Things have gotten both more and less hectic around Casa de Z:
For January, I had my very first rotation in Anesthesia. It was nerve wracking, since I wanted to do well, and everything was so new to me, even in 4th year. It would have been so easy just to ride the currents of cruising by, since I had a different attending physician every day. but in many ways, my inner type-A made me somewhat miserable, as I was torn between being physically and mentally exhausted from interview season and wanting to learn and do well.
I was very privileged to have so many attendings who wanted to teach, and became very familiar with many styles of anesthesia, since everyone had a different preference in how and when they administered drugs. I learned how to approach different types of intubations, and intubated 4 patients and inserted supraglottic airways on 3 other patients. I learned how to assess each patient's airway status, medical status, and surgical risk, and became comfortable with the medications administered from beginning to end of a basic surgical case.
And yet, in other ways, this month was difficult, as I frantically put my materials in order for my residency Match process, tried (in my bumbling, clumsy ways), to ensure that I told my potential residency places how much I wanted to be there and how high I would be ranking them, without saying too much or sounding too desperate. I submitted my applications, my ranking list, and now, the hardest part: The Waiting. Waiting, for February 8th, for the Match list to come out. To know IF I matched, and where I will be (hopefully) spending the next 4 years of my life. To know what kinds of preparation I will need, and what the timeline is going to be like. To know what style of OMM I will need to learn, and what kind of patient population I will encounter.
Thankfully, most of the places I am looking at are fairly cold places, so I am knitting like mad, both to stay sane and to prepare myself for the future to come.
<Knitting starts here>
I've finished quite a few things in the last month or so, between catch-up on Christmas knitting and the various KALs I've been participting in.
First, I finished some socks for my parents: 1 pair for my mom, in the Batman colorway from Gnome acres, and 1 pair for my dad in the Lollipop Yarns
Second, I finally finished my rainbow socks! I had started them much earlier, but the Knitpicks needles I used broke just as I was turning the heel on the first sock, and then I just gave up during audition season, trying to fuss with finding new needles, and waited until I was home to redo the heel. These are OMG socks, in the Nothing says Screw You like a Rainbow from White Birch Fiber Arts. I am participating in the Rainbows and Unicorns KAL with Twisted Stitches podcast, the Knityobawls and Don't Hoard the Precious KAL from Sassy Pants Knitter podcast, and the 12 in 16 with Just one More Row podcast.
Third, I finished my first pair of socks with yarn from Nomadic Yarns! I LOVE her gumballs, and it is currently (thankfully), still easy-ish to get a hold of her yarn. I finished a pair of Leprechaun socks that I started back around St. Patrick's day, but then I got distracted by other shiny pretty things, like the Knitted Wit gumballs (more on that later).
Finally, I also finished a baby sweater! Not for me, but for my friend Whitney's baby. I started this sweater, oh probably in March or April, when she first told me she was expecting. I worked on it, finished it for the most part, but had some finishing to do when audition season/interview season hit, and then I just never had time to give it to her. I finally picked it back up again when I saw her at the beginning of the month, when we had to recertify for BLS. I told her about the sweater, and then when I found out that we were both going to be at the same recertification class for ACLS, I promised to bring the sweater. But when I picked the sweater back up, I realized that I still had quite a bit to do: knit elbow patches, pockets, sew in the buttons, weave in ends, etc. I worked on it while I was going through the ACLS videos and quizzes, but fell asleep. I brought it into class, along with my needles and crochet hook, and wove in ends and sewed on the buttons while we went over the details for the new ACLS guidelines. It turned out so much cuter than I thought: the buttons definitely make the sweater! The Knitmore Girls were right!
