Pediatric Infectious Disease is Finished, Surgery Elective Begins

I am sad to say that my Pediatric Infectious Disease rotation is completed.  I am really sad to be done with it because I loved it so much.  I got to see some interesting infectious diseases in New York City.  I saw things that I had previously only read about and didn't anticipate seeing unless I went on a medical mission.  I loved working with the children, residents and the attending physicians during my rotation and I am excited to return to this hospital in April to complete my Pediatric Pulmonary rotation.

On Saturday, Farley and I went to downtown New York to find my next hospital.  I am not as excited to do my surgery elective, as I didn't enjoy my surgery core rotation as much as I enjoyed my other core rotations.  However, I anticipate that I will enjoy this rotation.  Elective rotations are usually a bit more laid back than the core rotations and it is only 4.6 weeks (the core is 12 weeks) so even if I don't love it, it will be over quickly and I'll be back to pediatrics.  I am nervous to start tomorrow because it is a new hospital (to me).  I hope that I learned enough in my core rotation and that I am up to the standards that they expect for an elective student.

Weather

The weather around New York has been rather bipolar lately.  It was 60 degrees on the 18th then on the 21st, it was snowing.  I took this picture from my bedroom window on the 21st. when I had the day off for President's Day.  As I type this one week later, all of the snow has melted and it is back into the mid 50s, but I hear it is going to start snowing again.  I hope that March really is in like a lion and out like a lamb.  I am ready for spring!

Valentines Day

I am posting this a little late, but Farley and I went out for a great dinner for Valentine's Day. We decided to go out for restaurant week. We made reservations at a steak house in the theater district for the 17th--A.J. Maxwell's. We got all dressed up (but I forgot to take pictures!). We had a super great dinner. I had salad, ravioli with beef and chocolate lava cake. I also had a red wine, and it was a grape that I had never heard of and I can't remember the name of it now! It was a great glass of wine. Overall, my favorite part of the meal was the chocolate lava cake. Farley had the beef barley soup, a steak and the cheesecake--his meal was wonderful too!!

It was fun to go to an expensive New York Steak House, but honestly, this place starts at $50.00 per plate (when you are not getting the NYC Restaurant Week prices). I think the food at Clinkerdagger in Spokane is better. Also, I went to Smith and Wollensky in Miami Beach for a talk on Meningococcal vaccinations during my internal medicine rotation and the food there was much better than A.J. Maxwell's. There is a Smith and Wollensky in New York too, but I didn't think to check and see if they participated in restaurant week (I doubt it). I went to another supposedly amazing steak place in Miami Beach, The Forge. Like A.J. Maxwell's, I thought The Forge was good and the location, atmosphere and service was superb, but I just didn't think it was worth the price (unlike Smith and Wollensky or Clinkerdagger).

Nonetheless, Farley and I had an amazing time. It was really fun to get dressed up and go to this fancy dancy restaurant. I did find it interesting that Farley and I were better dressed than many of the rich people in the restaurant. I guess it was an exciting night out for us and for them it was just like any other day going out to dinner.

"Hi Doctor!"

I was walking down the hall last week.  A cute little girl was sitting outside of a pediatrician's office in the hospital's doctor's building.  She saw me walking down the hall and loudly said "Hello Doctor!"  At first I wasn't sure who she was talking to, but since I was the only person around and in a white coat, I assumed she was talking to me (and I didn't think it was worth correcting her).  I said hello and told her that I loved her bright pink hat.  She got a huge smile on her face and said "I LOVE your hair!"

Why everyone doesn't want to do pediatrics is besides me. Those children are so cute and fun to be around and besides, they have much more interesting pathology than adults.  I'll take pediatrics any day!

"I want to be a Dad when I grow up!"

I saw a family before they left for a trip to visit family out of the country. The oldest child told me that he wanted to be a doctor. I guess I was giving the oldest the most attention for a while because one of his little brothers wanted to steal the spotlight and declared loudly, "I know what I want to be when I grow up: a DAD! Dads get to eat Pizza Hut whenever they want. They can play baseball and then eat more Pizza Hut. I am going to be a Dad when I grow up!" The youngest brother added, "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up 'cause I am still little, but I want to see the peacock that lives in my uncle's backyard when we go visit him."

Pediatric Infectious Update

I have been having so much fun in my pediatric infectious disease rotation.  I think New York City is probably one of the best places in the country to study infectious disease because there are so many travelers and immigrants.  In just the last couple weeks, there have been three cases of cholera in New York City.  Here is an article in the New York Times about it.  I have seen diseases that before I've only read about in books.  I am following a few patients that may have infections that are rare in the United States, such as malaria.  Even if these patients don't have the rare diseases, I am able to see the patient, see why the doctors suspect the rare diseases, and then read on the disease.  I think it is really helping me to remember the diseases and treatments better.  I am learning so much from this rotation that I wish it was longer than a month!

