tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40249482024-02-28T10:40:17.517-05:00Bostonian in NYI packed up my life from my native Boston roots to come to medical school in NY in 2006 and I moved upstate in 2010 for my EM residency. Here are my experiences, rants, whining and whatever else my fingers spurt out onto the keys.
Disclaimer: None of what is mentioned below should be taken as medical advice. Although I am a doctor, I am not YOUR doctor so I have absolutely nothing to offer in the way of medical advice.
This blog is as HIPPA compliant as I can make it.Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.comBlogger194125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-83262765679271943002011-04-19T15:06:00.003-04:002011-04-19T15:52:44.758-04:00A year in the life...So apparently intern year is time consuming. I take back all of the bitching I did in medical school...it was miserable, but all I had to do was pass the next test and get into a residency. At least I wasn't responsible for people's lives. I look back on some of the things I wrote, and what an insecure, pampered and petty ass I was.Needless to say, Intern year has been an interesting experience. Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-60424037109100628032010-07-20T22:22:00.002-04:002010-07-20T22:33:01.625-04:00A couple days offIt's been nice to have an orientation month to ease into things. I spent the weekend home moving my stuff out of my mom's house, met a few of my med school friends for dinner in Boston, came back my apartment with beer supplies in hand and brewed up a nice Belgian Witbier with a clone of Abita's Turbodog on the way sometime this week. I also managed to fit in an 11.5 mile run yesterday and one ofBostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-39206595120734105762010-07-19T11:47:00.004-04:002010-07-19T12:00:09.420-04:00Novel Homeopathic Therapy3:40AM- Rashclick-click...sweet this will take 5 minutes to dispo...WTFNurse was convinced it was scabies...it wasn't. Turns out one of the frequent flyers was in not for his usual drunken altercation with facial trauma but for his poison ivy...for the 4th visit in 48 hours. For the fourth time, he was discharged with instructions to GO TO THE PHARMACY AND GET SOME HYDROCORTISONE and BENADRYL. DrBostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-23690571631807513192010-07-17T17:19:00.005-04:002010-07-17T17:55:10.148-04:0047 f-ing RBCs and other fun...So I got to do my first LP in the department the other day...heavily supervised by one of the more intimidating docs. He was actually quite the patient individual while teaching one on one. He did a great job of teaching in a friendly manner and not making the patient flip the fuck out because I'm doing it for the first time... The LP goes smoothly, and I'm in the spinal canal on my first stick Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-6862558881682598872010-07-09T21:41:00.002-04:002010-07-17T17:19:32.387-04:00Sorry...it's July"It's OK, it's July" is something you hear a lot as an intern. But you quickly learn that it means different things coming from different people:Other EM residents run around to pick up the slack that us slower members of the herd create...they see the sick patients, the low-acuity urgent care cases and manage to keep things from grinding to a halt. When they look bedraggled, and I've chased themBostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-6632636497892979872010-07-08T12:58:00.003-04:002010-07-09T21:41:28.385-04:00FireworksI strolled into the first day of work on July 3rd with expectations that I would be a little overwhelmed by everything that was happening. After all, everything would be unfamiliar to me: the docs, the systems, the nurses, the techs, my job as Dr. Bostonian...everything except for the medicine. I dropped my bag off, met the other intern on with me in the lounge and we headed down to get things Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-80790510648852983282010-06-29T23:43:00.003-04:002010-06-29T23:48:38.324-04:00RollinAfter suffering through HOURSSSSSSSSSS of GME orientation and VA orientation over the past two days, jumping through the flaming rings of paperwork/med school/repetitive PPD tests I have some schwag that says Dr. Bostonian, MD and a matching prescription pad.EM orientation tomorrow where I get my monogrammed scrubs and free lunch, a few days off and then evenings for July 3 and 4...I'm on the medBostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-53491208687628018292010-06-27T23:15:00.002-04:002010-06-27T23:52:27.679-04:00Interwebs on and a new formatI was without interwebs for