WIPS:
I have quite a few things on the needles right now:
1. I still have one pair of socks from Christmas that I need to finish for my aunt, which I had to reknit the entire second sock. In early December, I had knitted the first sock, and had just started on the second sock when I flew from Maine to Miami for an interview. I packed the sock (on wooden Knitpicks needles), and looked forward to the long plane rides when I could work on the socks and finish them in time for Christmas. However, somewhere between the security line and sitting down on the airplane, one end of the needle had splintered and broken, leaving me with one decent end and a stub. Since this was 8pm on a Sunday, there would be no way that I would be able to get another needle, and I had 3 hours on a plane. I made do the best I could, scooting the needles around so that I could knit with the good end (thank goodness for magic loop!) , and praying that I would not get splinters from the broken end. I made painfully slow progress, and was determined to get a new set of metal needles in the morning after my interview. I had a great interview, and then set off in the balmy 70-degree December afternoon to Knitting Garden, where I met a group of lovely Cuban women who picked out my first pair of Addi Turbo Lace. I happily set on my way, excited to finish the sock at last. Over the next two weeks, between long days at the hospital doing inpatient family medicine, the sock practically flew to the heel and up the ribbing. I pulled out the other sock to see how much ribbing I needed to do, and that is when I saw it: the second sock was 1 whole size bigger than the first. How did this happen? I was knitting on 1's, same as the other sock! Then. I read the second, tiny line on the needle package: Size 1, 2.5mm. My Knit Picks were Size 1, 2.25mm. Not the same at all. I couldn't quite deal with reality at that moment, sleep deprived as I was, so I shoved the sock back in the bag and worked on some other, pretty, easy, shiny projects:
2. Mittens: I happened to see on Facebook and Instagram that Carrie Bostick Hoge and MJ Mucklestone were going to do a book signing at Knit Wit, a yarn store in Portland, so I rearranged my call schedule so that I would be able to go to the book signing. It meant that I had 2 overnight shifts the next week, one on Wed and one on Friday, but it was worth it. I bought my first Quince and Co yarn that was used in the book, and began casting on right away once I got home.
4. Socks for Isal: My medical school big sib, and all around awesome mentor and friend, Isal, moved to Pennsylvania this past year for residency. Since she is from Las Vegas and California, it's been fun helping her get ready for winter. I promised her some socks for Christmas/birthday, but things got in the way, so I am working on these now. It's taking me a bit of time to do these, since her shoe size is itty-bitty: women's size 4.5-5! I've had to cast on and rip out 3 times already, but it's worth it. She's given me so much help, guidance, and support for all of med school, and I look up to her as a friend and a mentor.
5. Leg warmers for Amila: On our somewhat-monthly Google Hangout session, my friend Amila mentioned that she bikes to work in leggings and scraped herself landing wrong. I asked her if she wanted legwarmers, and she agreed. At least the wool would cushion her when she fell. It took some back and forth to settle on the perfect yarn, but now we have agreed on it: pink, gold, and purple striped with sparkles, Turtlepurl's City Girl on a sparkle base. I have this yarn for socks in the future, and I look forward to making these for Amila.
Stash Acquisition:
I posted earlier about the yarn I bought during audition season, but since then, I have purchased a few things, including a beautiful Anne of Green Gables bag from Little Skein in the Big Wool, and a few skeins of yarn from Big Sky Alpaca for a Chilkat Cowl.I'm excited to finally start working on fun projects and be done with gift knitting!
Will try to post pics later, but wanted to get this up, so look out for pics!
Hope everyone is safe and happy and warm!
~Z
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Hello from Maine!
Edited to add: No yarnie/knitting content in this post due to time constraints! Apologies!
Also, I totally skipped over November and my lovely Michigan experiences. Will update in a later post!
Greetings from Maine! I got out of the plane, armed with my winter coat (good for down to -20 degrees!), and walked into 50 degrees of rainy and wet. Not snowy, RAINY. Yup. Rain, in December, in the northernmost part of the country.
Maine has been having its warmest winter yet, which both bodes well for this Vegas girl of warm weather, and yet makes me a bit sad that I came all this way for snow (well, and training), and it's the same temperature as it is back home.
I shouldn't complain. It still gets down below freezing at night, and cold(er) weather would make this rotation much harder. I don't have to worry about slipping on ice at 12 midnight returning from night call, or shoveling snow at 5AM before morning sign-off.
Either way, time has flown by these past few weeks, and I can't believe I'm already in my third week here! I'm doing inpatient this month, so things get a little bit crazy, as there is one resident and 1-2 medical students. Since I'm doing a sub-internship, it's considered the same as if I were an intern. Things can be a little hard sometimes, especially since this rotation is very unstructured in many ways. But I do feel very lucky to be here, and to experience intern year without complete responsibility, and I have a little bit of leeway as a medical student. The residents are very nice, and go out of their ways to help guide me where I need to go. So far, I've gotten to admit two patients on my own, discharge one patient, and make rounds on approximately fifty patients. It's definitely valuable experience, and I've learned so much in the last 2 weeks.
