resonance42: (Default)
So, I complete my credentialing paperwork for my new job ages in advance; I have my clinical privileges approved at one of the sites. On learning this, my new boss asks me if I'm available to start early. I say yes. Other gears swing into motion (about which I'm unaware, but apparently requires lots of paperwork and many, many signatures - I'm amazed that any bureaucracy like ours works this fast).

Fast-forward 4 days later...

I'm now in the middle of my first shift as an attending pediatric hospitalist.

It's definitely a different perspective.

Whoa.

Fun, though.
resonance42: (Default)

Happy Hospital Days!
The next Dr. McDreamy...
It's good to know that our young ones have dreams...
...and light moments in the hospital.

resonance42: (cowhulhu)
Thanks for your suggestions regarding vanity plate suggestions.

Suggestions/thoughts have included:
DR DR
BIGBLS
MD PHD
IM A TBL
WILL DO
YAWP
XPRMNT
DRWILL
NOTED
TRY IT
SAIL MD
SAILOR
NEURON
MYELIN
PEDS MD
KID DOC

Comments? More suggestions?

Thank you for your creative input in this critically important decision... :-)
resonance42: (wearedoctors)
On overnight call in the PICU. During this day, a number of useful hints and life lessons have come up.

The most salient ones being:

1. A 5 day-old baby is not a football. It is not acceptable under any circumstances to throw a baby. Even if it's into a couch.

2. If your baby has a high fever, neck stiffness, and is seizing, it is not okay to refuse to go to the hospital and try to 'treat' this yourself. The baby, if s/he survives, will have lifelong brain damage. There are few things I can guarantee in medicine. This is one of them.

3. When jaywalking across a busy road while carrying a baby, it is not okay to tell the two 8 year-olds with you to just 'run for it.' Especially if there's a large semi truck barreling down one of those lanes.

4. A large semi truck has a very long stopping distance. A very long stopping distance.

5. Do not feed whole grapes to children under 4. Whole grapes have this annoying tendency to get lodged in windpipes, which are remarkably about the same size as the grape. Then the child does really un-fun things like choke, turn blue, and try to die. In case that event occurs, it would be a good idea to call EMS immediately rather than wait around to see if the child will 'get over it.'
resonance42: (Default)
It's been a journey, but I have made a decision.

Starting July 1, I will be joining the faculty of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago Medical Center/Pritzker School of Medicine.

My clinical responsibilities will focus on inpatient pediatric medicine, focusing on community hospitals such as MacNeal Hospital, Little Company of Mary Hospital, and Hinsdale Hospital. In that role, I will be responsible for inpatient pediatrics, ER consults, newborn deliveries, general care nursery, and the intensive care/stepdown unit. There are also clinical opportunities at Comer Children's Hospital and other sites that can be added on an ad-hoc basis. My base schedule will be 2 24-hour shifts a week with no mandated clinical time in between (yes, that's 5 days off a week).

My educational responsibilities will include teaching residents, medical students, nurses, and other staff working at these facilities.

My academic/research work will be whatever I dream up, but will include participation in the general pediatrics, critical care, and possibly clinical ethics/advocacy programs.

I submitted my academic appointment and medical staff application yesterday (a 60+ page monstrosity), and received confirmation of appointment today.

In discussing this (and other) offers with many, many people (including you), I was impressed by the flexibility that this position offered to pursue academic and research interests, as well as to relax and live a normal life. I also love the populations these community hospitals serve. The position also offered the most competitive compensation and benefits package. And the people (and more importantly, leadership) in the group are great.

Thanks, everyone, for your advice and for reading through the saga.

Onward!

Grrr...

Jan. 4th, 2008 10:11 pm
resonance42: (wearedoctors)
...called in for sick call for the second day running (instead of going to the Museum of Contemporary Art).

Now in the LaRa Emergency Treatment Room for a 24 hour shift.

Oh well.

Hopefully I'll be able to get _some_ sleep tonight.

Hope everyone else is having a good Friday night!
resonance42: (bushfucked1)
I tried to tough it out.