I really do love working with children.  I think I am making the right decision going into pediatrics.  The only rotation, so far, that I didn't really enjoy was my surgery rotation.  I don't mind surgery, but surgery is something you must love with every fiber of your being to go into it.  The hours are too long and the environment is too rough--it just wasn't for me.  Of my core rotations, I enjoyed my OB/GYN the most.  I think I would make a great OB/GYN, but I have always loved pediatrics.  I think I am going to try to do an elective in OB/GYN to make sure I don't have second thoughts later in life about not pursuing it.  Who knows, maybe I will apply to a couple OB/GYN residency programs as well as pediatric residency programs. But at this point, I think I belong in pediatrics with a special place in my heart for OB/GYN.

USMLE Step 2 CS and 2 CK

I applied to take my next two board exams.  I received the email today saying I was approved and allowing me to schedule the exams.  I hate taking exams and I already have a plan in place to study, but it is rather hard to believe that after these exams, I will have to finish about 18 weeks of rotations before completing my doctorate.  Keep me in your prayers--I need all the help studying for these exams as I can get!!

Pediatric Infectious Disease

I was excited and nervous to start my Pediatric Infectious Disease elective. I was excited because I think infectious disease is interesting, but I was nervous because infectious disease is a big topic with a lot of information and I wasn't sure how much I would remember. The attending physician I am assigned to is wonderful! He really seems to like teaching. On Monday, he asked what I want to go into and then he talked about what I was interested in infectious disease. He gave me an hour and a half lecture on HIV/AIDS in children! It was amazing!! I learned so much. There are differences in how the disease presents and progresses in children as well as the classification of the infection. When I got home Monday night, I read about HIV/AIDS, but it was just a review because he covered everything I read. I am the only student assigned to him, so this is going to be a great month of learning for me.

There is one resident doing an infectious disease rotation. She is sweet, kind, funny and also a great teacher. I have enjoyed working under her as she is willing to let me do some things on my own, but is extremely helpful and answers questions. She is only doing infectious disease for the next two weeks, so I will probably be working with another resident the last two weeks of the rotation. I hope the next resident is as much fun and teaches as much as my current.

I am really lucky to be working with both this attending and this resident. I was disappointed with my core rotation in pediatrics--there were just so many students. However, in just a couple of days, I was reminded why I have always wanted to be a pediatrician: I love working with babies,children and adolescents, I want to help save their lives and I think that the diseases that primarily affect them are fascinating.

Spokane--Week 2

My second week in Spokane went just as fast as the first. I met a friend for dinner on Saturday. Went to Mass with my family and saw old friends from grade school on Sunday before meeting up with some of my extended family for lunch and shopping. After that we headed to my Aunt's house for pie. Monday, we kept busy running errands around Spokane--buying makeup, nail polish and doing girly things. For dinner Mom and I had a girls night with a family friend and her daughters at Catacombs--Yummy! Tuesday, Mom had to work so Dad and I had the day to ourselves. We ran more errands, I met the people at his work, I visited the doctors I worked for before college (which was wonderful!) and we had lunch at The Elk. It was so much fun to have a dad-daughter day. I also played pool with him--a game he loves. I talk big but I really can't play well at all! We met up with Mom for dinner at Clinkerdagger. I has turned into a tradition to have our last meal before I leave town at Clinkerdagger; however, Dad had to work late on Friday so we had to do dinner earlier in the week (The above picture was taken after dinner in the Clinkerdagger entrance). Wednesday, I went down to Gonzaga University to see my friend who is in the Jesuits and we had lunch. I could only stay on campus for a short amount of time because I had to rush home to meet up with Mom in the afternoon. In the evening, I went to see my friend Kelly, her husband and her little girl. We had a wonderful dinner! Thursday was a highlight of the second week. I worked out in the morning--so hard that I it hurt to walk for days. Next, we went to the Davenport's Spa Paradiso . Mom and I both had gift certificates. She chose to have a pedicure and I had a deep tissue massage. It was so much fun and so relaxing--I didn't want it to end. After our spa day, we had lunch at the Pita Pit . We decided to do a little sale shopping and I was able to pick up some great professional clothes at great prices. I don't think I've really updated my work wardrobe since I was working, so I was happy to get some new things. Friday, we had my great-aunt Bernice over for lunch and I had to pack to return to New York. I hate the last night at home. I never sleep well and I hate being at the airport because I cry so much. I miss my family so much when I am away but at least once I am back in school I am, for the most part, too busy to be sad all of the time. When I leave home, however, it is a different story. Farley says that watching my family say goodbye is something to see--we all cry and cry and cry. I think it just shows how much we love each other!

At the airport, I ran into an old work collage. It was so much fun to talk to her again. Her son and son-in-law are doctors so she has had to say many similar goodbyes and understood why we were so sad. We were on the same flight to Minneapolis, but the flight was full and we could not change seats to sit next to each other. We did walk around the airport and window shop (the Minneapolis airport has a mall) before my flight left for New York. Once I arrived in New York, I had to wait about an hour before Farley arrived. It was so nice to have someone to meet up with at the airport. I always find it so strange how I can start one day at home and end up on the other side of the continent before sundown.