|
Friday, June 30, 2006
Transition Week
Time to Say Goodbye, Goodbye
After my first day of orientation on Monday, I got to spend some time with Amara before she left for Chicago. We had dinner with her family, during which she shared with us stories and pictures from her trip to Ecuador. Afterwards, I hung out with her while she unpacked and then repacked. We were up quite late that night until about 2am.. I ended up staying overnight and slept on the couch since I would be taking her to the airport in a few hours. When I woke her up, I got a nice rise-and-shine-life-sure-is-fine hug. =) Dropping her off at the airport, I got another nice hug. I made sure to make it a good one since it would have to tide me over for the next 5 weeks..
On Call
During my first rotation in pediatrics, I'll be on call every 5th night, starting on the night of Tuesday, July 4th. Staying overnight at a hospital will definitely be a new experience for me. Hopefully, children of all ages celebrate the holiday safely by practicing firework safety and do not get into any trouble that will necessitate a visit to the hospital that night.
Besides having to do call, I now have the privilege of carrying a pager by which and can be called upon whenever. I'm officially leashed. When I first got my pager, it kept going off and sending me the random message "88." It was most unusual (and embarassing) since it was paging me during rounds (a session in the morning where we are giving reports on patients), and everybody was probably wondering why I was "so popular." As it turns out, the person who owned my pager number before had set-up some sort of call forwarding from their desk phone and it was going crazy. That person was likely no longer working at OHSU and the source of the call forwarding was no longer traceable. They set me up with a new pager number, so fortunately, the problem is now remedied.
Stuck On You
We have had two workshops this week featuring needles. The first had to deal with placing peripheral intravenous (PIV) lines. After viewing a demonstration, we practiced putting IV lines in each other. Since I was one of the last to finish, at one point during my second placement, the lights were turned out on me so that they could start a powerpoint presentation. While it can be tricky to place a line, just imagine trying to do it in the dark! Fortunately, it wasn't that dark and I was almost done, having already done the careful parts.
The second session's topic was needle safety. We learned to uncap, fill, recap, and handle syringes and needles in a safe manner. To practice, we injected bananas and oranges with saline and other fluids. The scary part is that approximately half of all students end up getting stuck during their rotations. While a lot of it is in your control, sometimes it is not. If you ever think you have a bad job, keep in mind that it is someone's job to sort/process through used/disposed "sharps" trash (which includes glass, needles, etc.). Always in perspective..
Supporting Life
Once again, I have been certified in the ways of adult, child, and infant CPR. Basic Life Support is one of those things that people expect all medical professionals to be trained in, and for good reason. While the success rate for being able to resuscitate someone is fairly low, it's always worth the effort to try and save someone's life in an emergency. In fact, it's one of the reasons I became a doctor in the first place.
At My Fingertips
Handy computing will soon be mine as I just purchased a Palm TX for use during my rotations. I've already begun to accumulate the various useful programs I might need while I'm in the hospital. Plus, with the 2GB memory card I have, I'll be able to carry lots of pictures and music with me wherever I go! I'm really looking forward to getting it and setting it up.
10:25 PM Albert
|
..a life in DUO