MC, M.D.

It figures...

2007-09-27T18:37:00.000-04:00

I knew it was going to happen, but I had no idea it would happen so soon. After endless cries of "End the War!...Elect me and I'll end the War", the three top Democratic front-runners have all said that if they become President, they're not sure we'll be out of Iraq in 2012. So which is it? Oh how quickly convictions can change when it's time to get elected...

Tragedy

2007-09-20T14:53:00.000-04:00

I've always found it interesting how emotionally attached we can become to people they've never met. Most of us have idols, people we truly look up to and admire... our heroes. They can be family members, academics, professionals, artists, atheletes, religious figures, thay can be anyone. Whoever they are, we are so mesmorized by what they acheive that we become emotially attached to them, and whatever it is that they do, whether they write a book or win the World Series..it becomes a huge part of our lives.

I lost one of my heroes today.

I realize it's a name that means nothing to you, my readers, but a GIANT in the world of motorsports died this week. Colin McRae, World famous Rally driver, 1995 World Rally Champion, and true ambassador of his sport, was killed on September 15th in a helicopter crash less than a mile from his home in Scotland. He was 39 years old. With him were his young son, his son's friend, and another friend of the McRae family. Colin was arguably the most dynamic, and at times, emotional driver in the modern era of his sport. Whether he was winning, breaking down, or crashing spectactularly, he was sensational to watch. Because of his personality and his talent, he brought new fans from around the world to the pinnacle of motor sports that is Rallying. His raw talent amazed me as he routinely did things with an automobile that should not be humanly possible, and his influence helped to fuel my passion for all motorsports. His absence and this tragedy for his family will be sorely felt by millions throughtout the world.

Colin McRae, you will be sorely missed.

So...you didn't miss much

2007-09-20T14:47:00.000-04:00

So...Mrs. MC, M.D. and I bought a house, I graduated from Medical School, became a real Doctor, moved to another state, started a residency in Family Medicine, and have survived the first several months relatively unscathed. There, now that you're caught up on all the details...I'm going to try...AGAIN...to keep this up to date.

I'm gonna tweak the format a bit. I'll continue to keep some regular updates on the Mrs. and me for all of the old gang that tunes in, and some random things that seem important to me, but, I'm going to start adding some perspectives on medical education, residency, and health care in general. Maybe it'll be boring, maybe it'll be interesting...time will tell, but I've got a perfectly good and vaugely anonymous soap box to stand on here, so it's time to start spreading my musings. Who knows....maybe someone I don't know will actually come and take a look.

Time for an update

2007-05-16T22:02:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay folks, there's been a lot on my plate! So, Mrs. MC, M.D. and I are closing on our first ever home purchase in the next couple of weeks. It's been a remarkablly stressful time! Plus, I've been doing my Neurology rotation...and I finish medical school in seven more days! A LIFETIME of working towards a goal...and my last day is next Friday! My posting may be pretty sparse until the move is done, but come Mid-June, I hope to get things going again...and I'll be posting some thoughts on medical education and the healthcare system overall to see if I can attract any readers outside of "the gang".

Stay tuned!

!!!!YES!!!!

2007-04-22T20:10:00.000-04:00

After 10 years, 10 YEARS of trying, I FINALLLY made it to a Sevendust concert! For those of you who don't know me well enough, or couldn't intuit it from my earlier post, they are, far and away, my favorite band.

They released their 6th album, Alpha, in March and are touring up a storm. Sevendust started out as a pretty heavy band. Lots of intense guitar and growling vocals. Over the last decade, they had gradually become more "mainstream" with less intensity and more melodic tunes. They decided it was time to get back to their roots...and that they did!

