Wednesday, August 14

OB/GYN: wk1,day 3

i'm really not liking gyn clinic. they made a mistake today of having 5 med students with 2 attendings around. which meant that some of us (ME) were not getting taught. i tried to help a flustered and busy resident as much as i could. eventually, one of the attendings saw that we weren't learning anything, so at around 2pm he told several of us to go home and read.

so i promptly went home to take a nap. at 2:30, went on a little trip to the big post office of 54th, and submitted my passport renewal application. which took an hour, because the postal office is just extremely inefficient (for that matter, ALL gov offices seem to be like that, like the DMV. they should hire a guy to go around and evaluate all gov offices, just like docs get reviewed all the time).

actually, one thing i forget to mention from yesterday. early in the morning, there was something called the M&M (morbidity and mortality). this is basically where a resident goes up in front of a mess of department heads, attendings, chiefs, fellow residents, and lowly medical students and present why a patient had problems, and/or why they died.

this was the most brutal and ugliest scene i have ever witnessed. the poor resident was getting hammered by ppl, left and right.

"why didn't you do this?"
"why did you do that?"
"don't you know that you're supposed to do this procedure in this particular situation?"
"what did you learn during your first yr residency?"
"it's so obvious what the problem was. i'm surprised you didn't see it."
and on and on...

i was feeling SO bad for the resident. it's literally one person against a roomful of ppl. you have the scary young attendings that feel like it's their duty to pin you down, and will try to pick you apart, one fiber at a time, the accomplished ones that merely have to say a word to crumble your world, the ones that just look at you, with that, -i-can't-believe-we-trained-such-stupid-residents look, the medical students who are falling asleep, who you HATE to look stupid in front of (it's the lowest of lows, to look dumb in front of medical students).

anyway, i get chills just thinking of the future, when it's going to be me up there one day, facing a roomful of intimidating doctors...argh.

*****

during clinic, i was chatting a bit with another one of the medical students. actually, he's a good friend; we were lab partners together. just one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet in your life. anyway, this guy has traveled alot, going to various central american countries, to do health care stuff. (see, what a good guy! no vacations for him) we got to talking about public health, different programs, etc. i recalled several conversations i had with another classmate, dave chu, who is interested in going to public health school, also (his wife is a public health student at columbia). i got to thinking about my dreams, about some of the things i want to do, about missions, etc. i really want to keep that option open, and be equipped with all that i need to open doors. i just wish i had gone on a missions trip to tajikistan or kajikstan during the summer after college. but, i didn't know remnant then, nor had even heard of those countries then. i could've at least gone to mexico. argh. wasted opportunity.

i'm considering going to public health school after 3rd yr, for a year or two, to get a Masters in Public Health (MPH). most likely, i'd try for one at Hopkins, since it's #1 in public health, i know the school and some of the departments (i was a public health/biology double major at JHU, so i took some classes there). plus, i know that the classes are good. they are unlike undergrad classes in that the students usually don't care that much about the grades. they were doctors, relief workers, volunteers, who had already been around in the world, who have seen public health problems, and they were at the hopkins public health school to learn and go back to help their countries, not to get an A . i really like that environment. on top of that, i still have friends there, and GLC (grace life church) is there. (i've missed you guys! especially your hugs, kristi!!)

so, this is something that i'm going to discuss with my parents, brothers, and maybe i'll apply anyway. we'll see.

*****
kristi, sarah, justin:
i'm glad you like my kitchen! when i get it, i'll invite you guys all over, and we can have a blast cooking. that's what i love about the island. if you do your thing on the side counters, it's work. if you work together in the island in the middle, it's a grand ol time of chatting and bonding as you prepare a meal.

about the outdoor kitchen/oven/range.
i like the viking series very much. however, i still want to build my own outdoor grill/range/oven. i want to bring in sheets of shale or blocks of sandstone, or something like that, and put it together myself. if it looks too difficult to build the entire thing myself, i might bail and leave an area where the viking will fit. ;)


yakob at 10:12 PM

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