Today was about learning how to use the clinic EMR and how to communicate patients with it such as email. There was a lot of just listening to people talking about the program. And after a few hours I just zoned out. I am so glad today is over.
btw, it FINALLY rained this evening. It's been a drought for over a month. Most of my flowers in the flower bed died. It's been so bad that there was a burn ban and certain fireworks weren't allowed to be sold for 4th of July. It was 105 degrees while I was driving home today.
Well . . . tomorrow is my last day of orientation. It'll be a laid back day with a hospital tour and I'll be picking up some free scrubs to wear for Wednesday. I'm starting on inpatient service.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Last Weekend before starting real work
Friday Morning was about infection control. You know, like, washing your hands and knowing about personal protective equipment, and isolation. It was also more talk from the program director about clinic. And talk about logging in work hours which I completely zoned out from. And we had a tour of the clinic and met the LVNs and MAs who will be working with us. The good thing is they have all been there for atleast a few years. The LVN that works in my corner of the clinic has been there for over 20 years so she will be very valuable in knowing lots of stuff.
As a first year resident, we have clinic 1 to 2 half days per week and start off by seeing 3-4 patients. We get atleast 1 hour per patient and present to the preceptor. The first few clinics will be either mock patients or shadowing the preceptor. So it's a slow transition. It also gives us time to learn more about the EMR since it's a completely paperless clinic.
Then we had pictures taken in the afternoon. It was going to be our picture for the next 3 years and the picture they use on the website and post on the clinic wall. Then we went over the residency manual. This manual basically covered the contract we signed and explained what was required of us to complete residency. It mentioned that I should be reading 3 journals per month (#1 was American Family Physician journal which I've received for the past 4 years, but hardly read). I guess I have to start opening the journals I get in the mail now.
This evening was the Senior Banquet. Food was good and we all dressed up for the occasion. I wore the same dress I had on for the graduation/awards banquet at TCOM. I'm actually tired of going to socials. I really wanted to just stay home and do nothing. But I knew that I should probably participate. I finally learned where all the graduates were going since it was on the program. I was surprised to see that most weren't immediately joining a group practice.
Here's what they are doing:
a few doing hospitalist, a couple doing emergency medicine, one doing a fellowship at MDAnderson for palliative care, a couple doing group clinic practice, and the rest still looking for local jobs, but working temp jobs in the meantime.
As a first year resident, we have clinic 1 to 2 half days per week and start off by seeing 3-4 patients. We get atleast 1 hour per patient and present to the preceptor. The first few clinics will be either mock patients or shadowing the preceptor. So it's a slow transition. It also gives us time to learn more about the EMR since it's a completely paperless clinic.
Then we had pictures taken in the afternoon. It was going to be our picture for the next 3 years and the picture they use on the website and post on the clinic wall. Then we went over the residency manual. This manual basically covered the contract we signed and explained what was required of us to complete residency. It mentioned that I should be reading 3 journals per month (#1 was American Family Physician journal which I've received for the past 4 years, but hardly read). I guess I have to start opening the journals I get in the mail now.
This evening was the Senior Banquet. Food was good and we all dressed up for the occasion. I wore the same dress I had on for the graduation/awards banquet at TCOM. I'm actually tired of going to socials. I really wanted to just stay home and do nothing. But I knew that I should probably participate. I finally learned where all the graduates were going since it was on the program. I was surprised to see that most weren't immediately joining a group practice.
Here's what they are doing:
a few doing hospitalist, a couple doing emergency medicine, one doing a fellowship at MDAnderson for palliative care, a couple doing group clinic practice, and the rest still looking for local jobs, but working temp jobs in the meantime.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
OSCE & my first PAYCHECK
Yesterday:
Well, I survived OSCE. It was a bit nerve racking since I felt a bit rusty. They observed me through a video camera. It's not pass/fail but rather a way to critique us. They were really good at evaluating. I would cringe as soon as I was ready to present the patient to my preceptor thinking that I probably could have done a better job or performed a better physical exam. Also knowing the camera was there made me more nervous than usual. It turned out that I did much better than I expected. Next, I had to go back to the patient room and pretend it's a follow up visit and tell the patient her lab results which revealed that she had cancer. Briefly before going in, the preceptor (as well as a clinical psychologist) would ask how would I break bad news to the patient and what could I offer for her. I never really had to break bad news before so I really felt unsure of how to tell her. When I did go in the room to tell her, she broke into tears. I was like, wow, she really knows how to make this feel like the real deal.
Then I had to return to the preceptor to get critiqued again. They said I did a great job. Whoo! I felt surprised to hear that. They would comment on specific things I did or said. I was really impressed at how they gave really good constructive criticism.
As much as I initially dreaded doing this OSCE, it turned out to be very beneficial. I really got to learn what my strengths and weaknesses were. I later went back again to the patient's room where the patient critiqued me. She was really good. She told me that I would lose eye contact at times and look around the room (I didn't realize I was doing that, but I know it was when I trying to think of more questions to ask her). But she complimented me and said that I was very good about listening to her concerns.
Today:
Lots of boring talks - you know like EMTALA, more computer training, etc.
But the highlight was my first PAYCHECK !!!!!!!!!!!!
It was for just the 2 days of orientation last week so I expected to get very little. But the check was surprisingly big - $300. Not bad for 2 days. It is so nice to finally get paid. My next pay check will be July 9th.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Orientation
I started orientation on Thursday, June 18th. The first day was the longest. i had to listen to several people throughout the day about all kinds of stuff. Plus listen to a 1.5 hour lecture on performing a newborn exam and other pediatric stuff. The cool thing is they give you a handbook that they made on peds. So it has everything you need and it's in alphabetical order. It tells you what to do and what labs to order. My day ended at 4pm which is pretty good.
