Happy New Year (almost 3 weeks late...)
We were greeted by 2015 with an incredible sun-shiny morning! It was incredible to spend some time back at Magnuson Park--I had missed it so much!
I'm two weeks into my psych rotation at Harborview and I've already learned so much. One thing I've learned -- I'm not going to be a psychiatrist! I know that what I'm experiencing is much different than what it would be like in "outpatient psychiatry" but I've glimpsed enough into the world of psych to know two things 1. I have the utmost respect for psychiatrists and what they do and 2. I'm not able to separate myself enough from the patient's stories to be able to have a career in psychiatry without burning out.
In my first week, the rotation took a running start (much faster than I thought it would!). I was assigned to a "team" but instead of having a team of attendings and residents like my fellow classmates, my team consists of me and one doctor. So, needless to say I hit the ground running. The attending is used to working with a whole team of residents so the workload is high for them (and subsequently for me). I was forced to step up to the plate in a world that was quite foreign to me. I was working way more hours in the first week than I expected for a psych rotation-7:30am-5:30 pm. And, in my first week I had to take a call shift on Saturday. So, I got back from Christmas break and had a six day work week. And, as I've described before the first 2 weeks are always the hardest for a new rotation!
But, it's a holiday weekend and I'm soaking in the fact that psych really is an "easier" rotation because not only do I get weekends off unless I'm on call, I got MLK day off as well! Spoiled!
What I've seen/done/experienced thus far:
- Countless individuals after suicide attempts -- overdose, stabbing themselves, slitting their wrists, jumping off of bridges (and surviving), almost jumping off of bridges (with a bystander rescue), drinking toilet bowl cleaner, hanging/asphyxiating....and that's only been 2 weeks worth...you can see what I'm saying about being emotionally troubling?
- Every patient has a social "nightmare" - meaning that they have no home, no support system, no family, no job, no money, no nothing (again, emotionally draining...)
- Substance abuse - it goes along with depression and suicide - alcohol, heroin, meth, cocaine, marijuana-- it feels like all of Seattle is addicted at times (and it's not just the homeless, it's everyone, from every social class!).
- I've learned more than one way to ask "have you thought about killing yourself today?" since I have to ask it of EVERY patient EVERY day
- I also never thought I'd ask this question, let alone as frequently as I have this week: "What are the voices telling you?"
- I've seen patients who:
1. Are convinced that there are spiders coming out of their tongue
2. Think that their father is an imposter and isn't actually their father
3. Think their thoughts are being broadcasted out loud and everyone can hear them
4. Are convinced that someone is following them around and they can't be safe
....and so many more "crazy" thoughts. Can you imagine if you were legitimately CONVINCED that these things were true? What a scary and miserable existence!
- I was puked on by a patient having a conversion reaction. This is where a patient is having a big psychological stressor in their life and they begin to experience some sort of physical symptom that isn't actually real, but it feels very real to the patient. (If you want to geek out and read about it, click here). For her, she was experiencing pseudo-seizures that to her were completely involuntary and, lucky for me, she got nauseated because of them (or because of the 50+ pills she tried to overdose on the night before, it's unclear). The worst part, the vomit was projectile right INTO MY FACE.
It's also unclear to me why she chose to vomit in my direction rather towards any of the other 330 degrees around her where there wasn't another human being....
I've made it sound as though this rotation has been ALL depressing and draining, but it hasn't. It just so happens that those are the salient features of the rotation that stand out in my mind.
...In other news...
This weekend marked one of the most incredible Seahawks games we have ever witness. This is series of selfies basically explains how we felt about it:
Tom completed his first week at the supreme court as an extern last week. He is spending his time in the Temple of Justice, reviewing cases for the supreme court and writing motions to take the case to court (all in his first week!). It's an incredible opportunity, albeit a stressful commute to and from Olympia during commuter hours. He is working there Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. So, that means he crushed all of his 4 classes in on Mondays/Wednesdays. He has class from 8:30 am- 9 PM (with some time for lunch) on Mondays! It's an adjustment and we're trying our best to figure out the best way to maintain good eating and exercise habits, reduce the cost of commuting and maintain sanity by sneaking some time in to spend together!
In other news for Tom--he's been applying for jobs/internships all during Christmas break for the summer of 2015. He got his first official internship offer this week for FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority). Here's the link if you want to check it out: http://www.finra.org/.
It would be another unpaid internship for about 10 week of time. And, it's in New York, New York! So, we might be looking at a re-run of the summer of 2014 with Tom all the way across the country while I'm at home studying for Step 2 of the boards (which I take on July 2nd!). It's exciting but also heart breaking to think of him being gone for 10 weeks all over again, but I know it's an opportunity that would give him more experience and a better starting point when we eventually start looking for PAYING jobs after graduation :). We're still waiting to hear back from the SEC (where he worked last year) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) for other internship opportunities but he only has until 1/30/15 to accept/decline FINRA's offer, so the heat is on!
