Tying up loose ends.

So this entry is just a mish-mash of unrelated commentary. I finished my pediatrics subinternship, and it ended up being an amazing experience. I had great attendings who were super invested in teaching, as well as funny, kind, brilliant residents. All in all awesome. I was on a floor that was part general peds, part pulmonary (kids on ventilators), and part overflow from other services. That was disappointing at times, since I really wanted a general peds experience, but the great team I had was well worth it.

Taking care of neurodevastated kids made me think about some new and challenging things. I had one little patient, a four year old boy, who had no higher cortical function and only partial brainstem function (his heart worked, but the ventilator had to breathe for him). He was there because his kidneys were failing and because his respiratory failure was getting worse. Being his "doctor" was challenging because I could rarely think of any ways to help him...I mostly deferred to the pulmonary attendings, who were really spectacular. The thing that troubled me most is that I kept asking myself, "Who is my patient? Who am I taking care of?" My patient had no awareness, was unresponsive to all external stimuli...and required all sorts of machines to keep his organs working. Should kids in persistent vegetative states be maintained on machines? Is that what is best for them? I don't have the answers to any of these questions...but at least this last month has given me the opportunity to think on them.

Anyway...complete topic change. I think the highlight of my last week was watching the season premiere of The Office, which is my favorite show. Everything I hoped for Pam and Jim-wise happened in a way that was very satisfying and, in my opinion, consistent with their characters. I also found the rest of the show hilarious...I know the reviews have been kind of plus-minus on the episode, but I LOVED it. The Office is back! Yeah!

Now I'm on ambulatory women's health, which is a bit monotonous but with an AMAZING schedule. I worked, oh, about twenty-two hours last week. Pretty sweet. And I'm really good at pelvic exams and Pap smears now...which was my goal in taking the rotation. We don't get a lot of training in that as pediatricians, and it can be really important in adolescent medicine.

The whole interview thing is going great, too. I have five interviews so far and no rejections. I really want to hear from three more programs and then I'll be done. But I'm really excited about the interviews I already have...they're from some of my favorite programs!!! I'll keep my very small readership updated. ;)