Realities on my Gyn Sub-I July 17, 2008

Witnessing the D&Es was definitely a hard experience.  Most of the pregnancies were right around 21 weeks.  What was disturbing to me was to see peices of a fetus being pulled out of the uterus.  I mean at one point there was a leg attatched to half of a body/flank that was evacuated.  I felt myself getting really hot and sweaty and decided to excuse myself so that I didn’t become patient number 2!  Anyhow, after the whole experience, I’m not sure how I would be able to do it myself.  I am still pro-choice because I see how someone could easily die if they did that themselves or went to some hack job place to get it done.  However, I would probably not feel comfortable actually doingn 2nd trimester abortions.  I probably would have an easier time with the 1st trimester one since they are smaller and the fetus would not have survived.  I still have to do some reflection before I get to my residency interviews.

 

On to the good stuff… so I’ve gotten to scrub into alot more cases.  Today I even got to suture the fascia!  That’s huge .  I just hope that she doesn’t come back with a hernia due to poor technique.  My chief resident was talking smack to me while I was doing it.  It really is like a hazing process becoming a doctor.  In the end though she said I did great and she was shocked that I hadn’t sewn fascia before.  I’m also taking on more patients so that she knows I can function like an intern (I’ve got 4 to see tomorrow AM).  It was also really cool today cause I got to scrub in with my research mentor today.  She already knows me well, so being in the OR was like doing an operation with colleagues, not some intimidating figurehead.  She let me in on some inside info too, so that was cool.  Also, she hooked me up with the faculty advisor for our IRB and she’s going to approve me to work in her lab for 6 weeks!  I’m so excited.

 

Now on to my last “reality” since that is the title of this post.  I’ve really had to become more controlled than i already am.  Today we rounded at 6:45am and I had 3 patients to see meaning that I got to the hospital at 5:45 to see them all and finish their notes.  The intern told me that I didn’t need to have all the notes done, but I should have known better.  I left one half-done figuring that I would do it after rounds and totally got chewed out by my cheif.  Later she apologized and told me that she wants me to be perfect and has high standards, but she knows I’m still adjusting.  She then told me that she thinks that I am doing a great job and to just keep up the good things I’m doing.  She said that she is going to keep giving me more responsibility because I am managing well.

I guess I should get to bed early and be ready to get to the hospital at 5:30 tomorrow! No more unfinished notes.