Quirky thoughts from a simple mind

It's bad to look good because other people around you look horrible. And a little uncomfortable for the good people to get praise and the horrible people to get a reprimand in front of each other.

For years, this was actually part of the education of medicine. Teams of doctors, residents and medical students would go around seeing their patients. The most senior doctors would ask junior people questions. This process is known within medicine as "pimping." And the junior person would get "pimped" often until they were stumped. Upon getting stumped, the senior doctor would question why the junior did not know the answer and move on to the next person with the line of questioning. Very public affair for all involved. And often very stressful. It's often comically depicted (though pretty accurately) on the television show "Scrubs". The argument for why it was so prevalent in medicine was that embarrassment often motivated the junior person to go back and study what they previously could not answer.

So today the first year pediatrics residents were tested in resuscitation for newborns. Extremely important. Requires quick thinking and quicker action. And it has a major impact for all involved. We were provided with situations, mannequins and all the necessary equipment. Two instructors provided us with the information which we would ask for such as "what is the heart rate?", "what is the baby's color?", "is the chest rising?". Depending on our known parameters, we would have to make decisions such as whether to aid in the baby's ventilation, to start chest compressions, to perform intubation or to give medication. We've been preparing for these "mock codes" for about 3 days now. And in my team of four, there was one person who obviously was lagging behind. I'm talking poorly organized, lacked sufficient information, not assessing the situation appropriately. This wasn't me. When the situation was completed, that person was given some pretty harsh criticism and told to retake the examination. The rest of us passed.

A few things:
1) Be prepared. Boy scout motto. Applies to all situations. There was no reason to be unprepared this morning. We'd been studying this one subject for 3 days, had books to study at home. Especially with something as important as newborns, be ready.

2) Just because someone else looks bad doesn't make you spectacular. There were still a few things that everyone in the group needed to brush up on, including myself. I'd hate for us to get complacent and look unprepared for the real thing just because we set a low bar for ourselves.

3) I'm scared as $#!+ for the first real situation that I'm going to run into. I did well during the mock code, but I also wasn't Speedy Gonzalez when it came to doing some of the procedures. Thankfully, there are more senior residents around for those times to hold our hands through it.

4) I said it before, I'll say it again: If you're at a teaching hospital, don't get sick in July.

I'm in the middle of my orientation right now for my residency. It's been quite grueling so far with 10 hour days of sitting through lectures about hospital policies and procedures as well as demonstrations and presentations. I guess I can't say that it's too bad considering that I'm going to have worse hours in less than a week once the actual residency starts.

In the meantime, the other residents I've met have been very nice. And very smart. I feel quite dumb around some of them in fact. It's a great combination to have people around you who are nice and smart. You can learn from them and they won't be jerks when you they know something you don't.

I also closed the deal on my co-op unit. I'm officially the owner now. WOO HOO. Lots of papers to sign. And I get to move in much sooner than I thought. Though, I don't think I'll actually have everything moved in anytime soon. I figure that I will be splitting my time 50/50 between my place and the hospital for a while. I really don't have much stuff to move in. At least not nice stuff. Most of my furniture are actually second-hand things that I got from the university dorms. So for the beginning, it's gonna feel like living in a dorm. At least it's gonna feel like living in a dorm that I own.

Out of pure curiosity, I tried a bottle of that new low carb Coke, C2. To me, it doesn't taste as bad as Diet Coke, but it is perceptibly different from Coke Classic. In fact, it tastes like they mixed Coke Classic and Diet Coke and gave it a name. If I find out that is how they came up with this new Coke, I'm gonna be very disappointed in Coca Cola Company. What does anyone else think about the new C2?

Went to the Prince concert last night with Chris and J.....and it was amazing. No need for an opening act. Just Prince doing his thing with his band. And J did a great job getting awesome seats. Audience was on the older side-- average was around late 20s to 30s. But energetic nonetheless. His band was sick. Each player was individually great and together they played like a tight unit. Sounds like some other players at the Palace :). And Prince did the last half of his set wearing a Pistons jersey. Which one? Number 22 of course. Tayshaun's. The one that says Prince on the back.

....of the retail chapter in my life. Ended on a whimper. No big deal. Made a couple of purchases to take one final advantage of the employee discount.

One of those purchases: a set of electric clippers. Which brings me to the other ending....an ending to my bushy head of hair. Just cut it all off. I figure that this would be good for a couple of reasons. First, with my own set of clippers, a couple of mirrors and steady hands, I should be able to save time and money from having to go to get haircuts every 2 weeks. Second, I don't want to have to gel up my hair and comb it all nice every morning during my residency when time is of the essence. In any case, it's a done deal and I can't go back to the way it was for a couple of months. Luckily, I don't have to impress anyone at this point.

Try figuring this one out:
http://www.pibmug.com/files/crimson_room.swf

The Pistons are now the WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!!

They not only beat La Lakers, they thoroughly demolished them.

The bandwagon is not only getting full, it's busting at the seams and sagging from everyone now trying to jump on.

The concept of what it takes to become champions has just been turned upside down.

There is a great beauty in what happened over the past 5 games. There is beauty in that fundamental basketball won out over flash. "Play the right way" is a tremendous mantra. One that should filter down to the elementary school kids who are picking up organized basketball for the first time. Play defense. Pass the ball. Set screens. Rebound. Move your feet. Play TOGETHER. As a unit. Unselfishly.

It makes sense that Larry Brown is the first coach to win championsips at both the college and professional level. He TEACHES basketball. He's not just a coach. He doesn't just manage the players. He makes sure everyone plays the way basketball was meant to be played. And it shows in his teams. He takes losing teams and makes them into winning teams. He takes winning teams and makes them into champions.

Congrats to the Pistons. Another reason to be proud to live in Detroit.

I GRADUATED!!!! I can actually write the M.D. after my name now.......

Graduating is a good feeling. You get to put on a crazy black costume (with a hood even, if you're lucky enough) with some funky hat you'll never wear again with a flimsy tassel that really serves no purpose. We march in lines the way you had to march around in kindergarten. And people laud praises for you from a podium even though they don't personally know 98% of the people graduating.

Graduation is good because it's a transition into a new role. From role of student to role of practitioner. I get to practice medicine for the next 4 years, with an emphasis on the use of the word practice. Since the start of medical school, I've been asked many medicine related questions. And I have yet to be 100% certain on any piece of advice that I have given. And I don't think that I will gain certainty anytime soon. I just hope it occurs sometime in the next four years.

Graduation is also a time to recognize how far I've come along and how much support I've received. I'm convinced that it would have been nearly impossible for me to make it this far without the help of my family and friends. I've received so much support and understanding that it's hard to fathom getting by without all that support and understanding. So I'd like to take this time to thank all of you that have supported me through the years. (Sorry I won't name you all individually, but I'm afraid of leaving someone out, so I'll stick with the general blanket appreciation).

So thanks everyone. I'll make sure to transfer the energy that you've invested in supporting me to energy to care for my patients. I hope that's the best way to show my appreciation.

This year's spelling bee champ won on "autochthonous" meaning originating where found; indigenous. Looking at the words the champ had to spell on his way to the trophy (gaminerie, arete, sophrosyne and sumpsimus) makes me sad; I have no idea what any of those words mean, much less how to spell them. And one of the kids even passed out while on stage. After he regained consciousness, he spelled his word BEFORE getting sent away for medical attention. But if you really want to get an idea of how focused some of these kids are for this spelling bee stuff, watch the movie Spellbound. It's a documentary and is very well done. It follows several kids through their training and onto the competition. It also gives some background to the spelling bee with interviews of past champs who've grown up. I give it two thumbs up :).