The month of October was a pretty rough one. It felt like an endless stream of exam (after exam, after exam, after exam), papers, and clinic. But, in the middle of the stress of exams and piles of papers, a classmate very aptly reminded me that there's only 20 weeks left of our didactic careers....EVER! Only 20 weeks of sitting day in and day out in a classroom, for 8 hours of lecture, until it's over, and we're released into the "real" world of 3rd year clinical rotations.
Outside of the classroom, I am having more and more days where I feel fairly confident in my abilities to receive a chief complaint of a patient (say abdominal pain), go in, do an H & P, and from that, figure out with fair certainty what they have (or the top possibilities, pending lab work/imaging studies), and coming up with a broad treatment plan. I am in a fantastic family practice rotation right now, and, being the fall-early winter season, I am starting to see lots of URIs and stomach flu. But, this repetitiveness has helped me really cement my abilities to convey information to my patients, which is great. It's the first rotation thus far that I've been able to act as the primary provider, and follow through on an entire visit.
However, a mild freak-out period has just ensued, because there are ONLY 20 weeks left to somehow learn the rest of everything that I will need to know to treat patients before being let loose in clinic. I hope that I can somehow retain the important stuff, and know enough at the end of May to not look to stupid in front of my preceptors.
I am so happy that the month of October is behind me, and November holds the promise of only 3 exams (feels like a wonderful break ahead), a 6-day Thanksgiving break, and having the time (if I choose to actually utilized it) to study for final exams, and not end up cramming during the first week of December. Tomorrow is a self-declared snow day, since there's a rather large winter storm warning, and a pile of snow, ice, and very windy conditions expected for tomorrow. The thought of making some mocha mint Dunkin' Donuts coffee, sitting at my desk, and studying for my exam on Thursday sounds better than dragging myself to campus for 4 hours of class. Maybe I'll even put on some Christmas music (hey, Halloween has passed....I take it as license to start the Christmas preparations!)
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
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Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Finally coming together
The month of October was a pretty rough one. It felt like an endless stream of exam (after exam, after exam, after exam), papers, and clinic. But, in the middle of the stress of exams and piles of papers, a classmate very aptly reminded me that there's only 20 weeks left of our didactic careers....EVER! Only 20 weeks of sitting day in and day out in a classroom, for 8 hours of lecture, until it's over, and we're released into the "real" world of 3rd year clinical rotations.
Outside of the classroom, I am having more and more days where I feel fairly confident in my abilities to receive a chief complaint of a patient (say abdominal pain), go in, do an H & P, and from that, figure out with fair certainty what they have (or the top possibilities, pending lab work/imaging studies), and coming up with a broad treatment plan. I am in a fantastic family practice rotation right now, and, being the fall-early winter season, I am starting to see lots of URIs and stomach flu. But, this repetitiveness has helped me really cement my abilities to convey information to my patients, which is great. It's the first rotation thus far that I've been able to act as the primary provider, and follow through on an entire visit.
However, a mild freak-out period has just ensued, because there are ONLY 20 weeks left to somehow learn the rest of everything that I will need to know to treat patients before being let loose in clinic. I hope that I can somehow retain the important stuff, and know enough at the end of May to not look to stupid in front of my preceptors.
I am so happy that the month of October is behind me, and November holds the promise of only 3 exams (feels like a wonderful break ahead), a 6-day Thanksgiving break, and having the time (if I choose to actually utilized it) to study for final exams, and not end up cramming during the first week of December. Tomorrow is a self-declared snow day, since there's a rather large winter storm warning, and a pile of snow, ice, and very windy conditions expected for tomorrow. The thought of making some mocha mint Dunkin' Donuts coffee, sitting at my desk, and studying for my exam on Thursday sounds better than dragging myself to campus for 4 hours of class. Maybe I'll even put on some Christmas music (hey, Halloween has passed....I take it as license to start the Christmas preparations!)
Outside of the classroom, I am having more and more days where I feel fairly confident in my abilities to receive a chief complaint of a patient (say abdominal pain), go in, do an H & P, and from that, figure out with fair certainty what they have (or the top possibilities, pending lab work/imaging studies), and coming up with a broad treatment plan. I am in a fantastic family practice rotation right now, and, being the fall-early winter season, I am starting to see lots of URIs and stomach flu. But, this repetitiveness has helped me really cement my abilities to convey information to my patients, which is great. It's the first rotation thus far that I've been able to act as the primary provider, and follow through on an entire visit.
However, a mild freak-out period has just ensued, because there are ONLY 20 weeks left to somehow learn the rest of everything that I will need to know to treat patients before being let loose in clinic. I hope that I can somehow retain the important stuff, and know enough at the end of May to not look to stupid in front of my preceptors.
I am so happy that the month of October is behind me, and November holds the promise of only 3 exams (feels like a wonderful break ahead), a 6-day Thanksgiving break, and having the time (if I choose to actually utilized it) to study for final exams, and not end up cramming during the first week of December. Tomorrow is a self-declared snow day, since there's a rather large winter storm warning, and a pile of snow, ice, and very windy conditions expected for tomorrow. The thought of making some mocha mint Dunkin' Donuts coffee, sitting at my desk, and studying for my exam on Thursday sounds better than dragging myself to campus for 4 hours of class. Maybe I'll even put on some Christmas music (hey, Halloween has passed....I take it as license to start the Christmas preparations!)
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