I know many soon-to-be interns are now staring down the barrel of their first rotations with some uneasiness. You’ll be a healer for patients, a teacher for medical students, and what you do really matters as a new physician! I wanted to reflect on the habits which helped me survive intern year.…
I’m finally done with the series of United States Medical Licensing Exams (USMLE) – Step 1 ($530), Step 2 CK ($530), Step 2 CS ($1230), and as of 12:30pm yesterday, Step 3 ($800)! Assuming I passed, I’ll be able to apply for my US medical licensure in a few weeks.…
Yesterday was more or less an orientation day spent in the simulation lab and doing pre-op evaluations on a few patients, but today was my first real day being an anesthesiologist-in-training. The first three weeks of this month are in “mentor mode” – I’m paired with an upper-level resident and shown…
For those looking to match into a U.S. residency, there’s some lingo that should be understood about the first year of post-graduate training as a resident (the “intern year”). There are three internship possibilities: transitional year (TY), preliminary year (prelim), or categorical. For the non-categorical applicants, the TY/prelim year is followed by advanced…
My stint of night shifts was front-loaded this month, and now I’m in the midst of my 5pm-1am critical care shifts. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to regaining my normal sleep-wake cycles in the coming week… especially because I really need to focus on Step 3 preparation. Blah.
April 30th was my last day of internal medicine wards forever, and I can now see the proverbial light at the end of the intern year tunnel. The last day was topped off by a great team dinner at Pasha and some reflection.
Stress dose steroids are used in numerous scenarios including adrenal insufficiency, critical care, and the perioperative period. What’s important to understand is that the peak physiologic production of steroid (cortisol) is roughly the equivalent of 300 mg of hydrocortisone a day under maximum stress. Any exogenous steroids which exceed this dose are…
Ten days into this rotation, and the struggle is real! It’s difficult to really spend as much time as I’d like with patients, teach medical students, or even teach myself when I’m balancing the plans for 8-10 patients. I’ve definitely improved my efficiency in the last few days, and our census…
At the end of every month, there’s always some anxiety about starting the next rotation. Having to work out logistical issues, meeting new residents and attendings, and adjusting to a new schedule are all things which drive this anxiety. In April, I’ll be at the VA Hospital completing my very…
Another rotation down. Easily my most laid back rotation of intern year, yet I still learned some vital information regarding blood banking, transfusion, adverse reactions, and basic pathology which should serve me well as an anesthesia provider in the near future. I’m going to miss my tiny home in the…