10/10/10

I got an extended weekend thanks to Columbus Day; the base clinics are all closed! Leisy made sure to make my Birthday weekend extra special. We had a blast and it was a party everyday I was home. I was entirely spoiled and it was a lot of fun. It's no wonder Ike and Zeb love when I come home.




Thanks for making my Birthday perfect, Leisy! I love you so much!

Yesterday morning one of the Pediatricians took a small group of us to the animal lab on base. They taught us how to insert chest tubes and intubate babies. In order to practice these skills we put chest tubes in cute, fluffy bunnies and stuck tubes down the ferret's airways. Yes, the animals were as cute as the pictures I found online. Keep in mind that I worked as the animal Nazi for several months and killed countless numbers of animals. I now kill with no remorse. The poor rabbit had a chest tube placed on either side. We were to introduce air into his pleural space which created a pneumothorax. We observed the physiological change and then tried to evacuate the air. The animal was anesthetized and was lying comfortably on the table. When the lung was collapsed it became tachypneic, tachycardic and had prominent nasal flaring. The intern went first and I followed on the other side. I think the rabbit had expired before I even made my first incision. So much for saving the rabbit and nursing it back to health after the procedure!! The ferrets were also sedated and after several intubations may have nasty sore throats but should continue to live happy ferret lives in their quaint ferret habitat. I will see you again next year little ferret.

Dayton!!

My first week in Dayton is almost complete. I have a longer lunch break today so I thought I would update my blogitty-blog. I have been at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio for the past week. My two week "easy" rotation in Anatomy in Toledo went WAY too fast. The smells and sounds of working on dead bodies reminded me why I was so excited when I successfully completed Anatomy during first year. I was glad to be done, but I was also glad to have a light rotation and spend a lot of time with Leisy, Zeb and Ike. Our Animal Safari adventure was ridiculously memorable. This is the Hospital on base. The pediatric department has all of its clinics for general pediatrics and for specialty pediatrics in one location. They also have child psych and a peds immunization clinic in the same location. Unlike my rotation in Texas, this hospital does not have inpatient pediatrics. All of that is done at a "civilian" hospital in Dayton not too far away from base. Dayton Children's hospital is a beautiful children's hospital where any patient from the base who needs to be admitted will stay. My training would consist of time at the military base and time in the civilian hospital. To me, this is a great advantage to get the "best of both worlds" during my training.

So far I have loved every thing about this program. The staff are approachable, easy to work with and seem to have a great work dynamic. The residents seem to be a part of one big cohesive team. I love the area - Dayton seems to have surprises hidden around every corner. At night I venture out around base and have done a fair bit of exploring. I get excited every time I see a new Metropark, shopping center or restaurant. They have a Cheesecake Factory!!! Traffic is not bad, and the neighborhoods seem pleasant. Dayton has a lot of trees and they are all changing right now. I LOVE Ohio in the fall. The air is crisp, autumn smells are everywhere, I need a jacket when I go outside. What could be better?? Getting accepted to this program and having my family here with me - that's what could be better.

I have constant butterflies in my stomach. I want to come to this program so badly and really these four weeks are a time to prove myself to the program. I'm constantly on edge trying to impress and seem interested and engaged 100% of the time. I also try to play off that I'm nervous about getting in. I try to be interesting and seem like a team player. I know that I just need to relax and be myself - I'm trying to do that, I just want to make sure I'm being my BEST self ALL of the time. (The woes of a hopeful resident).

I have been working in the pediatric clinics and spent all of yesterday in the nursery. I watched some circumcisions and also participated in a C-section and new born examination. Today I worked with the developmental pediatrician which specialty I knew little about. It is a really cool specialty and combines some interesting aspects of pediatrics (psych, genetics, general peds, social and physical development). They have me rotating through many different things to help me get a broad view of the program. I'm looking forward to working with the Cardiologist, GI doctor, and the Adolescent specialist. I'll spend some time in the NICU, PICU and inpatient units at Dayton children's.