Until 6 pm, when I was ordered to call in sick call. It sucks, especially since I'm on call tonight.

Damn, I hate being sick enough to have to be sent home. Sounds twisted, yes, but I actually like being on PICU overnight call.
Then again, being told all day that I looked like crap could have been a hint. :-)

Sigh.

The only thing worse is being sick with GI symptoms.

Dammit. Looks like the loperamide I took to tide me over a for a few hours is running out.
Time to go. Then time to drink more fluids. Lather, rinse, repeat. Whee.
resonance42: (wearedoctors)
I'm now back in Chicago after a long time away.

It's been a great ride to warm climes, and now it's time to come back to work.

I'm working in the pediatric ICU this month, and it's been quite an experience already.

A few notes from the past 48 hours back:

1. It's wonderful stuff - I love it, despite the stresses.
2. There appears to be an epidemic of TVs falling on children this year. I've seen a wave of them this summer, and to date, around 5 have been admitted to our ICU.
3. I don't know what is going on with those TVs - the injuries are getting worse and worse.
4. To wit, a little boy came into our PICU around 3 pm yesterday after he climbed a dresser, after which the TV on it fell onto him. He looked bad coming in. His head CT was ugly, and when we got a pressure sensor in, the numbers made us cringe. Things got worse as the day went on, no matter what we did. We pronounced him at 5 this morning.
5. Nobody thinks to secure the increasingly cheap and increasingly enormous televisions that are making it into homes these days from falling onto children.
6. It's amazing how quickly life can turn around. A 8 month old preemie came in early this morning from our affiliated hospital in respiratory and cardiac arrest. The baby had been doing well (except for terrible lungs due to prematurity). Except that he stopped breathing, then his heart stopped beating. After a full court-press, we pronounced him at 9 this morning. The thing was, he was at the outside hospital just waiting for the labyrinth of paperwork required by the state to go home.
7. 4 hours, 2 small lives gone *poof*
8. There is no sound like a mother's scream when she sees that her child has died.

Another day and night coming up in a freezing day. Let's see what rolls in during my call.

Ob-Public Service Announcement from the Pediatrician:
Please secure furniture, and more importantly, heavy objects (such as TVs and other pieces of equipment) placed on that furniture, so that children cannot try to climb that furniture and tip those heavy objects onto themselves.

Ren Faire!

Sep. 22nd, 2007 10:39 pm
resonance42: (Default)

Ren Faire!
Originally uploaded by resonance.

Sent from my iPhone

resonance42: (Default)
Instructions:
1. Go to www.careercruising.com
2. Put in Username: nycareers - Password: landmark
3. Take the 'Career Matchmaker' questions at the upper left corner
4. Post the top 10 results.

Results:
1. Prosthetist / Orthotist
2. Agricultural Engineer
3. Elementary School Teacher
4. High School Teacher
5. Special Education Teacher
6. Physical Education Teacher
7. Explosives Specialist
8. Set Designer
9. Costume Designer
10.Petroleum Engineer

Results (after answering the supplemental quiz):
1. Elementary School Teacher
2. Environmental Consultant
3. Early Childhood Educator
4. Anthropologist
5. Professor
6. Aerospace Engineer
7. Prosthetist / Orthotist
8. Physical Therapist
9. Chiropractor
10. Multimedia Developer

Hmmm. Explosives Specialist? Might be time for a change of career paths...

My new 'do

Sep. 11th, 2007 08:40 pm
resonance42: (Default)

2007.D0911-007.jpg
Originally uploaded by resonance.

I managed to get away briefly after another 24 hour shift and get my hair cut. A co-worker of mine had highly recommended a hair stylist up on the North Side, so I said, "sure, why not?"

Here's the result. We spent about 2 hours this morning hanging out talking about all sorts of fun things ranging from Venezuelan politics to reggaeton to styling techniques he used that I've never seen before.

I have found a new stylist! Never had one before. Perhaps this is a sign of impending middle age?

resonance42: (Default)
Now working solo in the La Rabida Emergency Treatment Room, which is quite an experience. However, a pause permits me to make the following post.

