Select Page

smoked.

The Smoker has come and gone, which means another academic year is coming swiftly to its close.  M1s continue on the marathon journey that is their first year, M2s start board studying in a week, M3s are starting their final core rotations, and M4s match in a few days.  It is definitely one of the most exciting times of the year, but also nerve-wracking.  However, things always work out–that’s become my mantra this year, and it’s proven true.

This year’s Smoker was amazing–from the dancing, to acting, to singing, and stage props–it was overall a fantastic experience.  As an M3, I appreciated the humor so much more.  I’ve worked with these attendings, and see how we take their little quirks and idiosyncrasies and blow them way out of proportion.  But it’s funny, and I am already a bit sad that next year will be our last one!

In terms of school, it’s hard to believe I’ve started my last rotation–Peds!  I have been looking forward to this a really long time–at one point, I thought I wanted a career in Pediatric Cardiology.  Though I think that ship has sailed [like the other 15 specialties I’ve considered], I am really enjoying my month on the Peds Gold team, which happens to be Cardiology.  The patients are great–I mean, it’s my job to sit and play video games.  How awesome is that?  7 more weeks, and M3 year is done.  Dr. Grum [3rd year director] told us that it would be the most challenging and growing year of our life, and he was right.  It is hard to believe that a year ago I was getting ready to start 3rd year, and now it’s almost over.  I don’t think I will appreciate how much I have changed until I’m a few months out and have better perspective.

That’s all for now–hope the M0s are able to have some clarity in choosing schools, and Go Blue!

-mcw

Growing up

Sarah and I on our cruise to the Bahamas! Great way to vacation--unlimited food, beautiful ocean views, and travel to exotic islands. I highly recommend them!

Happy New Year!  My sincerest apologies to the powers-that-be that regulate the blogging world–I have been a bad kid. I know, I know, I’ve promised I would stay on top of it…but this time, I really am going to. I have so many good reasons why I have been MIA…and they all start [and end] with…M3 year.

To get up to speed, I spent the 2 months before the holidays [late October to mid-December] on my Surgery clerkship. Not gonna lie, I have been pretty nervous about this 2 month block since I started med school.  It ranked right up there with taking Step 1, etc. for things I worried about when I started this whole journey. Now that I have had a few weeks away from it, I have perspective on those 2 months.  They were hard.  Long hours, a brand-new specialty…but they were great too.  The ability to diagnose a problem, intervene, and have the problem be solved…it’s simply brilliant.  For example, we had a patient with a small bowel obstruction [which is bread and butter for General Surgery].  He had been obstructed for days, and he wasn’t getting better.  If we hadn’t operated, his intestine would have never unblocked.  That’s cool.  Am I going to be a surgeon? Probably not. Do I appreciate surgery? For sure.

After an oral and shelf exam [eek], my glorious 24-day break began. It came at the perfect time.  It was a time of relaxation, food, spending time with Sarah, our families and friends, and a cruise [see picture].  It also gave me time to read good books, catch up with old friends, and look back on the last 8 months. It has been a wild ride–learning, trying, failing, succeeding–I have experienced a wide range of emotions. And through that process, I have learned more about myself too. What I’m good at, what I’m bad at, what makes me happy…and I know I will be a better person and a better doctor for it.

Anyways, I’m on Family Medicine now and it’s a blast. I feel like an actual doctor–seeing patients by myself, diagnosing their illness, coming up with a plan, and then moving on to the next. I have great attendings, great residents, awesome staff–it’s really been an enjoyable first week.  Then it’s a month of Neurology, 2 months of Peds…and I am a 4th year medical student.  Life is good.

PS: A shout-out to Dr. Sheets of Family Medicine for being awesome.