The previous evening, there was a social where I met the interns, chiefs, and faculty at the program director's home. It was nice to meet them all and it turned out that I knew more interns that I originally had thought. There's 14 of us total. It turns out that I ran into some of them during interview season. It was funny that some of us were at the same interviews at different locations.
On Friday, it was more paperwork. But it was much more laid back because it was at Human Resources and we learned about different benefits the hospital offers. They have cell phone discounts. For example, if I have AT&T, I get 24% off my monthly bill. Pretty cool, huh? After much research with all the different discounts they offered through Verizon and Sprint and AT&T, I decided to stay with my parents family plan with T-mobile. It's only $12 per month for me to be added on that plan. I spent a lot of time researching all the smartphones and plans and ultimately decided to hold off on it for now. I don't want the iphone. I love the palm pre (but it's too new and lacks a lot of the software I need, but great operating system and multitask ability).
I also looked into gym membership. There's an awesome gym next door to the hospital and for employees, it's $28 per month. So I will be getting that. Everyday, they've been feeding us catered food for breakfast and lunch. As well as dessert and chocolates and snacks. So I will definitely need to hit the gym soon. But I can't really complain about the food. It's been awesome. - and remember, I'm a picky eater.
Friday evening was a social at a resident's home for just the residents. So I got to meet the 2nd and 3rd years and soon to be graduates from the program.
I then had the weekend off. But my weekend did not go without stress. Why? Because I had a PALS course starting on Monday and I didn't really prepare for it. I didn't think it would be coming so soon. So I read a little and worried a lot. Monday was BLS for child and infant followed by some advanced life support (ALS). They really want us to know BLS really well and pass it before proceeding to ALS. We had to perform CPR perfectly. I had to repeat infant CPR because I forgot to lift the infant's chin when I listened to it's airway for breathing. They even time you to make sure you listen between 5-10 seconds. If you listen for too short or too long, you have to get retested. The booklet came with the fold up card which abbreviated the steps on what to do with arrhythmias, shock, respiratory problems. I was getting really worried about Tuesday because that's when we are tested on the megacode which can be a combination of the 3. btw, this was not like ACLS at school. I found out that normally each person is individually tested to lead the megacode and must pass it. But we each got to lead a couple of practice scenarios which was good. I got nervous and would blank out on what to do. But each time I practiced, I got to more confident. They also said, you can only fail either the written or the megacode once and then you get a second chance. But you can't fail both. So I was really worried. I passed the written, but I did have to repeat the megacode. I forgot to check the rhythm on the monitor before starting CPR. Overall I passed. Yeah!!!
Today, Wednesday is OSCE day. They said there's no studying involved which is good. They just want to see how you do with simulated patients. I will be doing that this afternoon and the rest of the day I have off.
The previous evening, there was a social where I met the interns, chiefs, and faculty at the program director's home. It was nice to meet them all and it turned out that I knew more interns that I originally had thought. There's 14 of us total. It turns out that I ran into some of them during interview season. It was funny that some of us were at the same interviews at different locations.
On Friday, it was more paperwork. But it was much more laid back because it was at Human Resources and we learned about different benefits the hospital offers. They have cell phone discounts. For example, if I have AT&T, I get 24% off my monthly bill. Pretty cool, huh? After much research with all the different discounts they offered through Verizon and Sprint and AT&T, I decided to stay with my parents family plan with T-mobile. It's only $12 per month for me to be added on that plan. I spent a lot of time researching all the smartphones and plans and ultimately decided to hold off on it for now. I don't want the iphone. I love the palm pre (but it's too new and lacks a lot of the software I need, but great operating system and multitask ability).
I also looked into gym membership. There's an awesome gym next door to the hospital and for employees, it's $28 per month. So I will be getting that. Everyday, they've been feeding us catered food for breakfast and lunch. As well as dessert and chocolates and snacks. So I will definitely need to hit the gym soon. But I can't really complain about the food. It's been awesome. - and remember, I'm a picky eater.
Friday evening was a social at a resident's home for just the residents. So I got to meet the 2nd and 3rd years and soon to be graduates from the program.
I then had the weekend off. But my weekend did not go without stress. Why? Because I had a PALS course starting on Monday and I didn't really prepare for it. I didn't think it would be coming so soon. So I read a little and worried a lot. Monday was BLS for child and infant followed by some advanced life support (ALS). They really want us to know BLS really well and pass it before proceeding to ALS. We had to perform CPR perfectly. I had to repeat infant CPR because I forgot to lift the infant's chin when I listened to it's airway for breathing. They even time you to make sure you listen between 5-10 seconds. If you listen for too short or too long, you have to get retested. The booklet came with the fold up card which abbreviated the steps on what to do with arrhythmias, shock, respiratory problems. I was getting really worried about Tuesday because that's when we are tested on the megacode which can be a combination of the 3. btw, this was not like ACLS at school. I found out that normally each person is individually tested to lead the megacode and must pass it. But we each got to lead a couple of practice scenarios which was good. I got nervous and would blank out on what to do. But each time I practiced, I got to more confident. They also said, you can only fail either the written or the megacode once and then you get a second chance. But you can't fail both. So I was really worried. I passed the written, but I did have to repeat the megacode. I forgot to check the rhythm on the monitor before starting CPR. Overall I passed. Yeah!!!
Today, Wednesday is OSCE day. They said there's no studying involved which is good. They just want to see how you do with simulated patients. I will be doing that this afternoon and the rest of the day I have off.
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