Where to Start...

It’s been months since I’ve last blogged. It all really comes down to the thing that limits me most: time.

Here’s a quick update on life:

-I was able to go to Utah for part of my spring break. I got to spend some time rock climbing with my brothers (one of the activities I miss most), going to the library and hanging out with Brittany and Carson (and Steven a little, but he was pretty busy), and seeing my fellow RAs who went on missions. We went to the Salt Lake temple as sophomores to do baptisms and what a great experience it was to go to the temple five years later for an endowment session!


-I finished my second semester of school. I still think it’s a little ridiculous to have exams Friday and comprehensive finals on Monday, but I survived.

-My break between semesters was a whole TWO days. By the time I cleaned the entire house (upholstery, curtains, everything) and planned my mom’s 50th birthday party, I had enough time to relax by attending the temple and watching a movie. Not exactly my idea of a break, but maybe one day I’ll have time to tackle my 'books to read' list.

-We are in our fourth week of the summer semester. I’m completely overscheduled and going crazy: if I thought the other two semesters were busy, this one is doesn't even compare. Classes started May 3rd and go through September 17th, so it is a full four and a half months. I’m still taking 21 credits and have about 80 hours of clinical experience to fit in too. My classes are: Medicine II, Behavioral Medicine, Communication in Medicine, Clinical Skills, Research, Ethics, and Systems (more on them below).

If I don’t make it through this semester, Medicine II will be the reason. This 11 credit hour class should really be 20 because of the amount of time it requires. The faculty members are concerned about our last exam: they think we won’t be prepared for rotations and that we’ll kill our patients. My thoughts are that they shouldn’t keep us in class until 4 or 5 pm every day, expect us to know all of the lecture notes, read over 200 pages of textbook a week, and do clinics and our other classes too. (Confession: I did on the exam choose to send the baby home instead of admitting him to the hospital. That baby could have died before the clinic opened the next day. Oops. I think written questions are a little harder to imagine than seeing the infant in person. Note to self: don’t trust me with your children until I’ve done my pediatric rotation).

Behavioral Medicine is very interesting. My last assignment was dieting. Most of the people reading this blog have probably never been in a situation where the physician has told them to diet, eat healthy, and exercise. Clinicians don’t seem to understand that losing weight is a lifestyle change and old habits die hard. So my self-inflicted change was to keep my sodium within the recommended daily value of 2,000 mg. This is harder than you think: just about everything has sodium in it (look at the label: it will surprise you). I have learned that ½ c of ice cream just isn’t enough. Besides not measuring or counting when the Blomstedts were in town last weekend, I averaged about 1250 mg a day. My ending blood pressure: 98/60 [The high end of normal is 120/80. Anything under that is good—if you’re not fainting or feeling lightheaded from lack of blood to the brain. Anything over that and you may want to consider a sodium diet]

Communication in Medicine is a continuation of last semester where we do a lot of documentation. Since everything we write in the charts is technically a legal document and could come back in the form of a malpractice suit, learning how to do this is important.

Clinical Skills gets fun this semester. Last semester it was reading the book and learning physical exam skills. Tomorrow we get to do IVs and Injections on each other. I hope my classmate has good veins…

Research is self-explanatory. Since my degree is a Masters, I have to do a thesis-type of paper. Since most masters students get an entire semester of only writing a thesis, ours will be abbreviated: a systematic review of previously done research on the clinical application of a certain topic. I’m thinking I'll research treatment approaches to either depression or ADHD since they are both very prevalent.

My Systems class is the business of medicine. An important class, but it makes my blood boil when I learn about how much power insurance companies have and the burden they place on healthcare providers. I may not even get a job since insurance companies are deciding to cut down reimbursement to PAs. Normally the doc gets a cut of what we make (since we are covered under their malpractice), which is why we make less than them. But since insurance companies are paying us less, it may no longer be profitable for a practice to employ a PA instead of another physician. I still don’t see why who put in the sutures really matters (10 stitches is 10 stitches), but insurance companies have to protect their multi-million dollar profit. Perhaps I’ll blog about reform another day.

Jeff is working hard and always busy. [I do ask him if he’d like to write or add anything, but he always declines.] It seems like we might be lucky to have 1-2 hours together a day if I don’t go to the school to study.

Sorry for such a long post: I'm sure my schooling is boring for you. But hopefully these medical tidbits will make reading this entire thing worth it:

-I hope someone has told you, but QTips in the ear are a big no-no. I find that most of my patients have never heard that before, so I’m telling you. They actually push the wax back in instead of getting it out and increase your chances of infection. The body naturally pushes the wax out, so the recommended way to clean is put your finger in a warm washcloth and get that wax.

-They seem to have a medical term for everything (one of the reasons people don’t understand their doctors and why learning medicine is so difficult). Here were just a few that made me smile:
Small Eyes = Phthisis bulbi
Eyes that are too far apart = Hypertelorism
Big Ears = macrotia (the book points out this may result in significant teasing and can be surgically corrected)

-Did you know your sinuses produces an entire quart of mucous a day? (It’s a lot more when you’re ill.) Kind of gross, right Steph?

-With summer coming, the best way to get water out of your ears is to drop some diluted hydrogen peroxide in them (make sure it’s diluted: the strong stuff could damage the ear)

I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying their summer. I do read your blogs even if I don't comment on them--time is a little scarce right now. Have a good week!