as COMLEX level 3. It's such a relief to have these exams behind me, and to know that I'll finally be able to apply for a full unrestricted medical license at the end of intern year. Before I entered medical school, my biggest worry was if I would be able to pass a board exam, and now I can boldly declare that all my MCAT struggles didn't mean a thing, because I passed all my exams, and even better, on the first try!

Right now, I am loving every minute of 2019, and eagerly looking forward to what the rest of the year will bring. I also anticipate that I will be sharing a lot of good news with everyone in the coming months, so I hope you all will stick along for the ride. Lastly, I plan on going back to my original intent with this blog, which includes having more guidance and inspirational posts, so please let me know if there is a topic you would like for me to address.

That's it for now. I'm currently in the middle of a 24hr call shift and on the tail end of a brutal call schedule (those vacation days don't come without consequence!). I just finished sign out a couple of hours ago, and then got hit with a couple of ER consults, but hopefully it won't be too crazy of an evening. I hope everyone reading this has had a wonderful week, and I wish you all an even better weekend!

Almost Halfway Finished with Intern Year!

Still smiling!

I thought I was going to put out a lot more content following my last post, but that clearly didn't happen. Honestly, it hasn't been from having a lack of time since I'm currently off service and have had more free time over the past month and a half than I have had since starting residency. I think I've mostly just been experiencing writer's block, which is super weird given that I've had a lot of new experiences that really wouldn't have been too hard to write about. Oh well, I'll use this post to catch everyone up, and then I'll type a couple of new posts today to let everyone know what's currently happening in my world.

Physician Swag!

When I ended my last post, I was just about to begin my emergency medicine rotation. My first day was a complete culture shock! My first shift didn't start until 930am, so coming from the surgery world of 3am wake ups, it was super odd being able to sleep in. The work load was also much less intense. A couple of weeks prior to starting, I was informed that the service would also include internal medicine call which would begin on my first day. What this meant, is when my ER shift ended at 530pm, I would grab the night pager and head upstairs to function as an internal medicine resident until 6am. My first night was not only super busy, but a complete 180 degree turn from surgery life. We were swamped with new admissions, and notes had to include a lot of information that you typically don't see in surgery. For example, if a patient came in with something simple like a fractured hip from a fall, we didn't just workup that one problem, but we focused on what seemed like every co-morbidity the patient had. Whether it was their blood pressure or an episode of asthma that last occurred years ago, we left no issue unaddressed. That first night was a huge adjustment from my typical focus-based notes, and it was even harder considering the first half of my day was spent functioning as an ER resident, and that I had not been on an internal medicine rotation since my third year of medical school. Nevertheless, I quickly learned to adapt after receiving a few calls and texts from attending physicians the next day when I was post-call, LOL.

Relaxation before work

What I will say that I found to be the most shocking about call on a different service was actually leaving at 6am. During my surgery months, call doesn't typically end until after morning rounds, so you can imagine my disbelief at doing sign out at 530am and being out the door by 6am. Even better, during my ER month I had multiple full 24 hour days where I wasn't scheduled to work. That's right, full days where I wasn't groggy from being post-call and could actually sleep in and still have an entire day of productivity mixed with relaxation. I even had shifts that started later during the day, so a few times I ended up sleeping in, waking up to explore the city for an hour or two, and then getting ready for work. It was really nice being out in the sun each day and doing simple things like walking to the park and watching the calming river.

Post-Boards Celebratory Drink

I guess the best thing about having an emergency medicine month, was the extra time I had to study. Last week, I took the final board licensing exam required for me to obtain a full unrestricted medical license (I'm currently under a training license), so I needed all the extra study time I could get. This exam (COMLEX Level 3) differed from the other ones I had to take in order to graduate from medical school because it was a two day exam that took place over 8 hours each day, and instead of only multiple-choice answers, it included fill-in-the blank responses and questions where you had to select multiple answers. It was definitely long and stressful, but since the two days aren't required back-to-back, I was able to sit for the first portion on Monday and have a couple of days to breath before taking the second portion on Thursday. I won't receive my score until February, but I am so glad to be over the board exam hurdle! Plus, whoever it was who decided to place a Prometric testing center in the same building as a whiskey bar is a true MVP, because a drink was very much needed after making it through 16 hours of testing in one week.

