Halloween!...

This year for Halloween we decided to have a little get together. Our original theme was dress as your favorite You Tube sensation! As you can see, we have several You Tube sensations represented, as well as infomercials, TV shows, and favorite movies! It was a lot of fun and thanks to everyone who came!

If you have not seen these You Tube videos, I recommend that you stop reading this blog and watch them ASAP!

"Grape Stomping Lady Falls" Yours Truly

"West Virginia Ninga" Stephen and Jenn

"Miss South Carolina" J-Rob

And a few that I just love, that weren't at the party...

"David After Dentist"

"Cubby-Single Ladies"

"Kick His Ask"

Have a great night!

Such a slacker...

I know, I have really been slacking on blogging lately! I will try to be better! The problem is that really last month was kinda boring! Here's the short version:

I finished Allergy/Immunology near the end of September. I loved it. Then for the past four weeks I had to take a required rotation in surgical subspecialties (Orthopedic Surgery, Anesthesia, Urology, and ENT). Here are the highs and lows...

Orthopedic Surgery

Best: ACL repair surgery. I always thought this was a very simple surgery and was surprised at how complex the repair is!

Worst: The sound of the drills and saws they use. It gave me chills! Blah!

Urology (this was the worst week)

Best: I have to say it. If you watch Grey's Anatomy, a few weeks ago they had an episode where a man got, you guessed it, a penis implant! OMG! I guess this was the best just because I happened to see one get put in the very same week this showed up on Grey's. And really, how many people can say they've seen an implant quite like this?!?!

Worst: Prostate biopsy. Do I have to say much more?

Anesthesia (I actually really enjoyed this because I learned how to intubate better and also got to start IV's, plus I was back at ACH!)

Best: Putting in IV's!!! I got every one of mine on the first try! Haha I guess it helps when the patient is asleep and paralyzed on the OR table!!!

Worst: Waiting around during the surgeries. A little boring if you ask me!

ENT (Also did this at ACH, so it was very beneficial)

Best: Clinic. I have mentioned before that I really like clinic, and this was no exception. I got to look in lots of little ears!!!

Worst: The 10 million tonsillectomy and ear tube surgeries I saw! This is a very beneficial surgery for kiddos, but once you've seen one, you've seen them all!

For the next 4 weeks I will be doing an Infectious Disease rotation at ACH. It has proven to be interesting so far, and I think I will learn a lot. I hope I learn a lot, because so far I've had some VERY long days!!! I'm still enjoying it though, because I get to see the kids every day and I really am learning more about common (and uncommon!) pediatric illnesses and how to treat them best!

More soon!

Allergy and Immunology Was SO FUN!...

The past 4 weeks have been so wonderful! I have been doing a rotation with the Allergy/Immunology (A/I) service at ACH. We had clinic on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and on Tues/Fri we would meet for short lecture and also do consults (see patients in the hospital). This was a great rotation for many reasons:

1. Sleep. I got a lot of it. I usually had to be at work by 8:30 or a little earlier. This was wonderful. I got to eat my cereal, drink coffee, and watch Fox and Friends before going to work!!!

2. Learning. Food allergies and asthma are important things to know about as a pediatrician. I feel more confident about those topics now. Also, immunology is really confusing and most immune deficiencies are really rare, so it was great to get some exposure to these rare diseases and to learn more about them.

3. People. I LOVED the people I worked with this month. The resident I worked with was so fun and very nice! The nurses were wonderful and so helpful to us. And the attendings were the best I could ever ask for! One of them even called me on my last day to thank me for working with them! What?!

4. Clinic. I really like it. You get to see tons of people throughout the day and it is fast paced.

5. Days off. This relates to #1 but it was really nice to have time to do things and not be rushing around after getting off really late everyday!

Sadly, this 4 weeks has come to an end, but it will probably be my favorite rotation of this year. For the next 4 weeks I will be doing a required rotation in surgical subspecialities: Orthopedic surgery, ENT, Anesthesia, and Urology. I start Ortho tomorrow.

Quick update on Residency applications: So far I have six interviews. ACH, Oklahoma City, Augusta, Birmingham, Charleston, and Louisville. :) It is very exciting and I am looking forward to seeing all of these places when we interview in December and January, and also looking forward to seeing friends nearby!!!

Here is a pic from the AR v. GA game two weekends ago. We had a blast!!! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Application "in the mail"...