Soo......I got to the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom early and was near the front of the line to get in. I was near enough that, once the doors opened, I was able to walk right up to the front and center and lean the fence, putting me SIX FEET from the stage! After lots of waiting, the two opening bands, Invitro and Diecast, played their sets. Overall, not bad. Invitro was driving driving drums and guitar with a growling vocalist who evoked bits of Mike Patton's (of Faith No More fame) characteristic vocal stylings. Diecast was more traditional heavy music and screaming/singing front man. Up until now, everyone was suprisingly well behaved. We waited another half an hour for Sevendust, and the MOMENT the lights went out...WHAM, the wall of people behind me SLAMMED into me, pinning me against the fence. Two mosh pits opened up before the lights came back on and we could even see the band. For the next two hours, I was mashed, punched, elbowed in the spine, had my glasses knocked off twice, had my elbows deliberately hyperextended, my feet stompted on, and my hands pounded, all with the intent of hurting me badly enough that I couldn't defend my spot at the fence anymore. Well SCREW THEM! I even ended up defending some stranger's girlfriend when she was pushed my way and he couldn't reach her anymore. There were girls having panic attacks and men too injured to stay being lifted out of the crowd by the rest of us so the security could get them the hell out of there! For those of you who remember the Creed concert at the Cumberland County Civic Center, that was a cake walk. Overall, I made out OK. My back is still really sore and I've got some deep bruising in my right hand that's making it a bit tricky to use, but it was sooooooo worth it. Sevendust puts on a great show! The best part was, after waiting so long to see them, Lajon (the lead singer) and I shared a "rock moment". I reached my arm up towards him, he reached back at me, we locked gaze and both sang the lyrics for a good 5 seconds together (it was nowhere NEAR as homosexual as it sounds, I swear!) As if THAT wasn't enough, I was one of the lucky ones who got a "meet and greet" with the band as part of my ticket. After the show, I got a chance to talk to the whole band for a minute, and the first thing Lajon said to me was "Weren't you the guy up front?"
"Hell yes!"

He remembered me!!!!

Now, I'm extrememly fed up by all the celebrity-envy in our cuture, and have been known to think less of people who fawn all over hollywood actors, but damn I was such a fanboy! It took all of my self control to not gush all over them and make a fool out of myself.

Overall, I can't WAIT for the next time they come to town. Most liekly, I won't be able to go to that show either, but damnit, I'll try!!!

Here's a little mp3 player I "borrowed" from the Sevendust MySpace page. Four tunes from the new album. If you're new to the band, I reccomend you try "Driven". The player is a little buggy in my blog. If it doesn't work after a minute, click the stop button and click play again. It can take it several seconds to start the stream.

>

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Geriatrics

2007-04-11T21:11:00.000-04:00

The rotation has been going well so far. The practice where I'm working is a "Federally Qualified Health Center", i.e., the government pays us extra to ensure that we take extra medicare and medicaid patients (because at the rate Medicaer/caid pays everyone else, you can go out of business because the reimbursement is so poor). It turns out that much of Lewiston's Somali patients use Medicaid, so I'm seeing far more Somalis of all ages than I am elders. It's been a real eye-opening expeience seeing some of the socio-cultural differences between our cultures and how it plays into their perception of disease and the medical system. On a lighter note, I've got some time off next week to do something I've never gotten to say before...Mrs. MC, M.D. and I are going to look at Real Estate. You KNOW you're growing up when you're researching morgages and real estate listings. I must admit, it feels bizzare.

Bonus points for anyone from my generation that can tell me what movie this clip steals from...

Lewiston

2007-04-01T20:42:00.000-04:00

I just got in and settled. I haven't run into any roving bandits yet...but I've come prepared...

Hi ho, Hi ho...

2007-03-30T17:00:00.000-04:00

Well, vacation has drawn to a close and I actually need to get back to "work" on Monday. Between interviewing, classroom time, and vacation, it's now been 12 weeks since my last clinical rotation. Needless to say, I feel a bit rusty. So, it's off to Maine this weekend, where we may be buying a new car for Mrs. MC, M.D., and my 4 week Geriatrics rotation starts on Monday. If we do end up with the new Crab-mobile (all will become clear when you see it), we'll be sure to post about it here.

...and since there wasn't exactly a flurry of comments about the first Moto GP race this season, I'll just keep those thoughts to myself.

Food for Thought

2007-03-23T23:48:00.000-04:00

Regardless of your opinion on our military deployment, take a minute to absorb the magnitude of this number.

Welcome Mrs. MC, M.D. to her new blog

2007-03-18T00:40:00.000-04:00

The missus decided that she'd like to try writing a blog, and several hours later, she's making lists, hotlinking streaming video..., I'm so proud!

Oh, and I'll let her explain what her blog name means.

It's Official

2007-03-16T08:29:00.000-04:00

Well anonymous-comment-leaver, the Match has come and gone, and for the next three years I'm going to learn Family Practice in.....

The Maine-Dartmouth Family Residency Program in Augusta, ME.

Augusta is a small hospital with no other residents besides Family Practice (don't have to "compete" with other residents to take care of patients (i.e. peds residents take all the kids, OB/GYN residents take all the deliveries, etc)and having spent three months there during medical school, I've built some strong relationships with a lot of the faculty there. All that, AND it's close to home.

