Demand

Back by popular demand.... My blog link to the world! It has been twenty-something days. Ridiculous. This real residency thing is for the birds. It's like you have to go to work EVERY weekday. Fifty hour weeks.

Call hasn't even started. The lower levels (my mates and I) start Monday. I'm the 6th of 6 this time and start call Saturday. A week from today.

So I've had two mini-rotations (four left to go). Ultrasound was first and I don't remember anything about it. What a blur! Then "reading room," which is essentially all the plain films (Xrays) from the ER, family clinic, and entire hospital. This was a huge volume of work, and the days flew by. I'm no longer afraid to sit down and dictate a stack of chest films and elbows. And whatever other body part might come my way. I load them on the computer, glance at them, take notes, and then review with an attending. He/she produces a litany of what I should say, and we blow through a stack quickly. I scribble intently! Then I sit there with a Dictaphone and whisper quickly. At this point, I'm trying to add some of my own comments that are in line with the attending but not just a regurgitation. I'm trying to develop my own style and vocabulary. Maybe a little ambitious for the mini-rotation, but I've got to learn this stuff and be a radiologist someday. I hope that I quit whispering as I gain confidence! The final step is that I have to review the dictations on the computer and correct my and the transcriptionist's mistake. One attending has already e-mailed me some suggestions about my dictations, so that will help.

NOthing in med school prepares you for reading and dictating radiologic studies. That's just how it works. So it's okay not to know anything. It's a steep learning curve.

I'm starting to enjoy it. We now have 7am and 1pm lectures - soon we'll have 4pm physics. These conferences are for the most part really good, and it's a chance for me to remember why I liked this stuff in the first place. It's a really intellectual field. Every study is a challenge. I love it.

I took a week off of running, but usually I'm getting up at 5:14 (5AM with two snoozes - alarm clock located in my closet) and running 3.3 miles three times a week. This has helped my sanity for sure. The week off was nice, too. Extra snuggle time.

Dory has discovered my pillow. Most mornings, she has worked her way up to the bed from floor and from foot of bed to right next to me. I'm now in the middle. It's wonderful.

Last weekend we went to St. Louis for a Cards game in the heat in the bleachers in the sun. They lost to the Cubs in the bottom of the ninth. Two men on base, down by one run, one out, and Pujols at the plate. The stars were aligned. But he drove out to short, and they caught the guy at second off his bag. Hit the showers, game over, fat lady.

We've also been trying to go to the lake most weekends. I think we'll go tomorrow afternoon.

I'm still reading Harry Potter VI.

Glancing at my calendar, we've had the following events lately: end of softball season with a WIN, my first time to work the PowerPoint/projector at church, Erica's B-day, baby shower for Sharon Strong (high school buddy), radiology pool party, fight night party, St. Louis, Mom's B-day, and party with the ball team.

I'll upload some pics. There are some new folders - St. Louis and Softball - on my Yahoo! photos.