Now, it's not all work (just mostly.) I did get a bit of fun now and then with my roommates! I'm living in the student housing that the hospital provides, which is a block down the hill from the hospital. There are 3 rooms here, and we currently have 5 students. We are all from different places: Marie from Maine by way of Vermont, Adam from Georgia by way of BU, Linda from Netherlands by way of Michigan State University (who is also interviewing here), Abby from Maine by way of New Zealand, and me. We're all on different rotations, different schedules, but we try to make time for fun and get together. Someone (usually either Abby or I) cook dinner, and we all contribute something. Abby and I explored Portland a few times, and we went to Freeport last week (she went for nostalgia, I went to fangirl at the LL Bean store.). This week, we also had a nice Chinese meal (from an authentic restaurant here in this little Mainer town, who knew?!?), all of the roommates, before everyone leaves for the holidays. It was great to sit down with everyone, and hash over our experiences.
Eek, this is getting long, and I have a bit of work to do before my afternoon rounds, so I'll have to get to the knitting and yarn adventures on another post! Probably sometime this week.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Also, I totally skipped over November and my lovely Michigan experiences. Will update in a later post!
Greetings from Maine! I got out of the plane, armed with my winter coat (good for down to -20 degrees!), and walked into 50 degrees of rainy and wet. Not snowy, RAINY. Yup. Rain, in December, in the northernmost part of the country.
Maine has been having its warmest winter yet, which both bodes well for this Vegas girl of warm weather, and yet makes me a bit sad that I came all this way for snow (well, and training), and it's the same temperature as it is back home.
I shouldn't complain. It still gets down below freezing at night, and cold(er) weather would make this rotation much harder. I don't have to worry about slipping on ice at 12 midnight returning from night call, or shoveling snow at 5AM before morning sign-off.
Either way, time has flown by these past few weeks, and I can't believe I'm already in my third week here! I'm doing inpatient this month, so things get a little bit crazy, as there is one resident and 1-2 medical students. Since I'm doing a sub-internship, it's considered the same as if I were an intern. Things can be a little hard sometimes, especially since this rotation is very unstructured in many ways. But I do feel very lucky to be here, and to experience intern year without complete responsibility, and I have a little bit of leeway as a medical student. The residents are very nice, and go out of their ways to help guide me where I need to go. So far, I've gotten to admit two patients on my own, discharge one patient, and make rounds on approximately fifty patients. It's definitely valuable experience, and I've learned so much in the last 2 weeks.
Now, it's not all work (just mostly.) I did get a bit of fun now and then with my roommates! I'm living in the student housing that the hospital provides, which is a block down the hill from the hospital. There are 3 rooms here, and we currently have 5 students. We are all from different places: Marie from Maine by way of Vermont, Adam from Georgia by way of BU, Linda from Netherlands by way of Michigan State University (who is also interviewing here), Abby from Maine by way of New Zealand, and me. We're all on different rotations, different schedules, but we try to make time for fun and get together. Someone (usually either Abby or I) cook dinner, and we all contribute something. Abby and I explored Portland a few times, and we went to Freeport last week (she went for nostalgia, I went to fangirl at the LL Bean store.). This week, we also had a nice Chinese meal (from an authentic restaurant here in this little Mainer town, who knew?!?), all of the roommates, before everyone leaves for the holidays. It was great to sit down with everyone, and hash over our experiences.
Eek, this is getting long, and I have a bit of work to do before my afternoon rounds, so I'll have to get to the knitting and yarn adventures on another post! Probably sometime this week.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
October Adventures
October just finished, and what an adventure that was! I had to shake my head at how close some of those adventures were, and yet the fun has just begun. What am I talking about? Two words:
Interview Season.
I am now in my fourth year of medical school, which means that I need to find a residency for next year. I applied to quite a few places, and now have some interview offers. In order for this not to drag the post too long (this is supposed to be half life stuff and half knitting), Here is a summary of where I have been:
October 2nd: Come home from Cleveland, Ohio (where I was on audition rotation for 2 weeks)
October 7th: Pack bags for flight to Philadelphia
October 9th: Board exam in Philadelphia
October 10th: Drive from Philly to Binghamton, NY to meet up with parents and watch my brother in his first NCAA swim meet, then drive back to Philly to barely catch my flight home!
October 13th: Pack bags for Red-eye to Lexington, Kentucky
October 14th: Drive from Lexington to Pikeville, had lunch with residents and then a panel-style interview at Pikeville Medical Center, drive back to Pikeville, was locked out of the terminal because TSA closed at 10pm (who knew?), and spent the night covered in blankets on a out-of-service coin-operated massage chair, then flew home at 5AM EST, arrive 9AM EST and go to clinic (Pediatric Neurology)
October 16: Pack bags for Red-eye to Columbus, Ohio
October 17th: Arrive in Columbus, drive 2 hours to Athens, Ohio, for interview at 9AM on a Saturday, then drive back to Columbus for flight home.
