Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Howdy! This post is brought to you by the song "the Fox (on the town-o)" and by the number 1-- the former being the song currently playing on my stereo, and the latter... well, that's the number of exams I have left to go this semester. Yaaaaaaaay! (picture Kermit the frog saying that while waving his arms and you understand how happy I am... er, will be after the exam)
Today I went shadowing Dr. Bentley at the old St. Lawrence hospital... When people found out I was majoring in biochem/medicine and psychology, they used to ask, "so, you planning on going into psychiatry?" And more recently, my classmates in DPR said something like "gee, you did a great job listening to that patient... have you thought about psychiatry?" And I would tell them no, no... the mind is a tough place to go. I feel comfortable caring for a patient's body and what they present to me as their psycho-social-spiritual life... but to have responsibility of their mind is pretty overwhelming. Today though I got a view of what inpatient psychiatry is like. There was the front area where stable patients would live and have freedom to move around; and the back area where patients who were sicker, who needed more attention, would stay. I admit being nervous and a bit overwhelmed at first. Not that the patients were overtly scary; rather, it was hard in some cases to know what was delusion and what had been fabricated for attention. I didn't say much to the patients, but I watched the docs conduct ten-minute assessments of mental status and half-hour interviews; I thought about what lay behind the line of questions and the purpose of each one. We saw a wide variety of patients today, from very delusional (and very sick) to manipulative, to possibly ready for discharge, to vulnerable and genuinely asking for help.
It occurs to me that part of what made the experience so disconcerting was that these patients had no outwardly-visible disease; we didn't have to wash our hands going from room to room; there was no rash, no broken bone, no tumor to remove... In family practice shadowing I've seen healthy patients for checkups and sick ones with illnesses to see and treat; pediatrics is most often well-child checkups. Today was altogether different.
On a totally different note (finals week is so great, because I have the freedom to arrange my time as I please).... Last night I had some friends over for lasagna dinner and a break from studying :) It was my first attempt at making lasagna, and I'm happy to report that it was good, near as good as my mom's. (I've watched her do it how many times?!? I even called her monday to make sure of the recipe... plus, I know she loves being the person I call about cooking advice)
Back to virology-- one more exam one more exam one more exam
Today I went shadowing Dr. Bentley at the old St. Lawrence hospital... When people found out I was majoring in biochem/medicine and psychology, they used to ask, "so, you planning on going into psychiatry?" And more recently, my classmates in DPR said something like "gee, you did a great job listening to that patient... have you thought about psychiatry?" And I would tell them no, no... the mind is a tough place to go. I feel comfortable caring for a patient's body and what they present to me as their psycho-social-spiritual life... but to have responsibility of their mind is pretty overwhelming. Today though I got a view of what inpatient psychiatry is like. There was the front area where stable patients would live and have freedom to move around; and the back area where patients who were sicker, who needed more attention, would stay. I admit being nervous and a bit overwhelmed at first. Not that the patients were overtly scary; rather, it was hard in some cases to know what was delusion and what had been fabricated for attention. I didn't say much to the patients, but I watched the docs conduct ten-minute assessments of mental status and half-hour interviews; I thought about what lay behind the line of questions and the purpose of each one. We saw a wide variety of patients today, from very delusional (and very sick) to manipulative, to possibly ready for discharge, to vulnerable and genuinely asking for help.
It occurs to me that part of what made the experience so disconcerting was that these patients had no outwardly-visible disease; we didn't have to wash our hands going from room to room; there was no rash, no broken bone, no tumor to remove... In family practice shadowing I've seen healthy patients for checkups and sick ones with illnesses to see and treat; pediatrics is most often well-child checkups. Today was altogether different.
On a totally different note (finals week is so great, because I have the freedom to arrange my time as I please).... Last night I had some friends over for lasagna dinner and a break from studying :) It was my first attempt at making lasagna, and I'm happy to report that it was good, near as good as my mom's. (I've watched her do it how many times?!? I even called her monday to make sure of the recipe... plus, I know she loves being the person I call about cooking advice)
Back to virology-- one more exam one more exam one more exam
# posted by Joanna @ 4:51 PM
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Sorry about the delay in posting-- it's been a busy spring since spring break, and then to top it off the most recent post (april 14) decided to pretend to be published to my web page but never actually was... It's working today.
So I have a few things to be grateful for today. First, I've finished neuroanatomy and my afternoon labs (dpr, omm, c-skills) and tomorrow I get to finish pathology, and thursday I will finish microbiology. Hooray, with the cat (classes) away, the mice (me and my classmates) will play-- LOTS!
Second, I just talked with my older brother Peter, who at the end gave me some good news from my niece, Emma. Well, this was somewhat strange since Emma is only one and a half years old and isn't given to talking in full sentences yet, let alone coming up with "good news." But Pete explained the mystery-- Emma is going to be a big sister! WOO HOO! This aunt is super-excited. The due date will be October 27... wow, now that I think about it, that's pretty close to Emma's birthday of Nov 1. Nice. Maybe they'll even be twins two years apart.
Third, I saw my old housemates (from the summer Clemens house) and we all went to a sex toy party... this being my first one, I didn't know what to expect. If Veronica and I do end up hosting a party for our classmates and friends, we will definitely have to invite at least one colorful personality to entertain the group (this girl on friday was hilarious.