On-Call Selfie

Right now, I am in the middle of an internal medicine month, and it hasn't been too bad. The hours are pretty consistent, and there are a lot of daily lectures and other learning opportunities. Oddly, this month has shown me how much I really enjoy and miss surgery, so I am itching to be back on the general surgery service next month. I'm also learning that I don't do well with free time, and I seem to be happier and more productive when my schedule is busier (I'm weird, I know!). The good news is in a little over two weeks, I will finally get my first true break of the year since I will be off New Year's week, prior to going back to general surgery, and I can't wait!!!!

That pretty much sums up the past month and a half. I know I always say I'll be coming out with more posts shortly, and then get too busy to post, but this month will be different. Not only is my five-year blogiversary approaching (stay tuned for a sweet surprise!), but my writer's block has resolved and I have a lot to say right now. Plus, I'm currently in the middle of working a 24 hour call shift, but rounds are over and my patient list is tidy, which means I actually have time to type a few future posts right now :) Stay tuned and I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!

Update: Month Two of Intern Year

Happy Thursday! I can't believe I am nearing the end of my second month of intern year! The past two months have been somewhat of a blur, but I am continuing to learn a ton, and even with all the hard work of surgery life, there are a lot of fun times too.

I started off the second month of intern year at a completely different hospital where the general surgery service is run by one intern and two senior residents. The volume is a lot smaller than the location I worked at last month, but I was definitely thankful to have had a super busy first month where I saw and was able to do a lot with help the entire day. At this location, I am the only person covering the floor while the two senior residents and attending physician spend the day in the OR. This was super scary at first, but I am a lot more skilled and able to handle whatever is thrown at me more so than I was during my first month.

A few general surgery intern essentials

The only drawback to this month has been the travel. The hours are a bit better since I can turn off my pager by 6pm and be done for the day, but it's a lot different when I'm on call. During the days I am on call, I come to my main hospital and work a full day, but then I leave around 5pm in order to go to the hospital where I worked last month and I spend the night there handling the surgery patients while taking in new admits and consults. It's just myself and a senior resident at night, so things can get a bit busy sometimes. When the interns arrive in the morning, I head back to the hospital where I am working now and have to round on all my patients, type up the notes, and then I can finally be post-call. Last month, I knew all the patients going into the evening, so I could relax and maybe take a small nap, but now I spend more time making sure I learn my patients when I am on call. Every now and then I get lucky with a couple of hours of sleep though, so I really can't complain.

Next week, I'll be starting at a busy hospital and trauma center where I will spend the next two months continuing general surgery with trauma on my call nights. Although my program has multiple hospitals, I kind of enjoy switching it up every now and then, and I'm looking forward to some new experiences. Plus, I have yet to place a chest tube, so I'm hoping I will meet my program's requirement of five within the next couple of months.

Golden weekends involve having fun and wearing sparkly dresses

As for maintaining work-life balance, I still take full advantage of being post-call and the rare days off. I haven't been on call as much this month as I was previously, but I was blessed to have a golden weekend last weekend, and I will have another this weekend. This past weekend, I enjoyed a night out clubbing where I danced and got super sweaty, hung out with some of my GA-PCOM family, was treated to an awesome meal at a great restaurant by my roommate and his girlfriend (can you believe I've lived here two months and never had a chance to really talk to the person I live with?!?!), and I even went to the movies and saw Crazy Rich Asians. It was an amazing and very much needed break, and I am so very thankful that this upcoming weekend will also be another golden weekend!

That pretty much sums up the past month. Although the change isn't drastic, I'm starting to realize that as each day passes, I am growing as a physician, and I really am enjoying the surgery life and all that comes with it. I'll make sure to keep everyone updated as I find time, but I appreciate all who continue to follow along with me on this crazy journey. As a thank you to all my wonderful readers, I'll be hosting a giveaway in my next post, so stay tuned!!!!