GrrShhNguyen's Xanga

boo, CNN

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:52:10 GMT

Does Your Doctor Judge You Based on Looks
Or maybe the younger doctor in question was just an intern who didn't know any better. . . (been there, still there throwing out ridiculous treatment plans)

I don't judge based on skin color, but definitely on smell. If you reek so strongly that I can smell you before I draw back the ER curtains, I will definitely not be spending as much time talking to you beyond your basic H&P. I know, I know, when you're sick, the last think you're thinking about is bathing. Never said I was perfect.

checking in

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:29:08 GMT

Ann Arbor is super-duper. I am still working on the new friends part, but it's tricky when the only people you regularly hang out with are colleagues and patients. For what it's worth, I do enjoy spending time with my cohort. And today, one of my patients invited me to her kennel up north for a ride in her dog sled when she gets out of here. (She was a med patient, not psych, which might have given me pause.) I'm more interested in going to see if this tiny old lady will really yell, "MUSH!" or whatever it is they yell in the Iditarod.

Anyway, I survived long call #2. My scattered-brained night senior paged me x6 on the same patient in the space of one hour. (Day senior is cupcakes and sunshine, tells me I'm a good intern when I'm being a dumbass, brings us coffee sometimes, and most importantly, actually teaches us stuff. LOVE.) Whatever, I didn't need that sleep or anything. What really irks is the indignity of doing an unnecessary fecal occult at 3 AM (to heparin gtt or not?). I would have vomited had I eaten anything prior. What made me really want to cry was the attending telling me the next morning that the patient would have gotten a heparin drip regardless of guaiac outcome. FML

ACLS and cider don't mix

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:28:46 GMT

Why does ACLS (adv. cardiac life support) training take two days? I wish I would have remembered to take the recertification course (4 hrs) instead of letting my certification lapse and having to take this stupid-long one. Anyway, when the psychiatrist is running a code, you know you're in trouble. On the plus side, I learned two cool things about the UM hospital today. 1) track lights on the ceiling guide you to the code (so, try to casually saunter in the opposite direction) and 2) the elevators ding twice when going down, once when going up (no more rushing an elevator going the wrong direction).

I like all my colleagues so far. When I interviewed, the program director specifically stated that things like AOA (medical honors society) or a 4.0 GPA were *potential* red flags - possibly rabid gunners or prima donnas. Guess we'll see how that works out soon enough. Anyway, I've organized a dinner on Saturday (Ethiopian food). Wonder how many people will show up! There are some serious foodies in the group, so I'm hoping we can have occasional dinner parties when I get my apartment fixed up.

Visited the Planet Rock gym with Michael while he was here. Seriously, this gym makes my old one look like a kid's playground. There's this cool-looking stalactite in the corner, but I don't know how to lead-climb (or belay) yet. I love it, but I probably won't have much time to go climbing these first few months. They keep us pretty busy at the VA, where I'm starting on Wednesday. Wish me luck. :)

London

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:33:30 GMT

I'm really just goofing off here, not trying to see any of the usual touristy sights this time since I've been to most of them already, but there are a few worth a revisit (British Museum, Covent Garden, Regent Park Inner Circle). This week has mostly been about relaxing and spa treatments. Went to the Turkish baths yesterday where I did the hot, hotter, hottest rooms, then jump-out-of-your-skin icy pool cycle several times before a body scrub and falling asleep for a couple hours in one of their comfy beds.

Today I continued being totally useless (unless being decorative counts) and had an eyebrow threading (best arches ever for only five pounds), a haircut, and my first leg waxing ever. The leg waxing didn't hurt like the threading, but the attendant swore I didn't need it because my leg hairs are so fine. Hm. That would explain why it feels like the hairs were just broken off, because it still feels slightly stubbly. I get much better results from shaving. Oh well. At least the haircut looks GREAT.

Watched a dude in pink hotshorts juggle a chainsaw on a unicycle in Covent Garden. Man, that guy was a riot. "Kids, if your parents don't give you at least a tenner to give the crazy man in the pink shorts, they don't really love you. Just kidding. You know that's a joke right? It means you're really adopted. . . And I'm your real father."

Some Asian dude (his card says he's the Malaysian minister of finance?) asked to take a photo with me today, except his English was so heavily-accented, I thought he wanted me to take the photo for him. Ok, so maybe I'm guilty of stereotyping too sometimes. I'm so ready to go home and hear familiar Okie accents again.

damn abomination (i.e. slugs)

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:50:45 GMT

Two recent facebook status updates:

just peeled off the remnants of a large slug which had been smeared under my shoe. UGH. If there's anything that squicks me out more than cylindrical, limbless creatures, it's slimy cylindrical, limbless creatures. :(

GAH!! Freaked out by Manu's story of the spontaneously exploding slug. Bizarre wildlife in Clermont-Ferrand, I tell you.

via Wikipedia:
Freak of Nature fact #1: Most slugs will on occasion also eat carrion, including dead of their own kind.