October 24th: Pack for Red-eye to Boston
October 25th: Arrive in Boston, drive 2 hours north to Augusta, Maine, for dinner with the residents
October 26th: 9AM interview with the faculty, then all-day tour and interview of the facilities and multiple clinics, then drove back to Boston to barely make flight home.
October 30th: packed for 5AM flight to Grand Rapids, Michigan
October 31st: Flew to Grand Rapids, will be stationed in GR for the next month
Whew! And that is October! I've got November with a few interviews, December with a few, and January with some as well! It's going to be a long interview season, for which in some ways I am grateful. The alternative of NO interviews is definitely NOT preferable, and a scary prospect to consider. I am grateful that there are programs out there that want to interview me, and see my training potential and skills.
<Start Knitting Section>
Now, finally onto the Knitting! October has been Socktober, as I followed along with the Carolina Fiber Girls podcast's Soctober contest. While I did not get the most points scored, I did decently well. I had a final pair of socks on the needles that would have garnered me almost 50 points had I finished them, but I had to pull an all-nighter on the 30th to finish packing, which meant most of my knitting time in the airport and on the airplanes was catch-up sleep time, and the sock did not get done in time. But nonetheless, I had a great time knitting socks, and I even memorized Meghan Williams's OMG socks heel pattern, so now I don't have to keep looking at them any more!
Here is what I finished:
1. Watermelon Socks! The yarn is by Abi Grasso, and were quite hard to obtain. I had to PM her on Etsy and custom order it. But I saw the yarn knit up on Tapgurl Carmen's Instagram feed, and just had to have a pair of watermelon socks of my own! The one small thing I didn't like was that the yarn was light fingering, which meant my normal gauge was all off-kilter.
2. Grandmother's Socks!
I had this yarn in my stash for a while, and had been meaning to knit them up. It is Highland Handmades, and I don't quite recall the colorway, but I think it was called Hard to Match, or something like that. The yarn is SUPER soft, and I couldn't quite believe it was only 100% merino. I could have sworn that it was MCN or baby alpaca. Such a joy to knit with! And since my grandmother has size 5.5 feet, these socks were finished practically in a blink.
3. Baby socks!
My parents were going to visit China, and I wanted to get something for my baby nephew. He is almost 3, and since Shanghai winters are super cold, I figured some 100% wool socks would keep his little feet nice and warm. I used the Knitmore Girls recipe for toddler tube socks, and hopefully they will fit his feet.
2. I finally got to start knitting on the Nothing Says Screw You Like a Rainbow socks, but my Knitpicks needles broke AGAIN, so this project is a sad ball of sock and tangled yarn, which I did not bring with me to Grand Rapids.
4. Finally, I of course had to buy some yarn after getting to GR! I stopped by a store called Threadbender because I needed to buy a new needle, and they had an entire stand full of Knitted Wit Gumballs! This was the perfect solution for me, since I want to knit ALL of the Knitted Wit colorways. I picked out a few of my favorites, and I am going to knit them all together into stripey patchwork socks.Can't wait!
Interview Season.
I am now in my fourth year of medical school, which means that I need to find a residency for next year. I applied to quite a few places, and now have some interview offers. In order for this not to drag the post too long (this is supposed to be half life stuff and half knitting), Here is a summary of where I have been:
October 2nd: Come home from Cleveland, Ohio (where I was on audition rotation for 2 weeks)
October 7th: Pack bags for flight to Philadelphia
October 9th: Board exam in Philadelphia
October 10th: Drive from Philly to Binghamton, NY to meet up with parents and watch my brother in his first NCAA swim meet, then drive back to Philly to barely catch my flight home!
October 13th: Pack bags for Red-eye to Lexington, Kentucky
October 14th: Drive from Lexington to Pikeville, had lunch with residents and then a panel-style interview at Pikeville Medical Center, drive back to Pikeville, was locked out of the terminal because TSA closed at 10pm (who knew?), and spent the night covered in blankets on a out-of-service coin-operated massage chair, then flew home at 5AM EST, arrive 9AM EST and go to clinic (Pediatric Neurology)
October 16: Pack bags for Red-eye to Columbus, Ohio
October 17th: Arrive in Columbus, drive 2 hours to Athens, Ohio, for interview at 9AM on a Saturday, then drive back to Columbus for flight home.