I'm still a little bewildered by the whole process, as it's been very stressful not knowing where the next phase of our life was going to be, but now it's time to start planning adult things, like finding a house, finding Mrs. MC, M.D. a job etc.

Perhaps most importantly, I'm now on vacation until April 2nd!

MotoGP Round 1

2007-03-12T23:09:00.000-04:00

Casey Stoner won the first race of the 2007 season, and of his MotoGP career this weekend. Now that the engine size of all the bikes has been reduced from 1000cc to 800cc, all the manufacturers are running brand new engines, and the Ducati was dominant! Valentino Rossi (the best rider in the series, and quite possibly, of all time) caught up to Stoner through the turns on every lap, but on the very long straight of Qatar, Stoner would rocket away. If the Ducati is able to maintain this power advantage throughout the season, they'll be unstopable! Defending Champion and American, Nicky Hayden, has struggled to keep pace throughout the off-season and ended in 8th position, while his teammate rode to a very convincing 3rd. Nicky's got a lot of work to do before he'll see the podium again.

Click on the time sheet to see all of the results.

So close....

2007-03-12T22:41:00.000-04:00

I got an e-mail today from the NRMP (National Residency Match Program) telling me that I matched (got accepted to) one of the programs I applied to. This is GOOD! What's less good is I won't know which one it is until Thursday at 12:00...

Ah HA!!!

2007-03-02T19:25:00.000-05:00

After years...YEARS of waiting, I'm finally getting to go! My favorite band, Sevendust, regularly tours all over the country, but EVERY time they come to Maine/NH, I've got an obligation that I can't get out of. THIS time, my schedule is clear and I've got a ticket. Not only THAT, but it's a ticket that includes a "meet and greet" with the band!

Exxxxxxxxcellent

Here's a link to an online flyer from an old tour with Mudvayne. If you don't know what Sevendust sounds like, it'll let you listen to a Mudvayne tune (good), and a Sevendust tune (even better!)
Mudvayne/Sevendust

The List is in

2007-02-25T17:28:00.000-05:00

Well, the match list is in. For those that I haven't explained this to yet, every graduating medical school student in the country enters their "rank list" into a giant compouter. A rank list is a list of the residency programs each applicant interviewed with, arranged in order of preference, i.e., (this is my 1st choice for residency, this is my 2nd choice, etc.). Then, every residency program in the country makes a list of it's potential cantidates, (i.e. This is our favorite potential resident, this is our 2nd favorite, etc.) and all of those lists go into the big computer as well. The big computer then chews on the data for a while, and come March 15th, every graduating medical student in the country will find out where they're headed.

Stay tuned!

Map Time

2007-02-13T19:12:00.000-05:00

It seems to be the trendy thing to do...so here are the maps of all the states / countries that I've visited.

Photo Journal of Oregon

2007-02-04T09:42:00.000-05:00

Alright, get your bandwidth ready....

The wife and I flew from Manchester to Chicago to Portland, OR to Klamath Falls, OR for our first interview. First up, a few views of downtown. It's a nice smallish town of about 40,000 total. In terms of geography, it reminds me a bit of Augusta. There is a "downtownish" area, but much of the town is spread out, and not superconcentrated within a few blocks.

And a couple views from the edge of town

Needless to say...it's quite picturesque. It's a beautiful valley nestled between several mountains, and the lake you see, Upper Klamath Lake, is the largest lake in Oregon. We spent a few days there, and I feel perfectly comfortable saying on the blog that I really liked the program. It's a smallish hospital that's undergoing a massive rennovation, and quite honestly, is going to be the nicest, most advanced hospital I've ever seen. One of the things the wifey wanted to do while we were on the West Coast was to see the Pacific ocean. Most of you know just what an Ocean lover she is, so we planned on it from the start. It turns out that this part of Oregon is pretty rural due to the geography. The "next town over" of any size happens to be 60 miles away over a frozen mountain pass, and the quickest drive to the coast (Crescent City, CA) happened to be 4-5 hours away, so...we got in the car and started driving... We drove next to Klamath Lake for a while, and kept seeing scenes like this...

...which we THOUGHT we lakes, but no...everything you see in this picture up to the base of those mountains is farmland. We got fooled three times by the damn things. As you can see, things are starting to look a bit more snowy...they got, in fact, MANY bits more snowy. This is what the road looked like for 20+ miles.