Back from diabetes camp. It was a blast (with the usual drama). Definitely feeling the hang of things (this is my third year there). Whee!

Just finished jumping through all the fun regulatory hoops, in the saga that you've all been following (obviously with bated breath).

Step 1 (6/2006): Apply for the USMLE Step 3, with waiver since I'm an old fart and I don't feel like taking steps 1 and 2 again because it's been over 7 years. Have the privilege of spending $680 or so.
Step 2 (9/2006): Getting permission to take Step 3.
Step 3 (3/2007): Taking Step 3, passing it
Step 4 (6/2007): Waiting until I've completed 24 months of residency to apply for my permanent license. Have the privilege of spending $300 or so.
Step 5: Waiting to receive the license. Time passes.
Step 6 (7/2007): Receiving the permanent license. Whee!
Step 7 (7/2007): Waiting to receive my state controlled substance license so that I can actually legally prescribe drugs in the hospital using my newly minted license.
Step 8 (8/2007): Receiving my controlled substance license (for a fun $5). Yay!
Step 9 (8/2007): State controlled substance license in hand, applying for my federal DEA number, so that I can actually write prescriptions with my shiny new license. Pay $560 for the privilege.
Step 10 (8/2007): Receiving my DEA number. FINALLY!

In summary:
$400 for the USMLE Step 1
$600 for the USMLE Step 2 CK
$1000 for the USMLE Step 2 CS (not including travel)
$680 for the USMLE Step 3
$100 for my preliminary Illinois medical license
$300 for my Illinois permanent medical license application
$5 for my Illinois controlled substance license
$560 for my DEA registration and number
$??? for secure prescription pads

Finally being able to work outside the hospital like a real doctor: PRICELESS

Back to work. It's scary - this license enables me to prescribe anything from cocaine to PCP to Tylenol. Luckily, I have no desire to have my friends in the DEA come knocking on my door.

Yay!

It's done.

Jul. 25th, 2007 08:39 pm
resonance42: (Default)
16:30 - received my copy of HP7 from across the pond.
20:40 - done.

Interesting...
resonance42: (wearedoctors)
Completed another Pediatric ER shift today.

Got a very nasty trauma case today, which inspired the following:

1. Cherish every moment with your children. You never know when the fates may snatch them away forever.

2. For the love of whatever deity (if any) you may believe in, if your child is riding a bike, please do whatever it takes to make sure that they're wearing a helmet. The consequences otherwise will be disastrous.

Let's see if I can get to sleep. Somehow going through this several times this month doesn't make it any easier.
resonance42: (Default)
The juxtaposition cracks me up.

You Should Get An All Over Tattoo

Outrageous and funky
Because you should never have to choose just one tattoo


You Have Good Manners 91% of the Time

You manners are perfect. You always carry yourself with class.
You know how to be considerate toward everyone - even if they aren't considerate to you.
resonance42: (bushfucked1)
You know how my Windows PC kept crashing and had become slow as molasses? Well, it finally refused to boot, so I had a aluminum doorstop on my hands.

I had a weekend free (finally), I decided to bite the bullet and finally try to fix the damn thing so that I had a somewhat useful computer (instead of an expensive doorstop).

The Many Steps Towards Trying To Fix A Damn Windows Box:

1: Dig through all my boxes to find my original Windows XP CD (SP1 mind you).

2: Attempt to get the bloody thing to boot off the CD

3: Attempt repair using the recovery console. Aha! Corrupted directory and boot blocks. Attempt to repair. Watch as voodoo Little Bunny CHKDSK goes through my directory doing Lord-knows-what.

4: Attempt to boot. No dice.

5: Boot off of Windows CD (again)

6: Attempt to re-install Windows using recovery option.

7: It does a lot of file deleting and copying, then reboots.

8: Boots off my HD, but it looks like a blast from 1995.

9: Goes through second-stage installation, attempting to re-install drivers and other files, prompting me occasionally for discs with drivers (which I have), and files that I don't have (which seems to include most of the Internet Explorer installation).