Time flies…

It’s 8 am on a Sunday morning. Middle of November, 2010.  I’m 3 weeks deep into surgery, and it’s hard to believe where I’ve been so far.  Everyone told me that 3rd year was unlike anything I had done before, or will do in the future.  We are at an interesting place in training–we don’t have the responsibilities of the interns and residents, but many of our patients treat us as if we are doctors; their doctor. We are the ones who have the time to sit with our patients, taking 2 hour histories and stopping by their room 4 times a day.  It’s a really neat experience–hard to believe that it will be over in less than 5 months.

As I sat in Friday seminar last week, I looked around at my classmates. We have come pretty far–it’s amazing to see people’s interests and talents being ignited by various experiences; delivering their first baby, tying their first knot, reading their first X-ray.  I have incredible classmates, and I know that the future of healthcare is safe in their capable hands.

One last snap of glorious fall in Ann Arbor--I hear the Snowman is about to start work for the season...

That’s all for now–I will have a surgery update/review in the next few weeks–one more week at the VA, and then I move on to the Trauma/Burn service at the U.  Also looking forward to Thanksgiving–a few days off to see friends and family (and catch up on sleep!)

-mcw

PS: Tag Days! December 3-4! Come out and support the kids of Washtenaw County!

PPS: Congrats to the first batch of students admitted to UMMS–I hear it’s a pretty incredible group! Good luck to everyone else interviewing, and hit me up with any questions!

L and D

Overnight call=practicing delivering plastic babies.

BABIES.  Literally everywhere.  I’m on my 2nd to last night of L/D (and my 2nd to last overnight shift), and we are [knock on wood] having a slower night.  Anything would be slower compared to last night, when I was able to scrub into 3 C-sections, which lead to the emergence of 4 infants into this world [one set of twins=awesome].  I was pretty apprehensive starting this new rotation, but I have absolutely loved Labor and Delivery.  There is something really cool about meeting a woman who comes into Triage laboring, helping her as she continues to progress in labor, and finally getting to witness the birth of the child.  Suffice it to say, pretty cool stuff.

-mcw

words with friends.

Hello hello hello!  Back in the saddle, and not 4 months after my last post–pretty proud of myself.  Hope everyone is enjoying the new Blog format–I know that I definitely am. Welcome to Fall as well! It seems like it was 90s last week, and over the weekend the air changed, leaves started falling, and I’ve gotta wear sweatshirts and jeans.  I’m OK with it though–fall is definitely my favorite season of the year (just slightly ahead of summer and winter), so I’m happy with the cooler weather.

Sarah, myself, and our good friend Andrew at a recent wedding!

I just finished up my Psychiatry rotation approximately an hour ago–feels good to be done with that!  Psych was a really awesome clerkship–I have always found personality disorders really interesting, and other selected parts of psych, but to be honest, I had a pretty poor understanding of mental illness.  I knew that it could have a devastating effect on individuals and families, but it was really sobering to see this truth up-close and personal.  My time was divided into 2 weeks each on Consult/Liaison, Inpatient, and Outpatient.  They all had their own unique advantages and disadvantages–my favorite time was probably my time on C/L.  This is the service that responds when anyone else in the hospital requests a “Psych Consult”, which happens ALL THE TIME.  I loved the blend of continuing to sharpen my general medicine skills, while also learning what is appropriate for a Psych consult, and what things I should try to handle on my own when I’m an intern in T-minus 1 year and 9ish months [!].  I also really enjoyed Child Psych–you can make a huge difference in these kids’ lives, with medication and therapy–really cool stuff.

Now off to the land of babies!  OB starts Monday, and I’m looking forward to it, for several reasons.

1)  I think delivering a baby will be cool–I mean, seriously, how many people get to do that in their lifetime?
2) I get to wear scrubs on a near-daily basis (best. thing. ever.)
3) I will get my first real taste of surgery, which is another new experience

Overall, life is great.  Have been able to attend many summer weddings over the past few months, and am looking forward to settling into the “school year” mode again, even though we never really stopped!

Any questions, direct them to mwixson@umich.edu.  Looks like another amazing pool of applicants is starting to interview here at UMMS–awesome to see the talent that is deciding to come here!