October 24th: Pack for Red-eye to Boston
October 25th: Arrive in Boston, drive 2 hours north to Augusta, Maine, for dinner with the residents
October 26th: 9AM interview with the faculty, then all-day tour and interview of the facilities and multiple clinics, then drove back to Boston to barely make flight home.
October 30th: packed for 5AM flight to Grand Rapids, Michigan
October 31st: Flew to Grand Rapids, will be stationed in GR for the next month
Whew! And that is October! I've got November with a few interviews, December with a few, and January with some as well! It's going to be a long interview season, for which in some ways I am grateful. The alternative of NO interviews is definitely NOT preferable, and a scary prospect to consider. I am grateful that there are programs out there that want to interview me, and see my training potential and skills.
<Start Knitting Section>
Now, finally onto the Knitting! October has been Socktober, as I followed along with the Carolina Fiber Girls podcast's Soctober contest. While I did not get the most points scored, I did decently well. I had a final pair of socks on the needles that would have garnered me almost 50 points had I finished them, but I had to pull an all-nighter on the 30th to finish packing, which meant most of my knitting time in the airport and on the airplanes was catch-up sleep time, and the sock did not get done in time. But nonetheless, I had a great time knitting socks, and I even memorized Meghan Williams's OMG socks heel pattern, so now I don't have to keep looking at them any more!
Here is what I finished:
1. Watermelon Socks! The yarn is by Abi Grasso, and were quite hard to obtain. I had to PM her on Etsy and custom order it. But I saw the yarn knit up on Tapgurl Carmen's Instagram feed, and just had to have a pair of watermelon socks of my own! The one small thing I didn't like was that the yarn was light fingering, which meant my normal gauge was all off-kilter.
I had this yarn in my stash for a while, and had been meaning to knit them up. It is Highland Handmades, and I don't quite recall the colorway, but I think it was called Hard to Match, or something like that. The yarn is SUPER soft, and I couldn't quite believe it was only 100% merino. I could have sworn that it was MCN or baby alpaca. Such a joy to knit with! And since my grandmother has size 5.5 feet, these socks were finished practically in a blink.
My parents were going to visit China, and I wanted to get something for my baby nephew. He is almost 3, and since Shanghai winters are super cold, I figured some 100% wool socks would keep his little feet nice and warm. I used the Knitmore Girls recipe for toddler tube socks, and hopefully they will fit his feet.
Works in Progress:
1. I am just finishing up the second sock in the pair of Rack 'em Stack 'em, which is a Fibretown design. I am using a Socktober colorway: Carolina Dog by Lilliput Yarn. The colors are teal and purple, which are gorgeous together. It also reminds me of my high school
3. Although I did not win Socktober the Contest, I was able to catch a Socktober-only update that Lollipop yarns had especially for the CFG listeners, and scored my first-ever skein of lollipop yarn! It is so gorgeous I don't want to knit with it, but my father needs some Christmas Socks, and I can't think of a better person to gift with Lollipop socks.
This again became a longer post than I anticipated! I hope everyone is doing well, and enjoyed Halloween. I spent it in a hotel room, where I was going to knit, but then fell asleep with the lights on and the needles still in my hands. Hope everyone had fun!
Best,
~Z
Monday, November 2, 2015
September OMM part one: San Diego
( Hi! This is ZT, in November. This post is part of a series of entries I wrote and then forgot to publish,. I am sorry if the narrative doesn't quite make sense in the timeline. This entry was written on Setptember 10th, 2015)
September has brought some sort of normalcy into my life. Well, as much normalcy as any 4th year medical student can expect.
I finished up my August Neurology rotation with more experience and interest in Neurology than I ever thought possible. That has been my greatest surprise so far. I started the rotation with trepidation, as someone who has always hated neuroanatomy and neuroscience, added to anger and stress from dealing with a sarcastic and irritable office manager who treated medical students alternately like children or like dirt. However, by the end of the rotation, I gained more insight into both the field of neurology and the inner workings of a successful specialist office than I ever thought possible. The office manager and I ended with mutual respect for each other, and my attending gave me the opportunity to help shape the rotation for future medical students. I was humbled and grateful for all that I had gained from August.
I also took the second part of my medical boards at the end of August, and it went better than I anticipated. Now, I still have to wait for the scores, so I don't know how things are just yet. I am grateful to be done with studying, if only for a little while.