10: Come to a screeching halt as it asks me for my Windows Product ID. How many of you know your Windows Product ID?

11: Luckily, I have a database of software serial numbers (on my Mac, of course), so a frantic search later (after considering calling Microsoft Customer 'service') yields something that satisfies the anti-copying Stormtroopers.

12: Reboots again. Attempt to install XP Service Pack 2. IE freezes when it gets to the Windows Update page. Not terribly helpful.

13: Opera comes to the rescue; download and install SP2.

14: IE still freezes. Download and install several other updates manually from the Microsoft website. Online documentation is (as expected) completely useless.

15: Nuke IE's settings. No dice.

16: Track down Windows Installer 3.1 (which no one talks about). Install.

17: Now IE loads up the Windows Update page. 73 updates. Yummy.

18: Reboot successfully. 4 more updates. Reboot. 2 more updates. Reboot. You get the gist of things.

19: Now mostly-working machine that hasn't crashed in 18 hours. Yippee. Seems a bit faster, too.

20: Now if I could only get the bloody Palm drivers to work.

Ah, life in Windows-land. I'm so happy I do most of my work on a Mac!

Off to the museum, then LazerTag!
resonance42: (wearedoctors)
Guess what I do post-call?

12 noon-1 pm: Meeting on the new computerized medical record system going up in the future. Lots of usability and workflow discussion.
2-4 pm: Hie on over to the Regenstein Library, (finally) get my sticker giving me borrowing privileges, and happily browse the collection.

Findings: a section composed of carillon and bell-ringing books (half in Dutch, a quarter in French, and the remainder in various other languages). Nothing I feel like lugging out at the moment, but I locate a CD of Elgar playing at Woolsey Hall and a CD containing the complete works of van den Gheyn. SCORE!.

Next stop: Crerar Library (sciences). Attempt unsuccessfully to find a book on Unix systems admin, but instead come across an online copy of TCP-IP networking essentials. However, do find a nice big chunk on the second floor devoted to pediatrics.

And I also get very excited when I find out that I have borrowing privileges at Northwestern and UIC. Yay!

4-5 pm: Hang out in the pediatric residency office laughing my butt off about how one of the chiefs plastered her desk with Post-It notes and checking in on a kid I transferred over to the ICU last night (and incidentally scaring the interns-soon-to-be-second-years). Muhahahaha.

Mad Lootz for the Day:
1. CD of Elgar playing in Woolsey
2. CD of the complete works of van den Gheyn
3. First Aid for the Pediatric Boards
4. Primary Care for Children with Genetic Conditions
5. Procedures for Primary Care Pediatricians.

And I have them for MONTHS!!!

On top of all that, I'm going bowling tonight!

Whee!

Nerdily (and sleep-deprivedly) yours,
[livejournal.com profile] resonance42

PS Anyone know of a company that binds dissertations? It's been 3 years, and I still haven't bound mine...

Done!

Mar. 28th, 2007 09:23 am
resonance42: (wearedoctors)
Just completed my last ward month at La Rabida...

On call overnight. Luckily, I got only one admission, and nothing acute came up overnight. I did have to transfer a kid out for evolving pneumothorax. Very impressive physical exam.

It's been an interesting time this year.

I'm tired.

Time to plan my vacation.

A poll...

Mar. 26th, 2007 05:02 pm
resonance42: (cowhulhu)
I have my vacation coming up in the first 2 weeks of June (FINALLY).

Where should this crispy extra-fried critter go?

Options include:
1. Playa del Carmen (or somewhere else in Mexico) - I was there last year and loved it
2. Someplace in the Caribbean.
3. Barcelona
4. Dubrovnik
5. Someplace I can't think of right now.

Requirements:
1. Out of the US
2. CHEAP
3. Did I mention cheap?
4. Warm, with froofy frozen drinks with umbrellas.

Lay on...

PS Anyone want to come along?
resonance42: (Default)
Here's my Johari page:

http://kevan.org/johari?view=resonance42

An update (I promise!) shortly...
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