It's worthy of note, that in Oregon, the State does not use salt or dirt on the roads, they spread traces of gravel. Yes, it is MUCH better for the environment and I applaud them for that, but it does make for...slower driving. You can just make out some groves that are grated into the ice pack. They might give more traction, but as you drive down the road, each ridge grabs at the tire if you're not exactly perpendicular, and you can feel the car being pulled left and right as you go. It took a while to adjust, but we made it unscathed, and emerged into another of Oregons many climactic zones. High desert --> snowy mountains ---> to this...

One of the things that really struck us both was the residential planning in this part or Oregon. There are VAST stretches of essentially untouched wildreness, pocked with housing developments with hundreds of houses parked on top of each other. It's certainly a different kind of "rural" compared to northern New England with lots of old farm housess on big parcels of land. The area looked like this for quite a while, until we got to one of California's Refwood State Parks.

This was a motorcyclists PARADISE. Miles and miles and miles and miles and miles of twisty, switchbackery through these breath-taking valleys and over ridges. We were quickly struck by 1) just how tall these trees were and 2) just how straight they grew. This land would be an old shipbuilders dream if there was an easy way to get these monsters out of here. We tried and tried to come up with ways to really capture just how massive and impressive these trees really are, and after hours of brainstorming, we gave up. There is no way to appreciate the size of a redwood / sequoia forest (Trees of the same genus) unless you see it with your own eyes. At this point of the trip, we were just driving through. On the way back, we stopped for a few hours and took a few pictures that might give you a vauge idea of just how big we're talking about.

We eventually emerged out of the forest, and after a short time, we arrived in Crescent City, CA. A town that feels somewhat like Old Orchard Beach in Maine. Bustling in the summer, shuttered in the winter. This was the view from our hotel balcony.By this time, sunset was beginning to approach, so the next photos of the beach weren't quite as grey as they appear here.

We had a great evening, and woke up to this the next morning before we headed back to Klamath via the Redwoods...
So, time to head back to Klamath Falls. We decided to stop at the State Park to explore a little more. From some of the promotional materials on the CA State Park website, it turns out that this was the park George Lucas used to film the planet of Endor in "Return of the Jedi". So if you want a sense of the place, go watch the movie! (Sorry we found no actual Ewoks). As I said before, you can't appreciate the scope of these forests until you see them. Maybe this will give you an inkling...

By now, our necks hurt from looking up so much, so it was back through the park...

...towards the mountains...

...over the mountains...

...past those tricky fields...

...and back to Klamath Falls...

...where we got on this and flew to Portland, OR.
...and that, is...the rest...of... the story.

An End to Deliquency

2007-02-04T09:03:00.000-05:00

First, let me apologize about everyone's comments. I didn't think anyone ever left any. It turns out that I needed to approve them first, so...wow, people are actually visiting. Sweetness.

The interview trail has come to a close. I've been everywhere and we're pretty sure what our list is going to look like (1st choice, 2nd choice, etc). Again, becuase this is public and if I put too many details, people could figure out who I am, I won't say much about individual programs or my preferencecs until after "The Match" in March, but after that, I'll post some thoughts about each.

After my two months away from the hospital for interviews (with equal parts interviewing and being lazy on the couch...SOOOOO nice), I'm back at the mothership from some M-F classes. Next up, that travel log I promised...

West Siiiiiide

2006-12-22T14:03:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks. After scoping out more places in New England, Mrs. MC, M.D. and I got on a plane and flew out to the Pacific Northwest to look at two hospitals in Oregon. Since this blog can be read by anyone, including people from the various residencies I've visited, we've decided to keep our opinions of each to ourselves. After we get over the holiday rush, I'll post a bit of a travel journal with plenty of pictures. You might even see an Ewok! Try and figure THAT one out!

We're headed back to Maine tomorrow for the holiday season. I know that several of my loyal readers will be on the road, but for anyone else out there that might want to meet up over this festive season, drop us an email. We'll do lunch!

More soon.

Almost half-way

2006-12-08T10:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back from interview #4 out of 10, and we;ve got a couple days off before we head out to the West Coast for the 1st of two trips. The plus, we're really looking forward to the trip. The minus, we're flying back on Christmas Eve and it'll take all day to get home.

On the Road Again...

2006-11-28T20:58:00.000-05:00

You want updates. I've got your updates right here!