Tom and I began reminiscing last night about how long/hard it was for us to get into graduate school and that although we consistently feel overwhelmed and scared, it's what we dreamed of, what we hoped for. And for that, we are truly grateful.
Oh - and Go Hawks!.
I'm two weeks into my psych rotation at Harborview and I've already learned so much. One thing I've learned -- I'm not going to be a psychiatrist! I know that what I'm experiencing is much different than what it would be like in "outpatient psychiatry" but I've glimpsed enough into the world of psych to know two things 1. I have the utmost respect for psychiatrists and what they do and 2. I'm not able to separate myself enough from the patient's stories to be able to have a career in psychiatry without burning out.
This is an old picture of a prior psych rotation but this is what it looks like in the med-student work room (except me and my classmates never wear our white coats :))
In my first week, the rotation took a running start (much faster than I thought it would!). I was assigned to a "team" but instead of having a team of attendings and residents like my fellow classmates, my team consists of me and one doctor. So, needless to say I hit the ground running. The attending is used to working with a whole team of residents so the workload is high for them (and subsequently for me). I was forced to step up to the plate in a world that was quite foreign to me. I was working way more hours in the first week than I expected for a psych rotation-7:30am-5:30 pm. And, in my first week I had to take a call shift on Saturday. So, I got back from Christmas break and had a six day work week. And, as I've described before the first 2 weeks are always the hardest for a new rotation!
But, it's a holiday weekend and I'm soaking in the fact that psych really is an "easier" rotation because not only do I get weekends off unless I'm on call, I got MLK day off as well! Spoiled!
What I've seen/done/experienced thus far:
- Countless individuals after suicide attempts -- overdose, stabbing themselves, slitting their wrists, jumping off of bridges (and surviving), almost jumping off of bridges (with a bystander rescue), drinking toilet bowl cleaner, hanging/asphyxiating....and that's only been 2 weeks worth...you can see what I'm saying about being emotionally troubling?
- Every patient has a social "nightmare" - meaning that they have no home, no support system, no family, no job, no money, no nothing (again, emotionally draining...)
- Substance abuse - it goes along with depression and suicide - alcohol, heroin, meth, cocaine, marijuana-- it feels like all of Seattle is addicted at times (and it's not just the homeless, it's everyone, from every social class!).
- I've learned more than one way to ask "have you thought about killing yourself today?" since I have to ask it of EVERY patient EVERY day
- I also never thought I'd ask this question, let alone as frequently as I have this week: "What are the voices telling you?"
- I've seen patients who:
1. Are convinced that there are spiders coming out of their tongue
2. Think that their father is an imposter and isn't actually their father
3. Think their thoughts are being broadcasted out loud and everyone can hear them
4. Are convinced that someone is following them around and they can't be safe
....and so many more "crazy" thoughts. Can you imagine if you were legitimately CONVINCED that these things were true? What a scary and miserable existence!
- I was puked on by a patient having a conversion reaction. This is where a patient is having a big psychological stressor in their life and they begin to experience some sort of physical symptom that isn't actually real, but it feels very real to the patient. (If you want to geek out and read about it, click here). For her, she was experiencing pseudo-seizures that to her were completely involuntary and, lucky for me, she got nauseated because of them (or because of the 50+ pills she tried to overdose on the night before, it's unclear). The worst part, the vomit was projectile right INTO MY FACE.
It's also unclear to me why she chose to vomit in my direction rather towards any of the other 330 degrees around her where there wasn't another human being....
I've made it sound as though this rotation has been ALL depressing and draining, but it hasn't. It just so happens that those are the salient features of the rotation that stand out in my mind.
...In other news...
This weekend marked one of the most incredible Seahawks games we have ever witness. This is series of selfies basically explains how we felt about it:
Tom completed his first week at the supreme court as an extern last week. He is spending his time in the Temple of Justice, reviewing cases for the supreme court and writing motions to take the case to court (all in his first week!). It's an incredible opportunity, albeit a stressful commute to and from Olympia during commuter hours. He is working there Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. So, that means he crushed all of his 4 classes in on Mondays/Wednesdays. He has class from 8:30 am- 9 PM (with some time for lunch) on Mondays! It's an adjustment and we're trying our best to figure out the best way to maintain good eating and exercise habits, reduce the cost of commuting and maintain sanity by sneaking some time in to spend together!
In other news for Tom--he's been applying for jobs/internships all during Christmas break for the summer of 2015. He got his first official internship offer this week for FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority). Here's the link if you want to check it out: http://www.finra.org/.
Tom and I began reminiscing last night about how long/hard it was for us to get into graduate school and that although we consistently feel overwhelmed and scared, it's what we dreamed of, what we hoped for. And for that, we are truly grateful.
Oh - and Go Hawks!.
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