Day 3072: A Lesson in Humility (also known as Pure Embarrassment)

I fainted today. In the operating room of all places.

Rewind.

I got pretty wicked sick Sunday afternoon/evening. I had a sore throat, was coughing, had body aches, and an unpleasantly painful headache. I asked for yesterday/Monday off, and I spent most of the day asleep and horizontal. I consumed two cans of chicken soup, two servings of multigrain Cheerios with almond milk, and I drank gobs of hot water+lemon+honey.

Today.

I awoke this morning, ready to go to the operating room since clinic did not sound appetizing to me. Well, I ate breakfast (multigrain Cheerios and almond milk) minutes before the case and within 30 minutes of standing there, I think three things. 1) I am really sweaty. 2) Good, sweat all this sickness out of me. 3) I have not stood this long in 36 hours. Fifteen minutes later, whilst standing over this 7-month-old, I turned to the surgical tech and asked her to retract the organ for me because I was feeling light-headed.

Next thing I know, I am dreaming about something. I open my eyes and see surgical techs, nurses, and anesthesiologists looming over me. My pediatric urologist attending is pumping my legs trying to get blood flowing to my brain. Hospital staff are ripping my gown off me because I am a sweaty mess. A damp towel is placed on my forehead. I am blinking over and over. I finally speak and the first words out of my mouth are, "I'm sorry." I was so embarrassed! "I'm sorry...I know better...I'm so sorry." They help me sit up on a roll-y chair, they hand me apple juice, and I am subsequently rolled out of the OR while my attending re-scrubs back in to the case and I am apologizing profusely as the door closes on my damp, embarrassed frame.

What a way to end my surgical sub-I!

Day 3067: WOO-HOOOOOOO

I HAVE PASSED ALL OF MY BOARD EXAMS AND I AM ACTUALLY ON TRACK TO BE A DOCTOR AS THIS BLOG IS TITLED.

Sorry for shouting. I almost peed my pants from joy!

Background, my second computer-based, 9-hour exam went ...okay. I had done so many questions, had repeated 1000 questions, and was so far removed from new questions that I honestly had no idea how I did on that exam. So, to have passed, and to have improved at least ten points (as most people do between Step 1 and Step 2), I could not be more pleased.

Here's to this crazy path coming closer to fruition!

Day 3066: Pediatric Urology

Hello hello!

I apologize for the 6-day delay! I was doing so well last week!

This month, I am on pediatric urology for my surgery sub-internship. This is a pretty cush gig -- no notes, no presentations, and no weekends! This is actually easier than my medicine sub-I! Shh, don't tell anyone!

I am in my final week of rotating on this rotation. (My last day is 9/30.) It has been fun-ish. I don't love the OR -- it's hot, I can't itch any of my itches, and I rarely get to do anything as a student. Snip some suture string here. Clamp something there. Pull this retractor. I have the most fun when I have the chance to sew! And I love to sew! The residents and fellow are great. The kids are cute. The cases are interesting. Nevertheless, I am ready to move on. Mainly because once this month is over, I don't have any real work for the rest of the year. Woo-hoo!

Blog soon!

Day 3060: Riddles, my nemesis.

Is there a way to make me good at riddles? Because I read this riddle on a blog I follow and I was extremely disappointed with my "answer" (what's the word for this -- an "answer" to a riddle?).

A father and his son are in a car accident. The father dies instantly, and the son is taken to the nearest hospital. The doctor comes in and exclaims, "I can't operate on this boy." "Why not?" the nurse asks. "Because he's my son," the doctor responds. How is this possible?

Day 3059: D-Day Explained

Shalom!

I hope my D-Day post made sense to you all. I was basically live-blogging while I was waiting for every page to go through (and I refreshed each one at least 3 time). To clarify anything that was clearly unclear...

The online applications for residency have been open since July. Since then, we have all been diligently working on our eighth draft of our personal statements, collecting our numerous letters of recommendation, inputting all of our extracurriculars, etc. September 15th, therefore, was D-Day. The day we could finally apply. Well, clearly (and I mean crystal clear), every single continental medical student (at least) had the same idea of submitting their application the second the programs began allowing submissions. The only problem is, this application service is clearly not run by anyone with any tech-savvy because the website crashed within 5 hours. Like Nuremberg crashed. To the point where they did not re-launch the website until the next day.

Why all the drama to submit on Day 1, Minute 1? The rumor on the street is, top programs only download applications once. And typically, within the first week of applications opening. So, for the people with crazy good test scores and AOA (Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical (student) society that recognizes the top 10? 15? percent of every class) and all that crap that I so evidently was not, this is their chance to a) stay at Harvard, b) get in to Harvard, c) Harvard Harvard Harvard. In addition, when you submit can be seen by programs (supposedly) and this apparently means something? That you can get all your schtuff together? That you are timely? That you are Type A, anal-retentive? Who knows with these programs? All of medical school and residency is so nebulous. It would drive a person insane attempting to figure out the annals of what makes these institutions tick.

So, the moral of the story is, I submitted before the website crashed. So, I will expect Harvard to call me personally to congratulate me on my ability to press refresh tenteen times. ...and then offer me an interview. kthx.

Day 3057: D-Day

07:35 CST

 07:37 CST

07:57 CST

08:30 CST: This has been my morning thus far. I have managed to actually access my account, but am having a buttload of trouble trying to submit my application and then actually apply for residency. Today, as I'm sure you can gather, is D-Day -- the day residency programs begin accepting submissions. This feels very Apple-iPhone 6 to me, meaning, students are allowed to submit at 9am EST and I am assuming every medical student from here to Timbuktu is trying to submit/apply as we speak, hence the server overload and 10-minutes to get from page to page. Sigh. I wish someone had told me to submit my application this weekend so I wouldn't be at Step 1 of this fifteen-million-step process (I am overexaggerating a tad).

08:46 CST: While reviewing my application (woo-hoo! Thirty minutes to make it through three pages!), I noticed a tiny grammar error. I made the executive decision to let it go (I forgot a possessive adjective; 'my' to be exact) because everything else was perfect and I need to get this thing SUBMITTED.

08:47 CST: Application submitted successfully!

08:51 CST: Trying to access the Programs tab to begin applying.

08:53 CST: This is about the sixth time I have seen this page. The link varies each time, but this is where I end up.

08:55 CST: I have to pee. But I am afraid to leave my computer. These are #medicalstudentproblems.

08:58 CST: WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?

09:06 CST: I am so close.

  

09:10 CST: So. So. Close.

09:12 CST: WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?! Go 'back' and possibly be charged $1590 instead of $745? Re-access the website?

09:13 CST: YES. FINALLY!

Day 3054: Chicago

My classmate N, Danny and I went to Chicago this past weekend. Danny has never been, so it was exciting to do tourist-y stuff and walk around the city. We will be applying to programs in Chicago so it was nice to get a feel for the city from a local (my classmate).

Anyway, here are pictures! (Jess G. I hope all these posts are satiating you ;P)

First stop -- Eataly! Look at these yummy treats!

Who is this stud muffin?

Navy Pier

Chicago skyline from Navy Pier

El Bean

Looking up within the Bean. Trippy.

The Bean = Perfect for #Selfies