Today I was very lucky and got one more day off of work! To make the day somewhat productive and not a total waste, I finished everything I could for my application and went ahead and submitted it! I think I almost had a heart attack when I was pressing "submit"...It is very nerve-wracking! There are some parts of the application that you can go back and modify, but some that you cannot change after you submit. I am still waiting on some LOR (letters of recommendation) so will have to add those later. Here is the list of places I have applied to so far. I can still add some if I want.

UAMS (AR Children's Hospital)
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Emory University (Atlanta)
Medical College of Georgia (Augusta)
University of Louisville
Duke
University of Oklahoma Health Science Center Program (OK City)
Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston)
Vanderbilt (Nashville)
UT Southwester (Dallas)
University of Missouri at Kansas City

We will have to wait and see where I get interviews from now!

What We Did Saturday...

School Update...

I PASSED STEP 2!!! At least the first part! I got my score for Step 2 CK back in mid August, and I was very happy with it. We traveled to HotLanta last weekend for the second part of Step 2, the clinical skills part. It was interesting, and I am glad it is over! This is the test that is taken in a "clinical setting" where we have 12 patients to see, and we have to "diagnose" them and tell them what we want to do next. The "patients" are really actors. The best part about going to take this test was that I got to the Flannagans! It was so good to see Terri and Chuck and so WONDERFUL to finally get to meet Knox! Here are some photos:

Currently I am working on my application for residency. I just finished writing my personal statement, and I'll probably submit my application by the end of this week. The nice thing about the application is that even after you submit, you can continue to add things to it such as letters of recommendation, which can take a while to come in. Once I submit it, I'll be sure to post the list of places where I've applied.

I know, I am a slacker...

So sorry! I know it is time for an update! There are so many things to blog about, so I'll try to give you a rundown and then post some pics later!

I started my Peds AI (acting internship) on August 2nd. It is really fun, and very helpful in letting me know a little bit what intern year will be like next year. I'm working with the Hematology Oncology (Team 5) team at ACH. There is one upper level resident (a 2nd year) and there are two interns plus me. Right now we have twelve patients on our service, and each of us "interns" have 4 patients. I go in each morning at 6:30 and get report on my 4 patients from the person who was on call overnight. Then I go to the floor and examine my patients, check their vitals, talk to their nurses, and write a progress note on them. We round with the attending at 9 AM each day. When we round we talk about things going on with the patients and work on our plans for them. Right now I have two sickle cell patients in for pain crisis, and two kids in for chemotherapy. After rounds we go write orders on the patients and then work on getting people discharged that need to go home. If there is an admission, one of the interns is asked to go do the history and physical on the new patient (usually in the ER or from Heme/Onc clinic).

Also during this month I am taking call "q4" (every 4th night) just like an intern. Luckily at ACH (and many children's hospitals) they have a night float system. This means that Sunday night-Thursday night, if you are on call, it is only until 8:00 PM, and then the person who is on nights that month takes over. If your call falls on Friday or Saturday night, you take overnight call. I had my first overnight call on Saturday night. It was an experience. What a strange feeling to be sleeping (yes I got a little) and then have a pager wake you up and have to run down to the ER to do an admission. I talked to some of the residents about it and they said it is not something you really get used to. The call went well. I did one admission for a skin infection (cellulitis) and one for sickle cell pain crisis.

That's the rundown on school. Craziness!

In other news...

-The first weekend of August we headed to the "Party on the Pottawattamie" with several friends. It was a blast, and my good friend Huck is now engaged! Congrats you guys!

-On Sunday after morning rounds we headed up to Greers Ferry for some fun at the lake, since I was off on Monday too. Nana and G rented a lake house and we got some good skiing in and had a great time. (Thanks Nana and G for getting the house and skiing us around the lake...loved it!).

-Jordan and I got our Razorback season tickets today! I am so pumped!!! Also, it looks like my next couple of rotations do not require me to work on the weekends, so we should make it to all the games! I can't wait!

-My good friend Terri's son Knox turned one month old on Monday. He is so precious and I love seeing all the great pics of him!

-Step 2 CS is August 27th.

-I've started working on my residency application. I hate that kind of stuff, but it's a necessary evil!

Sorry for the long update but it's been awhile. I'll post some pics of these recent happenings soon!