around a week and it hurt my soul...but now, FINALLY I have some lovely broadband all to myself (and a new TV with some HD/DVR capabilities to allow my brain to turn to mush after my crappy shifts and so I can catch all of those shows/sporting events that I'll probably be working through).I'm all moved into the new Upstate digs! I'm in a very nice/affordable apartment Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-32080398120491824822010-06-19T00:35:00.006-04:002010-06-27T23:15:21.253-04:00The donorYou do it hundreds of times in medical school, so much so that it becomes reflexive. Knock, open door, walk into a patient's room, introduce yourself with a smile and a handshake and then promptly tell the patient to get nekkid and toss a gown at them before invading every inch of their privacy. Then you close by saying something reassuring, and telling them they can get dressed. I had the Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-76443343606933505852010-06-15T00:51:00.003-04:002010-06-15T01:09:36.775-04:00Brain...activate...I've realized that my brain has been completely shut off for the past 6-8 weeks. Nothing new coming in (except for experiences and beer) and nothing creative (or even remotely intelligent) coming out. So in an effort to not kill every patient that I see over the first week of internship, I have tried about a dozen times to crack open my copy of the ACLS book to get the brain rolling with some Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-86629906528662804252010-06-08T22:58:00.005-04:002010-06-14T01:21:46.672-04:00Where I've been, where I'm going...My 5-year college reunion was a great time (except for the 2 day hangover and some time-traveling) and it did give me a chance to catch up with a bunch of quality folks that I hadn't seen in far too long. With the newly minted MD after my name, mt friend's girlfriend altered my nametag to read Dr. Bostonian. I spent a lot of time explaining to the non-med folks why I've disappeared for the last 5Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-88428283436921191742010-06-04T12:47:00.006-04:002010-06-04T14:21:26.034-04:00I feel panicky...I feel oldI have two more glorious weeks off before my orientation starts up and I've been hanging out at my parents house in MA. They're relocating to the west coast because of my dad's employment situation (now employed, but on the west coast). So by hanging out I mean I've been cleaning out all of the relics of my childhood and being forced into unpaid labor to get the house ready for the market (Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-36961222447761501742010-05-29T22:17:00.007-04:002010-05-30T23:54:23.096-04:00Brief update and transitionsSo where has this former blogging addict with an increasingly jaded streak disappear to for the past few months?2 words: 4th year. I finally hit the sweet spot between matching and graduation where nothing mattered but enjoying the last few weeks of having absolutely no responsibilities. How to celebrate? An epic 3 week trip to Utah for credit learning about wilderness medicine with awful views Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-35010467268635048262010-04-15T22:14:00.003-04:002010-04-16T01:31:49.831-04:00Status post matchOk...it's been a month since the last post. Bad blogger...I know. And it's not for lack of things to write about, but for lack of any sort of desire to write them and a nasty case of acute "oh crap I'm going to be a doctor soon"itis.What you've missed while I was away:The MatchWoke up to a 70-degree blue-bird day, cooked a nice pancake breakfast for my friends and mixed up some adult beverages toBostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-22964304466874792882010-03-15T14:25:00.003-04:002010-03-15T17:10:26.296-04:00BLACK MONDAY...For those of you that don't know...today is affectionately known in the academic medical world as Black Monday...the monday before the actual match. You get an email in your inbox at 11:57 AM titled "DID I MATCH?". Double click. Valsalva... Sphincter clench.........F*&^ING LOAD ALREADY!!!!!Congratulations! You have matched.Check the Match Site at https://services.nrmp.org/r3/ on Thursday, Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-65336229842078274032010-03-04T00:48:00.000-05:002010-03-04T00:49:12.346-05:00Welcome to the Jungle...So I sucked it up for the past month on the Medicine floors paying the hospital about $200/day to play intern... and I have never been sooooo frustrated with how things run in the medical world. Diagnostics/studies/consults are ignored or delayed because of where the patient's request was put in line behind the other 