26 weeks

I recently found a small journal of random notes and impressions of medicine dated "August 6, 2007," just before I started classes at OHSU (from my summer observership in Lincoln City, an experience in both Emergency Medicine and Family Medicine.) I wish I had done this again throughout my med. school years because it was really fun and interesting to read! I especially like the random note: "nurses do a lot - clean/dress wounds, start IVs, draw blood, get the 'chief complaint' and take vitals; doctors listen, see, feel, hear, diagnose and treat." HAHA, how naive I was! Nurses and physicians have a lot more overlap than I knew back then, which will vary depending on where in the hospital or outpatient practice you work. We both listen for one, as that is a huge part of medicine. Nurses truly have more time with their patients in the hospital setting too, which during my internal medicine rotation was where I wanted to be instead of sitting in a window-less room typing away at my computer for hours and hours! Anyway, I hope to look back on this blog someday and pick up on the funny impressions I currently have as they may change as I am exposed to more....medically and in life in general.

Do you know what makes people smart? Dedication, perseverance, and continued learning....
I think this applies to any field, but particularly medicine. Some people pick this up when their small...probably the ones we categorize as "genius-like" in our college, grad. school or med. school classes. Knowing that this is what you should be doing is much different from actually doing it.

In the medical field, you must stay on top of your reading to be up-to-date on the newest evidence-based practices, and for a med. student or resident, you must read and re-read about diseases, their pathophysiology, and best treatment options. It will never stop because the field is always in flux; basic understanding about mechanisms of disease can change just as treatments/meds/prognosis change. If you slack off, you will lose information (starting with what you don't see often enough, i.e. the more rare diseases), and you will fail to pick up on advancements in your field. It is a field that demands dedication, or you risk being, dare I say, "mediocre" for your patients. Of course, like I said, medicine is not the only vocation like this. Teachers - read and re-write their lesson plans in an effort to push their students to excel or even stay interested in their learning. Engineers - back to the basics when problems arise or they have to draw up new plans for a project. Lawyers - read and re-read depending on the case they're working on. And you thought you just had to learn this stuff once in school! Nope, my memory storing brain cells aren't that good! I could go on and on, both my parents jobs are another great example. I think every person in my life, with all their varied interests, knows that to be truly excellent at what you do, you must continue to keep yourself updated. That may fit into a work day for some, but for most it means putting in some extra hours. I suppose if you chose a field that you love, this should be easy. Well, I love medicine, but this ain't easy! Unlike JD, who can randomly pick up an engineering magazine and find interesting articles (boring to me) that further his understanding/knowledge base, I let my medical journals pile while I sit on the couch surfing the internet. Grrr....I need to turn a new leaf and give up this computer time. Lol, I bet the baby's arrival will change that! Someday I will be a healthy "smart" person = regularly exercise + read medical stuff + relax with family.

So how did I get on to this subject? Well, it's because I am quite disappointed with myself lately. Do we need to revisit the subject of procrastination? Ugh. I have just spent a month of my time doing more relaxing and 'nesting' (aka procrastinating) than hard studying for my USMLE exam. I have thus pushed off my exam until a later date. I might as well get a good score since I am taking the extended year of med. school to have time with our baby! (Not worried about passing, but to me, a poor score might as well be not passing.) Can a good hard week of studying make up for 3 weeks of craigslist, facebook, shopping, enjoying the warm weather vacationing? NO. I'm not even being too hard on myself, these are the facts....as I state above, you can't be smart if you don't put in the work. So, I'm buckling down. I have a schedule put together this time to keep me on task. I have the dutiful husband on tidying up the rest of the baby necessities, AND we got the BOB at a reasonable price, which is a huge check off my list!

So here is the beautiful jogging stroller called "THE BOB." JD loves the name, the nice shock suspension, and the amazing turning radius. After checking craigslist incessantly, I finally stumbled on an ad within 5 minutes of it being posted - the only way to actually be the first to get one of these cheaper priced Bob Revolution Strollers (over 1/2 price with accessories). It was the third one I emailed/called on! The only thing we need now is the carseat adapter, which is just a metal bar across the front to stabilize a carseat facing mom/dad. JD and I are so excited to use it that we have both been wheeling it around the house randomly. I'm glad it will slow him down during a run too so I can actually keep up and run next to the two of them as a workout!

One more awesome check on the list - 1st baby shower! Ok, so it was early, but it was a blast! After the great company, food, fun games, and lots of gifts, I was shocked to come home with so many things for baby! I can't believe how much "stuff" such a little human needs...bed + bassinet, clothes + blankets, burp clothes, diapers, bathroom products....etc, etc! I'm so glad we are able to get some hand-me-down items :) Thanks to the wonderful hostesses! The last check for baby should just be the family baby shower (JD's and mine together) just a month before a little pea arrives....or should I say little monster - his kicks are no longer pea size anymore!! Oh, and of course still need a crib and dresser....on JD's list now to cut down on my ability to procrastinate.

So here I am approaching my last weekend of relaxation before 2 months of hard, albiet likely fun, work. Pediatric Emergency Medicine here I come! I hope I love it. Then off to an even more challenging rotation - Internal Medicine Sub-I in Bend. (Sub-I = sub-internship = acting at the intern level as a 4th year med. student/auditioning your skills and knowledge as a physician for a good letter of recommendation toward residency = more responsibility than ever before; ack! keep your patients alive! haha, ok maybe not there quite yet). My most immediate hurdle is my Clinical Skills exam in 2 weeks. It'll be a quick fly in to Houston, stay the night, take an 8 hour exam (12 standardized patients to interview, examine, and counsel on their diagnosis/treatment for 15 min each + 10 minutes each for charting/ordering tests on a computer outside the room), and then home back in the ED the next day. At least I'll only be 28 weeks pregnant instead of when my exam was originally scheduled at 38 wks preggers (baby's due date = 40 weeks gestation)!