Fourth, life is good-- Aaron and I are planning a trip to Kzoo for Lisa Bigelow's wedding, then to the UP (Pictured Rocks for camping, and then to Josh's dad's 80 acres of wilderness and good fun with friends) He and I spend lots of time together, and we always have things to talk about (a slight exception today at lunch when both of us were brain-fried from studying!!) And we're able to study together; two weekends in a row we've spent some good hours doing our separate reading; so proud of us!
Ok, so I am going to be good to myself (this is my latest goal-- to go to bed before midnight as much as possible, and to work out at least twice a week)and go to bed at 11:30...
So I have a few things to be grateful for today. First, I've finished neuroanatomy and my afternoon labs (dpr, omm, c-skills) and tomorrow I get to finish pathology, and thursday I will finish microbiology. Hooray, with the cat (classes) away, the mice (me and my classmates) will play-- LOTS!
Second, I just talked with my older brother Peter, who at the end gave me some good news from my niece, Emma. Well, this was somewhat strange since Emma is only one and a half years old and isn't given to talking in full sentences yet, let alone coming up with "good news." But Pete explained the mystery-- Emma is going to be a big sister! WOO HOO! This aunt is super-excited. The due date will be October 27... wow, now that I think about it, that's pretty close to Emma's birthday of Nov 1. Nice. Maybe they'll even be twins two years apart.
Third, I saw my old housemates (from the summer Clemens house) and we all went to a sex toy party... this being my first one, I didn't know what to expect. If Veronica and I do end up hosting a party for our classmates and friends, we will definitely have to invite at least one colorful personality to entertain the group (this girl on friday was hilarious.
Fourth, life is good-- Aaron and I are planning a trip to Kzoo for Lisa Bigelow's wedding, then to the UP (Pictured Rocks for camping, and then to Josh's dad's 80 acres of wilderness and good fun with friends) He and I spend lots of time together, and we always have things to talk about (a slight exception today at lunch when both of us were brain-fried from studying!!) And we're able to study together; two weekends in a row we've spent some good hours doing our separate reading; so proud of us!
Ok, so I am going to be good to myself (this is my latest goal-- to go to bed before midnight as much as possible, and to work out at least twice a week)and go to bed at 11:30...
# posted by Joanna @ 11:35 PM
Sunday, April 13, 2003
What a busy month March ended up being! I knew April was going to be busy, what with the end of the semester rapidly approaching and regular exams. In some ways, I've lived weekend to weekend-- I've been busy having adventures out of town... In other ways I've been skipping quickly through the week-- getting ready for this exam or that, going to class and labs.
A list (short version): two Pathology and two Neuro exams; two DPR videos; much hanging out with Aaron's friends in Detroit then Ann Arbor; saw Seth Bernard at the Ark then braved ice and snow to visit his farm (and see the shaggy cattle, peacocks, listen to good music and sit in the sauna!); Mom visited for Guarneri String Quartet; being elected secretary for Wilderness Med group; learning basic moves for chess (the game I said I'd never play); finishing salsa lessons and starting ballroom dance class; talking about planning the Med Business group; watching the Steppin In It four-piece group Friday after seeing Savion Glover in "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk"
And even just Saturday-- I went to a clinic by WMS and learned how to roll a kayak-- or more important, how to flip it UPRIGHT after being upside down. I had fun; a friend talked me through it. I rolled the kayak back up four times pretty much on my own! Then, since in the land of the blind (non kayakers) the one-eyed man (the one who has rolled a kayak) is king, I attempted to teach Komeko learn to roll hers. I've been telling everyone about it-- I think it's cool that I have a skill (kayak-flipping) that I didn't have 4 days ago!
Looking ahead: two weeks of class, a few finals, then a week off for Lisa's wedding, my birthday, and a trip somewhere to camp with Aaron. Class starts again on the 12th of May. I'm already planning summer weekend camping trips, Wheatland Traditional Arts fest, a Holistic Med national conference ... Whew! where do I fit in the classe time??
A list (short version): two Pathology and two Neuro exams; two DPR videos; much hanging out with Aaron's friends in Detroit then Ann Arbor; saw Seth Bernard at the Ark then braved ice and snow to visit his farm (and see the shaggy cattle, peacocks, listen to good music and sit in the sauna!); Mom visited for Guarneri String Quartet; being elected secretary for Wilderness Med group; learning basic moves for chess (the game I said I'd never play); finishing salsa lessons and starting ballroom dance class; talking about planning the Med Business group; watching the Steppin In It four-piece group Friday after seeing Savion Glover in "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk"
And even just Saturday-- I went to a clinic by WMS and learned how to roll a kayak-- or more important, how to flip it UPRIGHT after being upside down. I had fun; a friend talked me through it. I rolled the kayak back up four times pretty much on my own! Then, since in the land of the blind (non kayakers) the one-eyed man (the one who has rolled a kayak) is king, I attempted to teach Komeko learn to roll hers. I've been telling everyone about it-- I think it's cool that I have a skill (kayak-flipping) that I didn't have 4 days ago!
Looking ahead: two weeks of class, a few finals, then a week off for Lisa's wedding, my birthday, and a trip somewhere to camp with Aaron. Class starts again on the 12th of May. I'm already planning summer weekend camping trips, Wheatland Traditional Arts fest, a Holistic Med national conference ... Whew! where do I fit in the classe time??
# posted by Joanna @ 12:55 AM
