Sunday, July 22, 2007

The top ten things I learned in my first week back in med school....

1. Fruit punch Accelerade is not to be consumed during lecture when you are tired and wearing a white coat

2. One should always eat before going to observe or assist surgery. Not eating or drinking will result in morbid embarrassment and near loss of consciousness. But you can make one hell of a first impression...

3. A person actually can live off a steady diet of Cliff bars and sports drink

4. If you go to the hospital to get bowel surgery you have to prepare yourself to give a full detail of your flatulence to a large white-coated group of strangers every morning.

5. I'm pretty sure that I have forgotten more about medicine in the last 4 years than I learned in the first 2 years of med school. It's sad to realize the minutia that I worked so hard to cram into my brain has been replaced with useless knowledge of sports drink composition, aerodynamics, and overuse injuries.

6. Time flies when you're busy. Even a 29 hour shift.

7. Sleeping just 1.5 hours at 4:30am can make you feel like a million bucks. Really.

8. Despite feeling like a million bucks until 3pm, sleeping 1.5 hours will catch up to you and make you feel like a vegetable for the rest of the day

9. Wearing scrubs all day, although loose and unflattering, is a wonderful perk for the fashion retarded (like me)

10. It is really, really going to be hard to not go into surgery. The lifestyle sucks, but I love it. Every day is a new challenge, and most of the time you can actually fix a person's problems. What a concept!



Ok, time for me to get my lazy butt out of this house and get some fresh air. I'm not quite up for a ride (which is very sad since I haven't ridden since last Sunday), but I'm going to go make one labrador very happy by taking her to her favorite watering hole.

As a sidenote, congrats to all of those competing at IMUSA today! I've been watching some pretty awesome performances by the Cleveland mafia and can't wait to hear all about your races. A special note to my training buddy Jen who is in the middle of the marathon right now. Go Jen!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you made it through your first week. It been really slow on ST without you.

Me said...

Scrubs are awesome. I have a pair of scrubs bottoms that I lounge around the house in. They are wonderfully comfortable.

Great list.

Angry Runner said...

You probably look BANGIN HOT in scrubs. Pics please! Who drinks Accelerade during a lecture anyways? Do you med skoolers go out drinking afterwards and chase your shots with Gu?

I am/We are proud of you. I/We mean that.

Doris said...

Go Dr J... although sounds like hearing about flatulence first thing in the morning may not be my cup of tea! ;o)

Sounds like scrubs are way to go - no need for wardrobe worries on that front! :O)

Judy said...

Hey - that is a fun post of the top 10. Glad to hear you are enjoying your time - you truly did have a call to medicine. I would faint!!! :-)

Jess said...

Such a fun post. I'm also a fan of super comfy scrubs.

Unknown said...

Glad to hear you survived. I know you'll be posting less often...but when yo do post, you sure make it entertaining!

Me said...

Did you have to explain to anybody that the red stains on your white lab coat where fruit punch Accelerade and not blood?

Anonymous said...

About those scrubs. They are so comfortable that I am 20 lbs overweight. [wearing them you turn into shapless blob. However with your drive and energy for killing yourself one tri at a time, you will probably keep your tini figure.

Charlie said...

Your funny. I am not sure if I feel any more confident of the Med industry, but you are funny. Hopefully you get alittle sleep here and there.
I am sure my co workers would be more honest about my gas than I. Can I bring them into surgery?

Rachel said...

Medical school is like Ironman version II. I think your passion for medicine is awesome. I love how you're using sports drinks and energy bars to get through your long days. Hang in there! It goes by very quickly (so I've heard).

Neese said...

29 hour shift!!? :-o

Unknown said...

One thing I learned from your post...I'm glad I never went to medical school.

Great job getting at it, though.

Dances with Corgis said...

Yes I definately saw some of the "cleveland mafia" out there on the course!

Nice top 10 list :)

Angry Runner said...

(YAWN)

Oh damn, sorry about that...

Anonymous said...

Just maybe Angry, you are tired from all of that shoe shopping.

bbieberitz said...

rub some blood on the fruit punch and claim it was a saved life and look like a hero!