The last week has found yours truly busier than a priest at a summer camp full of boy scouts. [What? All I meant was that boys at that age seem to need a lot of guidance; and priests are wonderful counselors of our youth. ;-)]
Anyway, the dearth of posts is a direct result of my trying to keep a bunch of balls in the air [OK! Knock it off you filthy minded juvenile!]
Internal Medicine has turned out to be much more demanding a rotation than previously advertised and has required a bunch of hours of reading at home to keep up. At the end of the first week, I have only a few impressions. Firstly, Chaos seems to be the team motto at Internal Medicine. There are about 18 minutes throughout the day of focused work, punctuated by hours of running from conference to conference and making sure you make it back for rounds. Rounds, at least for our little group, are quite good. Our attending happens to be the Assistant Chair of Medicine and has quite an enjoyable teaching style. He maintains a good mix of scathing sarcastic criticism with asking questions and making sure the big-picture remains in focus. In what was one of my favorite bit of ranting on his part, he accused a resident who was futilely trying to correct electrolyte abnormalities without understanding the underlying condition, of practicing "Hospice Medicine". This is particularly funny since the patient in question is not terminally ill. Truly a man after my own heart. Another student and I had to stifle fits of laughter when he came out with this little gem.
The most interesting patient that I encountered this week was a poor soul who presented to the ED with a series of ulcers about his legs that were doubling as a hatchery for these guys:
In case your entomological skills aren't quite up to snuff, these are maggots. It seems that along with the myriad of physical maladies this patient is suffering from, he also has a serious case of self-neglect. Interesting note: it wasn't the wriggling of his wounds that brought this man to the hospital, it was his anemia-induced weakness that prompted him to seek some medical attention.
The mind boggles.
No longer an intern (The Salt Lake Tribune, 7/6/13)
10 years ago
6 Comments:
Maybe its the influence from current events --- or perhaps a deep seeded psychosis -- but the first thing I thought about when I viewed this photo was ---- Democrats ! :)
"He maintains a good mix of scathing sarcastic criticism with asking questions and making sure the big-picture remains in focus."
Somebody is going to be in heaven for the next few weeks, at least during rounds.
I'm a sucker for witty repartee. ;-)
Hey, I didn't have time to read your entry but nice pic of all your old girlfriends!!
The EX
hahahahahahahahahaha!
have been catching up on your writings after a few months in entertainment exile. good stuff! i can hardly wait for all the fun.
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