September 10th , I finished the first part of my September rotation, at an osteopathic office in San Diego. I was so delighted to be there, and learned so much from the two short weeks. I saw the love that the patients and physicians had for each other, and how the office staff were literally a family, and how students were treated like valuable assets for the future. I learned so much about the culture of osteopathy. I was reminded yet again of the holistic approach to treatment, from exercise tips to nutrition and sleep. I loved every moment I was there, for it gave me insight into how I might want to possibly run my office in the future. I loved the patients, the people, the lifestyle; everything. The physician was one of the best role models for osteopathy, and she inspired me to keep learning and learn as much as I can.
Tomorrow, I head home, and then off to Ohio for my first audition rotation. I'll have to be on even better than my best behavior, but I've learned so much in the last year that I know I am ready to show the world who I am. I hope that I will find the type of residency I want to do, and that they find me to be the exact resident they want, and that we will match perfectly.
<Knitting>
I have been doing quite a bit of knitting lately, what with all of my travels and taking boards (i.e. travel plus boards stress). Also, my brother has recently started school at a military academy in the Northeast, and he'll need all the warmth he can get once winter hits. As a desert rat, he's never lived in a place with snow before. Thus, I'm knitting as fast as I can to make sure he'll survive the winter without turning into an ice cube. I finished my brother's Harry Potter Socks, out of the Simply Socks Yarn Company Poste yarn in the Wizard Knowledge colorway.
I also started my brother's next pair of socks, an Army-green colored pair out of Deborah Norville Serenity yarn in the Woodsy green colorway. I finished one and a half pair.
I'm also finishing up my Trickle Shawl, in the Juniper Moon Farm Herriott Heathers yarn, 1014 colorway. The pattern is Trickle Shawl by Jennifer Lassonde. I've had so much fun knitting this, as I luxuriate in the baby alpaca yarn and the pretty coppery golden color. I can't wait to wear it this fall and winter as I proceed to my audition rotations in Michigan and Maine. I know that it will be cold, but that's what all the knitting is for. I can finally wear all my pretty hand-knits again! I am in search of the perfect hat pattern to use the other half of my Herriott Heathers DK yarn, so that I'll be completely swathed in baby alpaca this winter. More to come later!
September has brought some sort of normalcy into my life. Well, as much normalcy as any 4th year medical student can expect.
I finished up my August Neurology rotation with more experience and interest in Neurology than I ever thought possible. That has been my greatest surprise so far. I started the rotation with trepidation, as someone who has always hated neuroanatomy and neuroscience, added to anger and stress from dealing with a sarcastic and irritable office manager who treated medical students alternately like children or like dirt. However, by the end of the rotation, I gained more insight into both the field of neurology and the inner workings of a successful specialist office than I ever thought possible. The office manager and I ended with mutual respect for each other, and my attending gave me the opportunity to help shape the rotation for future medical students. I was humbled and grateful for all that I had gained from August.
I also took the second part of my medical boards at the end of August, and it went better than I anticipated. Now, I still have to wait for the scores, so I don't know how things are just yet. I am grateful to be done with studying, if only for a little while.
September 10th , I finished the first part of my September rotation, at an osteopathic office in San Diego. I was so delighted to be there, and learned so much from the two short weeks. I saw the love that the patients and physicians had for each other, and how the office staff were literally a family, and how students were treated like valuable assets for the future. I learned so much about the culture of osteopathy. I was reminded yet again of the holistic approach to treatment, from exercise tips to nutrition and sleep. I loved every moment I was there, for it gave me insight into how I might want to possibly run my office in the future. I loved the patients, the people, the lifestyle; everything. The physician was one of the best role models for osteopathy, and she inspired me to keep learning and learn as much as I can.
Tomorrow, I head home, and then off to Ohio for my first audition rotation. I'll have to be on even better than my best behavior, but I've learned so much in the last year that I know I am ready to show the world who I am. I hope that I will find the type of residency I want to do, and that they find me to be the exact resident they want, and that we will match perfectly.
<Knitting>
I have been doing quite a bit of knitting lately, what with all of my travels and taking boards (i.e. travel plus boards stress). Also, my brother has recently started school at a military academy in the Northeast, and he'll need all the warmth he can get once winter hits. As a desert rat, he's never lived in a place with snow before. Thus, I'm knitting as fast as I can to make sure he'll survive the winter without turning into an ice cube. I finished my brother's Harry Potter Socks, out of the Simply Socks Yarn Company Poste yarn in the Wizard Knowledge colorway.