Freak of Nature fact #2: A commonly seen practice among many slugs is apophallation. The penis of these species is curled like a cork-screw and often becomes entangled in their mate's genitalia in the process of exchanging sperm. When all else fails, apophallation allows the slugs to separate themselves by one or both of the slugs chewing off the other's penis. Once its penis has been removed, a slug is still able to mate subsequently, but using only the female parts of its reproductive system.

Folk medicine from rural Italy: The garden slug Arion hortensis is used to treat gastritis or stomach ulcer by swallowing it whole and alive. A clear mucous produced by the slug is used to treat various skin conditions including dermatitis, warts, inflammations, calluses, acne and wounds.

Oh hellllll no. I'll keep suffering through that ulcer if it means I don't have to swallow a live slug. Or you know. . . try H2 antagonists/antacids.

ROL and loans

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:22:18 GMT

Well frick, I'm obsessing over that Rank Order List again (note the timestamp), even though it's already set in stone. I'd be really happy at any of my top three (Colorado, Southwestern, and UMich) and of course I'd find a way to make number four (home school) work for me. And I should be very happy no matter what, because aside from six months of medicine (trivial!), I'll be on my way to becoming a psychiatrist. Michael was laughing at my skewed perception of time today (what's another four years?). The thing is, as excited as I am about finally becoming a doctor, it's always seemed like something on the very distant horizon. Years of delayed gratification have settled into pattern and I still can't believe that in just three months, I'll have an MD after my name. . . but there's always more work.

For you other MSIVs, have you had your exit interview yet? As I understand it, the best strategy (if you're already planning on working for a non-profit, federal, or state program) would be to consolidate with Direct Loans and make IBRs (Income Based Repayments) for that ten years until your debts are forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Since residency counts as four of those years, and you only need to put in 30 hrs/week at the non-profit, this seems like a pretty sweet deal. After some number crunching, the monthly repayment during residency would be like $400, and around $1400 per month for the remaining six years. After that, the average doctor would have $180k in loans (interest and principle) forgiven. Am I missing something?

climbing

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:40:42 GMT

My life basically revolves around climbing and pretending Match Day isn't on the horizon. (Oh, and a Justice Center rotation) I finally climbed up on this stupid box (it's like a ledge that extends about 4 feet out). The route was only rated a 5.8, but I had this mental block about getting up on the box. I don't know why. When I first started climbing, the incline wall was the most daunting thing, and now, it's more tiring than it is scary. Anyway, there's nothing like all the New Heights guys yelling at you to scramble up the box. You can't ask to come down when they're yelling. You just can't. "Come on! Get it Kim! Step higher! Niiiice. . ."

I need to figure out a way to bottle that up for future use.

on the box

Skyler Roininen case

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:24:24 GMT

I saw part of this trial during my rotation at the Justice Center. The thing that disturbs me the most is the fact that there was all sorts of evidence pointing to child abuse (previous cigarette burns, retinal hemorrhages, 8-inch occipital fracture, bruises in his ear, and rat droppings around his crib) but I didn't hear any evidence that had me completely convinced me that Ashley was the one who caused the blunt head trauma. Yes, she was in the house at the time, but so was the boy's father, who was a witness for the prosecution. Very he-said, she-said. I suppose everyone was convinced it had to be her, since it wasn't her own child. Um, men beat children too. . .

What happened to Skyler was horrible, but I feel like Ashley Parnell just happened to be the most convenient person to blame.

More Cheerful

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:31:15 GMT

Can't stop watching. Even the song is cute!

Limbo

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:38:53 GMT

This is such a strange place to be in. I have all the time in the world to cultivate new friendships. I have the time to be a good friend. I have time to listen. I have time to just "hang out" without that perpetual nagging feeling that I should be studying even more. Over the last four years, I had forgotten how to be a friend (and thus had very few). Now amazing people are springing up everywhere, from the climbing gym to fellow classmates and old friends I haven't seen in a decade.

Now I have the time, but my free days are numbered. In less than two months, I'll have packed everything I own into a dozen boxes in a 5x10 storage room. In two months, I'll be in Clermont-Ferrand, an ancient French town situated by an even more ancient chain of volcanoes. I have two friends waiting for me there, but otherwise, I don't know a soul. Nor do I speak the language beyond "I am American. I am hungry. I would like something to eat." It's so very exciting, but boohoo. I still find reason to complain.

Why cultivate friendships and relationships, knowing that I'll have to say goodbye in two months? Knowing that afterward, I'll return for just a week before cramming those boxes into a U-Haul and driving to God-knows-where for residency. . . inevitably, in another friendless town. I realized last night that I only miss places when they're associated with people I love. Having fewer ties to Tulsa will make it easier to leave.

Then again, there's the distinct possibility of matching OU-Tulsa. You know, it could happen.