Changing Again

It just never ends. When you finally think you might have figured out one hospital, you get kicked on to the next one. Last month was spent in Tyler doing family practice. I wasn't too thrilled that the flu or whatever was going around, but I did get to see some interesting stuff. One morning was spent visiting with a WWII POW and he had many stories to tell. Before we left, he gave us all a copy of his journal that he kept while in a German POW camp. I think the most incredible thing on the rotation though was that one of my attendings was a fellow bagpiper, scuba diver, and pilot. Since medical school began a year and a half ago, flying and diving have been out of the picture. I picked up piping during second year and it has been a nice diversion since. Back to the rotation. My attendings and residents were a lot of fun to work with as most of them enjoyed teaching and they often let me see the patients first. I was also impressed with how many Christians were in the program there.

But, family practice is over with for now. I am on to pediatrics and for the next two weeks I will be on pediatric cardiology. Today was my first morning on inpatient and I was quite surprised to find that I was presenting my patients to a group of 15 people as opposed to 6. The first few days weeks in a new hospital are always intimidating. You don't know how to find your away around and you know nothing of the subject, in this case cardiology for kids. Anyway, I should learn a lot.

Mid-Rotation Report

Two pictures. One is in the jungle of Ecuador and the other is in the mountains surrounding a crator lake.




It is mid-rotation family practice and I am back in Dallas for the weekend. Unfortunately, we do not have reliable computer access at my current rotation site, so I have to come back to work on a powerpoint presentation. Given that I am in Dallas, I figured I would go ahead and get another bagpipe lesson. I think I am up to five songs on the bagpipes. The transition from the chanter to the pipes is actually pretty challenging.
Family pratice has been interesting. I knew I would see a lot of runny noses, but I didn't think it made up so much of their work. Maybe it is just because the flu is going around, but I bet 90% of the patients we are seeing are complaining of upper respiratory tract infections. Unfortunately, a ton of these patients get antibiotics. I hope there are a few drugs out there that still work when I need them.