The wifey and I went home for the Thanksgiving weekend and had a FABulous time at Friendsgiving X. While I was there, I found out that someone ACTUALLY reads my blog! Consequently, you know who you are and the staff here at MC, M.D©, thanks you! We drove back to NH on Sunday, and I had interview # 2 of 9 yesterday and today. I get a day off and head out for # 3 on Thursday

I can change, I can chaaa-aaange

2006-11-16T22:33:00.000-05:00

So, I'm trying to refocus my efforts and make this blog a bit more entertaining to read, rather than being a monthly business report like it has been. Unfortunately, I'm studying for the national board exam on Tuesday, and am leaving for Maine on Wednesday, so it'll be a little while between updates. At least now you know I INTEND you to be more entertained, even though you're not....yet.

The most expensive musical instrument ever

2006-11-15T21:42:00.000-05:00

Forget Stradivarius....hello Renault RS26

Formula 1 engine sings

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Like Sands Through The Hourglass....

2006-11-09T22:17:00.000-05:00

These are the Elements of our lives...

It's been a while since I've posted some internet stupidity for you all, so here you go...but be careful! I Pinch!

Update? Suuuure, why not?

2006-11-09T21:35:00.000-05:00

So much has happened since my last real updates in August. I finished my time in Radiology. Though you spend very little time with patients, I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Each film is a puzzle with no published solution. There's a lot of detective work involved, and I may not be a Sherlock Holmes, but I think I pulled of a Dr. Watson rather nicely! I was asked by more than one radiologist if I would switch my specialty and join the fold. I think those are the best compliments a medical student can get!

After my month as a radiologist, it was time to go to Maine for my "Acting Internship" in Family Medicine. Every med student in the country is required to do an active internship to graduate. Most do it in the specialty that they want to pursue. Essentially, an acting intern is treated like a real resident physician, and not a student. It gives the students a chance to see what the real workload is like as a doctor and to see if they like the specialty as much as they think they did. The grade that you receive for it is often the most important one on your transcript. It shows the residency programs that you apply to whether or not you can handle the workload and perform as a resident. I spent my 4 weeks in Augusta, ME and it was an intense, and reqrding month. I was working about 85 hours a week and "in charge" of my own patients (with frequent looks over my shoulder to make sure I was doing everything right). The two most memoraable were a 20 year old who suffered an anoxic brain injury and spent several weeks in the ICU, and a 30 year old who we diagnosed with AIDS, and shortly thereafter, end-stage cancer. I feel like did very well, and received an "Honors" as my grade, the highest grade my school bestows!

So that was August/September. Now, September/October was back home for a month as a Dermatologist. Again, I liked it alot more than I thought I did. I assumed that I would find the care "superficial" (heh heh...) in that I wasn't helping patients with more serious medical problems. It turns out, when someone has psoriasis and has been itching over their entire body for years on end and digging at their skin, it can be pretty debillitating and Dermatologsits can make a real difference. Plus, there's something to be said for someone coming in with a specific, simpler skin problem and being able to offer them a treatment or procedure to cure their problem, rather than trying to convince an overweight, smoking, carnivore to change his or her entire life. I worked with some great residents while I was there and was again asked to give up Family practice, this time for a career in Dermatology. There is ALSO something to be said for workng 40 hours a week and making 2-4 times as much as a Family Practioner working 60+.

I finished Derm towards the end of October and that is the end of my clinical rotations for several months. I'm taking the time to study for the national board exam and to travel to my residency interviews. I spent the first two weeks studying for the next part of the National Medical Board exam, the "Clinical Skills" portion. In this all day test, I was required to see a dozen "simulated patients" (well-trained actors) and was evaluated on my history-taking skills, physical exam skills, ability to talk to each patient about his or her condition and what plans I had for testing, and lastly, a note for their medical records. It's a "Pass/Fail" exam that I haven't heard back from yet, but I'd be shocked if I didn't measure up. I'm now taking the next several weeks off to study for the "Clinical Knowledge" portion of the exam, a nine hour, multiple-choice exam covering all the things a medical student needs to know about medicine - not an easy test to study for last-minute. I take that on November 21st.

In the meantime, I officially sent out my Family Practice Residency applications on October 26th to 9 programs...and got 9 interviews from November to January! I've applied to Maine (Lewiston, Augusta, Portland), New Hampshire (Concord), Vermont (Burlington), Oregon (Portland, Klamath Falls), and Washington (Seattle, Tacoma). So needless to say, combined with Friendsgiving and parents/in-laws in two different states for Christmas, I've got some travelling to do over the next 3 months!