600 beds in the hospital. Nurses are paging with annoying dietary/social work Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-58202539005445725672010-02-26T23:45:00.003-05:002010-02-27T00:38:02.432-05:00Against Medical AdviceTime for a little thought experiment here folks:Imagine that you weigh about 500 pounds. You get one of those big boy beds with the inflatable mattress that prevents new decubitus ulcers on your ass (like the one you have at home). You haven't moved said ass from your bed since last fall. You've got a couple new-ish metal joints because your massive girth destroyed the perfectly good ones you Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-60138684751122527562010-02-14T22:07:00.006-05:002010-02-14T23:44:39.963-05:00Can we strangle patients?Have you ever had one of those days where your stupid patients have stupid problems that the poor nurses have to page you for? Here's two dandies from today:Patient 1- 30's female with a personal and family history of DVT, now at 15 weeks gestation with a DVT in her thigh. Should be simple enough, hypercoaguability work-up, heparinize and discharge on lovenox. Yeah, right..."Where was your Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-45459602103502121882010-02-11T23:46:00.002-05:002010-02-11T23:51:41.997-05:00Stupidest dispo of the week96 yo M- medically cleared for transfer to Inpatient Psych Unit for suicidal ideationListen...if I ever make it to 96 (and I plan on killing myself with a lifetime of bacon, red meat, beer, scotch and family cardiac history long before that) and I feel like dying, just put me on Comfort measures and send me to hospice so I can have some compassionate care instead of medical wards or the fucking Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-20869831608984734172010-02-11T23:43:00.002-05:002010-02-11T23:46:18.510-05:00Words of wisdomI love old folks because they drop these hilarious little pearls off the cuff without thinking twice. Yesterday from an 81 yo guy:"You know you've become old when moving your bowels is better than sex ever was."Man, I hope I never get old.Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-76693931669269972032010-02-11T23:27:00.002-05:002010-02-11T23:43:36.676-05:00my whereaboutsI know that I've been a bad blogger...but 4th year has been sort of more than I thought it would be.What have I been up to since October when I used the blog as a procrastination tool for step 2?Training for my first marathon in March, sort of half-assing it through partly due to weather, partly due to interviews/traveling and partly due to lazinessResidency interviews- invited to 16, went to 14 Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-77552798649666688762009-10-14T20:40:00.002-04:002009-10-14T20:54:37.127-04:00Cross posting...Two things that I put on my facebook page today that I'm cross posting...1) the above picture2) this link: Suck it up, America (via DocShazam)Now it's time to watch some TV and pack for the drive back to Massachusetts tomorrow...huzzahBostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-74369946148781593912009-10-13T14:06:00.002-04:002009-10-13T14:15:04.881-04:00FML...AGAINLappy is expired again...t-3 days until exam...FML. Looks like I'm sitting in the library for the next few days.I'm pretty sure that the poor innocent Dell tech support guys had no idea what to do with the irrational, angry, over-caffeinated, sleep deprived medical student on the other end of the phone blabbering on about some sort of "medical licensing exam" with "major career implications" Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-15758389486146539532009-10-12T13:19:00.002-04:002009-10-12T13:27:54.454-04:003.5 days left...AAAAAHLappy is now back and fully functional thanks to its third motherboard and the nice technician that came out to install it! I spent most of Saturday on campus using the computers there (shudder) and had some serious flashbacks to my first two years of med school. Luckily one of my friends let me borrow one of his 3 computers and I managed to get by alright. I had been thinking about postponing myBostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4024948.post-77991001606922463382009-10-10T14:50:00.003-04:002009-10-10T15:00:43.104-04:00GAAAAAAAAAAAAH...FMLNot sure if everyone's seen this website but it's called F my life, pretty classic stuff on there. If there is such a thing, I had the med school equivalent of that today.I'm taking Step 2CK in 6 days and I woke up to find my computer dead with 30% of USMLEworld to go. FML.Bostonian in NYhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16806067349785623843noreply@blogger.com3