Blogmnesia

I have been so busy lately, that I have forgotten to post any of my inane ramblings for some time now. My apologies to the 2 of you who read this regularly. Anyway...



After doing only a week of GI, I have started my Pediatrics rotation last week. Apparently there was a major scheduling SNAFU between the hospital and the hallowed halls of my school's clinical affairs office.

:-0

See that? That was my shocked face.

Tentatively, I am scheduled to return to the GI Department at the end of these 6 weeks and finish my rotation there.

As for Pediatrics, so far so good. Because of the scheduling, I am the only medical student on the rotation for the next couple of weeks, which has both pluses and minuses. I suppose this arrangement would be ideal for someone with an interest in Peds as a career, given the "spotlight" of being the only student. For me, I never heard the crying calling to become a Pediatrician; although I'm sure that most of what I learn here will be valuable in my upcoming life as an ER doc.

I have only been here just over a week but I have made some observations.

For instance:

• The stereotype seems to be true- Pediatricians really are Shiny Happy People. I guess working with the Cute and Cuddlies attracts happy people to begin with, and the enviornment seems to keep them happy. I wont make any obvious comparisons here because I don't want to get anyone's scrubs panties in a bunch. ;-)
• Perhaps it is because I am a father, or getting older, or perhaps it is just something that we are all evolutionarily predisposed to, but I really do understand the attraction to treating children exclusively. First, they are all so damn, ..well....cute. Aside from this, they are pound-for-pound the most honest, brave, optimistic, and loveable little creatures you'll ever come across. Not to mention entertaining- nothing will snap you from your "rambling attending daze" than watching a 2 year old sneeze into the (open mouthed) face of her examiner.
  
• The flip side of this coin, of course, is the agony that comes with the territory. When all the medicine in the world won't make a difference; and you are forced to helplessly sit by and watch the light fade from the Cute and Cuddlies as they die. There are fewer things that are sadder than to look into the eyes of a suffering child. It must be like falling in love and having your hear broken for the first time- over, and over, and over again. Fortunately, this doesn't occur as often as it does at the other end of the age spectrum, or there would be considerably less Shiny or Happy to go around.
  
• And finally, this is something I learned long ago, but was recently reminded. There are some people who are so shockingly ill-prepared to be human beings themselves, that the idea of their being entrusted with the life of a helpless child is figuratively and literally, criminal.