That's the brief update (believe it or not) and ought to bring my reader(s?) up-to-date! I'm going to try to keep my updates a little more regular, but we've all seen how well that's worked out so far.

It's been a while

2006-10-01T21:49:00.000-04:00

I know that I said I'd be better about keeping this thing up to date, but it's been an increasingly busy and stressful time. I'll have a full update for y'all in a few weeks, but for now, wonder why I took the time to post this filler as opposed to writing about what's been going on...

Back to Maine

2006-08-24T08:06:00.000-04:00

My time pretending to be a radiologist is coming to a close, so this weekend, it's off to Maine for a month of Family Practice in Augusta. If anyone is going to be around and wants to meet up, drop me a line!

Back from the Midwest

2006-08-17T17:05:00.000-04:00

I'm back from Kansas City, MO after a three day trip to the American Academy of Family Physician's National Medical Student and Resident conference. It was a good chance to meet with residency programs from across the country and start networking with people before the interview season starts this winter. While I was there, I, OF COURSE, ate barbecue. For those who don't know, and shame on those of you who don't, Kansas City is one of the four bastions of barbecue in the United States along with Memphis, TN, Texas, and North Carolina. The highlight of the trip was my dinner at Arthur Bryant's, arguably the most famous BBQ joint in the world! It was sooooooo good, but by the time I had eaten BBQ for dinner, doughnuts for breakfast, BBQ for lunch, and BBQ for dinner, I was done! It's now back to radiology for a couple of weeks before I head to Augusta, ME for Aug 28th-Sept 22nd.

Spore

2006-08-01T15:58:00.000-04:00

Oh...my...God.

After hearing Matt mention it in Boston last weekend, I thought I'd check it out. From Maxis and the man who brought you "Sim City" and, "The Sims", comes a game without the word 'Sim' in it! You start as a single-celled organism and "evolve" your way through time, ultimately becoming an intergalactic civilization. Sounds kind of far-fetched, but it appears to be the ultimate in allowing a video game player to express his creativity! This game is destined to become a HUGE cult classic! There's so much I could say about it, but I'll let Mr. Will Wright himself explain it!

Mr Wright himself giving a 30 minute demonstration of "Spore"

It's worth every minute!

The best part of this demo is that it's now over a year old! The game has continued to become more polished and refined, likely due out in Q1 or Q2 2007.

I think IGN.com said it best when they said "Put simply, Spore is going to destroy our lives."

Back to Work

2006-07-26T15:06:00.000-04:00

Well, Stef and I spend this last weekend in Boston and had a great time. Not only did we get to see the usual suspects (Dan, Linds, & Matt), but we ALSO saw Melissa AND Aria AND Kal AND Matt's significant other Jessica. A veritable cornicopia of social feastery! In summary. Magic good, heat bad, Ice Cream GOOOOD, humidity bad.

Now that I think about it, with the exception of seeing Matt, much of the old gang still sees each other on a regular basis as everyone lives in Boston now. It's a rare and treasured opportunity for me to see so many familiar faces at the same time. So, for Matt's, Stef's, and my sakes, don't take your dinner dates and cordial visits for granted. I'd give quite a lot to be there flinging the fez around every week.

Just need a quick place to host a pic...

2006-07-21T23:20:00.000-04:00

Sooo...there I am....on the bike...

Formal Apology

2006-07-19T11:46:00.000-04:00

The Management of "MC, M.D." would like to issue a formal apology on behalf of it's staff regarding our previous post. Though our writers often use sarcasm as a tool to keep their thoughts entertaining, it has been brought to our attention that the use of sarcasm in the last post, "The Phoenix" was excessive.

Inpatient Internal Medicine is an excellent specialty that takes care of those individuals sick enough to be placed in a hospital and offers a wide range of very effective treatments. The knowledge possesed by Internal Medicine physicians forms the foundation of care for the adult patient. It is true that, as the health care system is currently structured in the US, time constraints limit the time that physicians have to spend with each patient. It is also clear that the complex nature of the care delivered to hospitalized patients allows multiple opportunities for miscommunication and oversight, at times expending financial resources where they are not needed.

