Weblog » Archives » December 2007

  • Flashback

    If you haven't yet watched the movie Atonement -- don't. I wouldn't really recommend it. It's a WWII-era romantic tragedy. Very depressing.But there was this one scene during the movie that got to me. The soldiers evacua…

  • The very best compliment

    When making my SICU evening rounds, I always plan to spend a little more time with the patient in bed 13. She has a tracheostomy and can't talk, but she communicates (albeit slowly) by writing cursive in her notebook. I …

  • Christmas, Trauma

    I very distinctly remember Christmas last year. It was the only time of year that I came close to clinically depressed. There was nothing more sad than being stuck on Christmas Day in the hospital.This year it's a bit be…

  • DVD commentaries

    I made a realization as I was drifting off to sleep while the DVD commentary for Season 3 Disc 4 of The Office played on my little TV: I'm pretty sure the only people that listen to the DVD commentary are single. After a…

  • Frosty

    One of the chief residents, like myself, went to med school in Philadelphia before coming to "sunny California" for residency. He assured me that I could put away my heavy winter coats and my windshield ice scraper.For t…

  • Hiring practices

    It's that time of year again: interview season.This morning I mingled with some of the fourth-year medical students applying to my program. Has it really already been two years since I was in their shoes, eating the same…

  • Life and death, in clips

    Clip 1: ERI was walking down the ER to check on one of my patients who had been admitted to the hospital but hadn't yet been moved to the ICU. I passed by the ER trauma bay, where there was a typical frenzy of activity. …

  • Poster session

    I'm typing this from the Hyatt Regency hotel in San Antonio, where I'm attending a conference. It's one of those medical-type conferences, where people hang up their research posters, present the latest medical data, dis…

  • Definitely not looking like Barry Bonds

    I was sitting in a chair this afternoon and I noticed something different about myself:My belly seems to pooch out more, creating cumbersome rolls of fatty skin piling around my belly button.When did I lose my awesome si…

  • Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a dentist

    It was another night shift in the SICU. I came to the hospital at 6 p.m., ready to get the sign-out from Emily, the trauma nurse practitioner.Emily, who is about my age, just recently got braces. I thought she had pretty…

  • Tanning

    I was sitting in the cafeteria when Todd, one of the second-year orthopaedic residents, walked in.Hey, Todd, how's it going?Eh, not too bad. Ortho trauma, busy as always.Yeah, I feel you. I'm on SICU now.Aw, I'm sorry. E…

  • Surgeon, heal thyself

    A couple days ago I noticed a small, red, fluctuant mass on the side of my left index fingernail. It wasn't in quite the right place to be a paronychia, but it was similar.A finger abscess, perhaps?I was hoping that it w…

  • Doctor, heal thyself

    I had just arrived home post-call when I got a call from one of my surgical resident colleague friends, Jan.Hey, are you at the hospital?No, I'm post-call. I just got home.Oh. Darn.Why, what's up?Um, do you think you cou…

  • Pediatric surgery

    I just finished my month of pediatric surgery. This was, um, a learning experience.Don't get me wrong -- I like kids. I even hope to operate on them once I'm in practice. Pediatric pathology is interesting, the cases are…

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