Bounce

I volunteered to help out over Christmas break in a clinic that does TB testing and reading for men who need PPD negative clearance to sleep in a shelter. No sweat, I figured. Pretty minimal learning curve. Inject a little PPD under the skin, it makes a tiny bubble, read it a few days later. Easy peasy.

Only when I showed up for my shift I realized it was Thursday. Vaccine day. Not PPD day. Hmmm. Ok, so I really don't know how to give IM injections... but again, I figured... how hard can it be? HepA/B twinrix and the seasonal flu shot. I quickly scanned the IM injection protocol flyer. Ok. Deltoid region. Clean the area and give a little poke. No sweat.

The first guy wanted both Twinrix and the flu shot. I tried to act like I knew exactly what I was doing so I didn't make the patient nervous. The seasonal flu vaccine went right in. "Hmmmph." I thought triumphantly. I am a total pro. I proceeded to inject the Twinrix exactly the same way in his opposite arm. Only this time, I swear to GOD the needle bounced off his arm like a basketball. I was so surprised I didn't know what to say.... so I just pretended like it didn't happen and used a little more force to pierce through this leathery skin. Eventually he made a sucking sound and a "wooo-hee, that hurt". I just shook my head like I completely understood cause it happens all the time and said, "Yeah, those Hep vaccines aren't for babies!"

The Best Compliment Ever!

And I received it on New Year's Eve. I was working in clinic tonight, and Dr. Kenton Hadley's name came up. You remember, my woman/super-hero/doctor obsession? Well, the attending that was working with us also works with her in Internal Medicine... and he said (I SWEAR) while motioning to me... "You are just like her". I was so excited I could barely even breathe. I think I saw a few stars, felt a bit woozy, and breathlessly muttered a thank you.... He doesn't know it, but he just gave me the biggest ego boost possible. Better than being mistaken for Carla Bruni (which of course has never happened to me). If this is any indication of how 2010 is going to be .... it's going to be a GREAT year!

Well Since Everyone Else is Doing It

I might as well throw out a few of my New Year's Resolutions...

1. Ok, this one is the most important. I really ReAlLy REALLY want to eat different and MORE veggies. I feel like I eat the same 5 vegetables over and over again... despite the millions of varieties on the planet. I just ate my first tomatillo (that I'm aware of) last week!

2. I should also keep an eye on my medical school slacking. I only studied for my histology exam 1 day last block. I managed to do well, but that could really get me in trouble if I'm not careful.

3. I will devote at least one full weekend a month to building my house. I've really been slacking this year. A lot. At this rate I will be living in a bedroom for the rest of my life.

4. I want to start cooking different recipes. I cook quite a bit now... but like the veggie problem I tend to cook the same 20 items. How about 3 brand new recipes a month?

5. Time to dive into EM, and see if I really like it. My elective is starting this month... so I think it's a great chance to really get involved and see if EM is for me. If not, I want to have a chance to explore lots of other fields of medicine before graduation. It would suck to get to 4th year and be like hey, EM sucks... what now???

BFF's in 3 Days

I'm always surprised to see how people seem to associate so quickly into cliques. My medical school is no exception. Maybe I'm just anti-social... but I don't tend to hug, kiss, and call 45 different people my best friends within 3 days of meeting them. I mean, I have FRIENDS. I swear I do. But my class certainly has an element of chumminess that I really don't relate to. Although maybe I'm missing out.

For instance... I remember on my first day of anatomy lab (so this would have been about 4 days into first semester of med school)... I remember one girl who's locker was by mine running up to a guy classmate, jumping on him, wrapping her legs around him, kissing his hair and saying "I LOVE YOU! I missed you SO much yesterday!!" I sorta didn't think too much of it... because I assumed that certainly they must have known each other before med school started... or perhaps they are both from this city and went to undergrad together... or maybe they were stuck in an elevator together for 29 of the previous 48 hours. Who knows? But then I saw the same girl do nearly the identical jumping-slash-kiss maneuver to another guy a few days later.

The weird thing is that she is certainly not the only one. Probably half of my class acts as if they have been joined at the hip for the past 20 years. I don't know how this immediate friendship status comes about.... perhaps it is alcohol induced. Or maybe its the boot camp phenomenon that happens when young guys join the military and are so traumatized during boot camp that suddenly everyone of their comrades is also their best friend.

I guess I have always been the type of person who is really selective with who I become friends with. In fact, I don't really have many friends. Maybe 8 who I consider really close, another 10-20 who are close acquaintances... and probably most of them have been around for a long time.

Old vs. New

Indifferential Diagnosis has hit the nail on the head with a cartoon about the old vs. the new MCAT. I of course, being the savvy MCAT taker that I am, have taken both... more than once... and I have to say the experience is quite different. For those of you who've taken one and not the other... you may not appreciate this as much. But if you have taken both, prepare to laugh to tears. Way to go!

First Year Christmas Vacation

So here's what I did over my first Christmas vacation of med school:

1. Japan!! That was pretty awesome... I have to admit. I hit up Kyoto and Tokyo.
2. Read "Olive Kitteridge", started "Unaccustomed Earth"
3. Went to a life-size gingerbread house and ate the walls. Yay!
4. Cooked a Christmas dinner of duck, mashed potatoes, and asparagus with hollandaise sauce
5. Went out to dinner at a lovely restaurant with my boyfriend
6. Took my dog to the dog park 652 times
7. Worked at a men's shelter doing TB testing
8. Going to a New Year's Eve party tonight!
9. Stocked up my kitchen with new wine glasses, new parts for my Cuisinart mixer and Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"
10. Designed 3 stained glass windows for my house.

Not particularly relaxing... but fun.

Believe it or Not

I wouldn't have guessed this about 2 weeks ago... but I'm actually looking forward to going back to school. I just got back from a super-speedy trip to Japan (which was awesome!) but now I'm done relaxing.

I had a crazy dream last night. But first let me preface it with this. I have always had terrible dreams. Lots of them. Nightmares you wouldn't ever want to even think about. Years ago I trained myself to recognize when I was dreaming... so when these horrible nightmares come around, I just say to myself... well, Ella,... relax... this is just a dream. Bad part is, even when I have good dreams I ruin them by telling myself it's probably a dream.

So.... to make a short story very very long... last night I dreamed I was in medical school. After years of wanting to go... daydreaming about my white coat and working in the ER and intubations and studying pharmacology...I was finally there. But in my dream I kept telling myself "Ella, this is so good its just a dream. Don't get excited."

Of course you know the rest of the story. I woke up. And realized it was true!!! I get to go back to medical school!!!!