The frustration apparent in our staff member's was not meant, in any way, to demean or underemphasise the importantance of this medical specialty. We, at "MC, M.D." happen to like Internal Medicine physicians.
Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

~The Management

PS. We mean what we said about the Surgeons! ;-)

The Phoenix

2006-07-16T09:47:00.000-04:00

After a rather lengthy hiatus / forgetting I had a blog, I've finally made my way back. Given how separated my friends and family have all become, this still seems the best way to keep people up-to-date without lots and lost of phone calls.

So....

Much has happened since January 2005, let's sum up.

The second year of medical school was tedious, but I finished.

The third year

Family Medicine
Did it in Maine and it was the best experience of 3rd year.

Internal Medicine
Done at Dartmouth and I discovered that I really don't like taking care of people in the hospital.
You hardly get to spend any time with your patients, and spend most of the day ansewrwing phone calls, doing paperwork, and generally followong up on the things that other people are supposed to be doing. If you don't and something doesn't happen the patient doesn't get what he or she needs and it's your ass. Plus I see hundreds, if not thousands of dollars wasted on needless tests and inefficencies every day. If you want to know why healthcare is so expensive in this country today, one of the reasons is all the money we're pissing away in our hospitals.

Psychiatry
This was definately something different than I'm used to. I spent a month at the State Psychiatric Hospital in Concord, NH {Lightning flashes behind the old stone building on the hill} on the child psychiatry unit. There were some children with some organic, physically caused mental illness, but it was here that I got a chance to see, up close and personally, what happens when parents fail there children. The behavioral issues, the insecurities, bouncing from foster home to foster home. It was definately an enlightening experience. After my month in Concord, it was back to Dartmouth for a few weeks on the Psychiatry Consult team. Basically, if someone was hospitalized with a physical illness and just happened to have a mental illness as well (or the medical team was too lazy to help a patient work through some emotional issues), we were called in to help.

Surgery
Ah yes. It's now after Christmas and January of '06. My day starts when my alarm goes off at 3:50AM. It's dark outside. I get to the hospital an hour before the rest of my surgical team because, well, because I'm the medical student {end sarcasm - there was actually a good educational reason for me to get there before the whole team so I could see how each patient had done overnight - resume sarcasm} We started rounding on patients (visiting them) at 6AM to make sure they were alive. We then wrote orders for the nursees to keep our patients alive until we came back to see them in the afternoon. (You see, surgeons have a ...reputation... for seeming less concerned about how their patients are actually doing and addressing their needs other than air food and water). We would then head off to the operating room. It was a Hell of an experience. There's something to be said for discovering someone's problem, opening them up, fixing it with your hands, and then closing them back up. After the surgeries are done, we then chcek on our patients in the afternoon and evening, make sure that they're alive, and write orders that they be kept alive until we see them again tomorrow. It's now 5PM, 6PM, 7PM, 8PM. I leave the hospital. It's dark outisde. I do this 6-7 days a week for two months. Despite all the above sarcasm, I was this close, this close to choosing orthopaedic surgery as my specialty. I just don't think I could survive the above schedule for the 5 years of ortho residency. I'd lose my mind.

Pediatrics
Ahh Peds. Inpatient Peds (taking care of kids in the hospital) was difficult and frought with some of the same concerns I had about Internal Medicine. Outpatient peds was fun. There were a lot of stuffy noses, ear infections, crying toddlers, and tedium, but it was a great chance to get to know a family and see how I could help.

OB/GYN
Baby catching. Lot of hours, lot of uncomfortable Moms, learning that childbirth has its own unique smell, but WHAT a payoff.
Gyn - lot of pap smears, lot of menopause, lot of diseased genitalia. Enough said.

...And that wraps up the third year of medical school. All of the above experiences are things that Dartmouth requires to graduate. Everyone does them. From here on out, all the experiences I pick are things that I want to do, not that I have to do, so....here's my upcoming schedule.

Palliative Care
Radiology
Family Medicine
Dermatology

I'm two weeks into my Palliative care rotation and have two weeks to go. I'll have a lot more to day about it when it's over.

Outside of school, there is some semblance of life as well.
I just celebrated my two year wedding anniversary with a trip to Water Country in Portsmouth, NH. Next weekend, Stef and I head to Boston to meet up with the ol' gang for a couple of days, and the week after that, I fly out to Kansas City for a few days to attend a National Family Medicine conference (If you couldn't tell yet, Family Medicine is where I think I'm headed). So, we're still out here in New Hampshire and I'll try to keep the posts a little more often than every 18 months!