Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Intern reflections

I'm lucky to have a good intern year so far.  A lot of the residents have been really supportive and great teachers.  I'm always tired and constantly feel weak and light headed but I do get to sneak some breaks in to get some water and a small bite.

It's weird coming home knowing there are people in septic shock in the ICU and you're getting into your own bed for the night when someone who doesn't know the patient as well as you covers.


I've seen a lot of bad medicine, too.  Mostly things just not diagnosed right the first time, or primary teams just going through the motion and leaving other people to fill in the gaps.

So far, things are alright, just really tiring.  Going to get some more rest before more ICU time
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7 comments:

  1. romantiaaaAugust 7, 2015 at 12:02 AM

    Hi there! Could you provide suggestions on how to maintain productivity in spite of the fatigue and lack of sleep which we all medical students struggle with? Thanks!!

    Btw, your posts are really useful :)

    Aranel

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  2. romantiaaaAugust 7, 2015 at 12:04 AM

    Hi there! Could you provide suggestions on how to maintain productivity in spite of the fatigue and lack of sleep we struggle with as medical students? Thanks!!

    Btw, I really appreciate your posts! :)

    Aranel

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Burnt Orange ScrubsAugust 25, 2015 at 9:15 PM

      Hi Aranel,

      It's pretty tiring being a med student and it doesn't get much easier as you progress. I'm too tired for things to stick by reading alone, really tired.

      Assuming you're on clinical rotations:

      What I'll do is mostly look up things during the day when I have time, like on uptodate or read articles and tie it into my assessment and plan in patient notes.

      I also just try to write out things from memory when I have a few minutes of downtime (doses, indications, eponyms, etc). I think that's a great way of quizzing yourself. As for med student-level knowledge, quiz yourself based on UWorld Step 2 knowledge q bank questions, or rotation specific books.

      Ask your attendings/residents/fellows things about patient management and why they're doing certain things in place of other ones (in a respectful way), and ask them to teach you things when they have spare time.

      it'll go a long way. let me know if you have any more questions

      Delete
  3. PositiveRealistAugust 9, 2015 at 10:16 PM

    Hi! I've been reading your posts for over a year and wanted to say thank you so much for sharing your inspiring thoughts and experiences.
    I've started MS1 last week and have been trying to adjust my studying skills. I have a general question for you-- To what extent should we read/take notes from textbooks? Older classes at my school say they hardly read them, but I find them quite useful since I can get the context behind each lecture. I know this is a broad question and would depend on individuals, but I would really appreciate if you could share your thoughts including what worked and didn't work. Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Burnt Orange ScrubsAugust 25, 2015 at 9:10 PM

      Hi Positive Realist,

      Sorry for the late reply, been swamped and tired. I think it's up to your curriculum and your exams. Are you doing NBME basic sciences exams or exams written by your professors?

      I actually read first aid for step 1 throughout first and second year along with whatever I was reading for exams at the time and found it really useful when I was studying for Step for real.

      My tests weren't NBME based so I studied the material/syllabi provided by my school for the exams, but I benefited a lot from BRS Physiology and First Aid for Step 1. I also read microbiology made ridiculously easy from time to time.

      I think adding any more textbooks on top of that might be overwhelming, but do what you can handle. Let me know if you have any other questions!

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  4. HirshAugust 13, 2015 at 9:08 AM

    Great post again! ICU rotation can be nerve-wrecking at first, but it is the most fruitful rotations. You'll walk out of your first ICU block feeling much more confident about the floors and the other rotations. Yes, you'll see a lot of bad medicine during residency but it's important to try to learn the good habits from your seniors and attendings, and to separate them from the bad. Good luck!

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  5. Burnt Orange ScrubsAugust 25, 2015 at 9:05 PM

    hi Hirsh,

    Thanks a lot for your readership and comments, I appreciate them. I feel like the ICU is causing me accelerated ageing lol. I am having a good time though, as tiring as it is.

    I do like how you have to manage so many things on the fly while thinking ahead of the game and anticipating what kind of impact titrations and repletions are going to have in very ill patients.

    i hope you're doing great yourself!

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