by Matthew | Aug 13, 2010
One of our ongoing jokes during my VA month was that it seemed like most of our patients were from Westland, MI--and none of us knew where it was. One night while going to visit a friend, I stumbled across this sign (and apparently the town too!)
Apologies for no posts in…I don’t know how long, but too long. Since I last wrote, I have completed Internal Medicine. Yup, also affectionately known as Eternal Medicine, it is the longest sequence of 3rd year (3 months long), and has the reputation of being pretty tough. It was tough, but it was a great way to start my clinical rotations. I spent my first month on Cardiology at the U, which was incredible. Talk about jumping in head-first! My team was awesome, attendings were great teachers, and the patients were incredibly interesting. I then spent a month on outpatient, and then the VA. The VA was awesome. Patient population is great, and I got to see a lot of the bread/butter of medicine. Looking back on Internal, it wa a really good 3 months–I’m not sure if that is the direction I will head for residency, but it was a really valuable 3 months, and taught me how to finally write a good note!
Speaking of residency, I have a [new] interest. Anesthesiology. I was able to help a CRNA during a patient’s cardiac surgery my first month, and that really sparked my interest. Just this past week, I was able to do my first successful, by myself intubation, which was GREAT. My interest just keeps growing in that field, so we’ll see how the rest of the year progresses!
Anyways, off to visit some Psychiatry consult patients and head to Holland for a good friend’s wedding. Welcome to the new M1 class, and it’s about time to start interview season again–looking forward to it! As always, any questions to mwixson@med.umich.edu
-Matt
by Matthew | Jun 26, 2010
UMHS hospital, my home away from home
5 weeks completed of 3rd year–it has flown by! I am on Track B, which started me out with Internal Medicine. I really wanted to do it this way (tackle the longest clerkship first), and I am definitely glad that I did. I was on Med Wilson II for my first rotation, which was inpatient Cardiology. Talk about jumping in feet first! My team was really incredible though, and it felt so good to actually be part of a health care team, making some sort of difference in patient’s lives. Cards was definitely a fast-paced month–on call every 4th night (I have learned to function moderately well on little sleep), responding to codes in the hospital, and taking care of really sick patients with lots of problems. It was pretty interesting trying to balance patients’ needs–sure, they had heart troubles, but that’s not the only thing we had to be concerned about. For the patient with kidney failure, we had to find medications that weren’t renally excreted, and help another patient find a subacure rehab facility because he couldn’t go straight home from the hospital. Thankfully, the U has so many great resources–social workers and other dedicated stuff that are so integral to taking great care of patients. Am I going to be a cardiologist? Who knows–but I certainly loved my month of cards. I had really great attendings as well, and they taught me so much. I feel like I picked up some great pearls about how to treat patients, how to think about problems, how to be a good manager of time and resources. Definitely an unforgettable month!
So what am I doing now? Outpatient medicine! It’s definitely a different experience–I miss the continuity of a team that I had on cards, but I like seeing new stuff everyday. I’m in a Med/Peds clinic, allergy, pulmonary hypertension, etc. More stories to come from those experiences soon!
Welcome to Michigan, the new M1 class! We just got the final list of all the incoming students, and it looks like it’s an incredible class yet again. It’s really cool to watch the seasons of change at UMMS–the M4s all just matched (and quite well, I should add), and now a new crop of students is about to begin. Hard to believe than in less than 2 years, I will be walking across Hill Auditorium’s stage as an MD–whoa! Lots to learn before then!
Wherever you are, enjoy the summer–it’s beautiful in A2 these days!
-matt