I also started my brother's next pair of socks, an Army-green colored pair out of Deborah Norville Serenity yarn in the Woodsy green colorway. I finished one and a half pair.
I'm also finishing up my Trickle Shawl, in the Juniper Moon Farm Herriott Heathers yarn, 1014 colorway. The pattern is Trickle Shawl by Jennifer Lassonde. I've had so much fun knitting this, as I luxuriate in the baby alpaca yarn and the pretty coppery golden color. I can't wait to wear it this fall and winter as I proceed to my audition rotations in Michigan and Maine. I know that it will be cold, but that's what all the knitting is for. I can finally wear all my pretty hand-knits again! I am in search of the perfect hat pattern to use the other half of my Herriott Heathers DK yarn, so that I'll be completely swathed in baby alpaca this winter. More to come later!
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Internal Medicine 2: Infectious Disease
Note: no knitting content on this post. I forgot to publish this a while back, so all of my knitting was updated in other posts.
This month (May), I am on ID, or Infectious Disease. It is definitely an interesting change of pace from last month's Internal Medicine clerkship. Instead of getting up at 6am to go to the hospital for short rounds, I am getting up at 6am, but staying home to handwrite notes for 4 hours before heading to the hospital and rounding on the patients. This is my first specialty rotation, and it is definitely very different. While we still want to make sure the patient is alive and stable, our entire focus is on the patient's infection. It doesn't matter if the patient has heart disease or diabetes. We are here to focus on treating the patient's infections. The only labs we really care about are those that are affected by the medications we are prescribing, and those that reflect the patient's infection: white count, viral load, temperature, etc.
The days are hard, but we are learning so much. I had forgotten so many of the medications from second year, and this had been a good review of antibiotics. I am so happy with our team. We have a good group of people, and I know that I can trust them to have my back. Our days are pretty long, from 6am to usually 5pm, but the last two or three hours are usually lectures by our attending physician, a renowned infectious disease specialist, and we are usually happy to spend as much time as we can with him. We conduct the lectures in the doctor's lounge, and that way we are able to get some water and much-needed refreshments. Oh, and go to the bathroom. I am so thankful for my kidneys and bladder. They take so much abuse, as it is frowned upon to go to the bathroom on rounds. Especially since we never know which route the doctor wishes to take that day, and sometimes you'd be late to the presentation of your own patient. That is REALLY frowned upon, needless to say. I am learning so much and feel privileged to be on this rotation, since it is a very popular and hard to get rotation. I look forward to learning the rest of this month.
This month (May), I am on ID, or Infectious Disease. It is definitely an interesting change of pace from last month's Internal Medicine clerkship. Instead of getting up at 6am to go to the hospital for short rounds, I am getting up at 6am, but staying home to handwrite notes for 4 hours before heading to the hospital and rounding on the patients. This is my first specialty rotation, and it is definitely very different. While we still want to make sure the patient is alive and stable, our entire focus is on the patient's infection. It doesn't matter if the patient has heart disease or diabetes. We are here to focus on treating the patient's infections. The only labs we really care about are those that are affected by the medications we are prescribing, and those that reflect the patient's infection: white count, viral load, temperature, etc.
The days are hard, but we are learning so much. I had forgotten so many of the medications from second year, and this had been a good review of antibiotics. I am so happy with our team. We have a good group of people, and I know that I can trust them to have my back. Our days are pretty long, from 6am to usually 5pm, but the last two or three hours are usually lectures by our attending physician, a renowned infectious disease specialist, and we are usually happy to spend as much time as we can with him. We conduct the lectures in the doctor's lounge, and that way we are able to get some water and much-needed refreshments. Oh, and go to the bathroom. I am so thankful for my kidneys and bladder. They take so much abuse, as it is frowned upon to go to the bathroom on rounds. Especially since we never know which route the doctor wishes to take that day, and sometimes you'd be late to the presentation of your own patient. That is REALLY frowned upon, needless to say. I am learning so much and feel privileged to be on this rotation, since it is a very popular and hard to get rotation. I look forward to learning the rest of this month.
Knitdown lockdown, Neurology, and Boards, oh My!
WARNING: Super long post! Long Rant about life-stuff in the beginning, lots of knitting content at the end.
This month started out relatively slow as I started my Neurology rotation with an esteemed physician. He was on vacation for the first week of the rotation, so I was able to get used to the policies and procedures in his office, work on my residency applications, and do quite a bit of boards studying as well. This week, on the other hand, was extremely hectic. There were some days where I was at the office for 12 hours. There were some days where the office manager gave me time limitations, down to the minute of when and where I should be meeting with the physician versus seeing the patient. There were some days when I got home at 7pm (after starting the day at the office at 7am) and could barely keep my eyes open to do one block of questions and would sadly look at my notes and not have the energy or mental capacity to record my incorrect answers. On Friday, as I left, the office manager warned us that next week was likely to be the same.
As mentioned before, I am taking my second set of medical boards at the end of the month, which also contributes to the craziness. The clerkship is crazy enough on its own, with the stern and sarcastic "operations manager", the highly critical attending physician, and the plethora of medical students, medical assistance, nurses, and physician assistance all vying for time and attention with the physician and trying to see a large amount of patients all at the same time, but add to that trying to study and memorize facts and do questions. In addition, I am also applying for residencies at this time, which makes things even just a bit more hectic. However, I know that these times are only as challenging as I can handle, and I am getting everything done, as much as I can. I know that these are the times when I grow, both as a person and as a future physician. I am learning to handle multiple tasks, and memorize complicated lists of patients and their health information, as well as learning, memorizing, and remembering facts and numbers and information that will be pertinent to the board exams. I know that this is going to help me in the future. I know this. I know I can handle this. It doesn't make the days suck any less. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to pursue my passion, and have the resources on hand to do all of these things at once. It it still hard work. I will get through it. Knowing that doesn't make it any easier, though.
<Knitting content starts here> I have done some knitting and finished a couple of things, since I have been traveling quite a bit. I finally finished my Parrot socks, which are MCN socks out of Polly wants a Cracker colorway by TurtlePurl Yarns. They are so soft and squishy and overall wonderful. It was my stress knitting for most of the time I was in Kansas, just a row here and there, from the airport to the hotel and one or two rows before bed. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out: almost matchy-matchy.
While I was in Kansas, I also started my rainbow mitts, which are with the Running Mitts pattern by Heather of the Fiberista Files/Highland Handmades podcast and yarn by Leading Men Fiber Arts in the OMG Squee! Colorway. I finished these on the plane ride home, next to a hilarious and large Kansas family who were going to a drill team competition and had never been on a plane before. I loved their enthusiasm.
Works in Progress: I have the second of my Pebble Beach shawls still in the works, but since it is laceweight, it is becoming somewhat of a slog. I'm about 75% done, but I think I'll put it off until after boards because we are not getting along. In addition, I had started my Jaala Spiro Diamonds Lace shawl with Knit Circus yarns, but a mistake somewhere in the beginning is making everything one stitch off. I don't think I have the mental capacity to deal with lace right now, so it is also going in the "after boards" pile to think about its behavior.
New Things: When I got home from Kansas, I was in somewhat of a dither. I shouldn't be starting things, but at the same time, with Stash Dash going on, I wanted to start and knit all of the things. I tried to put myself under Knit-Down Lock-down, meaning not knit anything for the month of boards. That didn't work. I was miserable, and couldn't concentrated on studying, my mind going a mile a minute but unable to focus on my work. So I compromised, and worked on a few things here and there. Most of what I started are things with lots of stockinette or garter, things that I can mostly not think about and knit while I study. This is what I have been working on, off and on:
1. Book Woman Jacket: I have been eyeing this pattern for a long time from the Stitching in the Stacks book, and I figured I should start working on them now, if I am going to be going to all of the cold places this winter (Maine, Michigan, etc. More on that later.) I'm knitting this out of Eco+ Wool instead of the called for Aran weight because I have a ton of this wool and because with my loose gauge, I actually get gauge with Eco.
2. Socks for Jay: I have been promising my brother Jay socks from the Simple Socks Poste yarn in the Ravenclaw/Cleverness colorway for about 6 months. There is a bit of a backlog on socks, so I figured since I finished a pair, I might as well start these for him. It'll take some time to finish, but since he's probably not going to be able to wear them in the army, he can have them as his Christmas present. It will be my go-to sock on the needles for a while, since he has enormous feet.
3. Trickle Shawl: I am doing this partially for the Palkal/AYNKal, but also because I have been wanting to use this baby alpaca yarn for so long and never know what to do with it. It's baby alpaca, it's special, I think to myself. I need to save it for later, I think. But at the same time, with the countdown to graduation and residency less than 1 year away, I'm starting Operation Knit All the Stash and not caring about saving the stash.
I think that covers it all, for the most part. Hope everyone is staying cool in the summer heat, and all is going well! I'll try to check in again soon!
Best,
~Z
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