False Start

So,  I have been orientated. I am at my surgical site and new home for the next three months. But due to new SGU guidelines our 12 weeks of surgery now includes protected study time. Which is great, but guess what? I ended up getting my two weeks of study time upfront and my six weeks of general surgery at the very end until the day before exams. Yippee for me! (NOT.)

So no early morning rounding for me or scrubbing in to watch a case, or any of that. Just sitting in the assigned library or conference room from 8am-4pm. Of course I can take breaks and leave for lunch but it kind of feels just like studying for Step 1. Sure I get to walk around the hospital in my short white coat and attend all the resident and academic lectures but I just don't feel like a third year. I know, my time will come. Pretty soon I'll be wishing I was back in the library with the entire day to read (at least this is what I am telling myself.) I have entertained the idea of just walking into a patient's room and assuming her care like I belong there, no one will call if there are extra notes in her chart, right?  Fine, I suppose I will just stick to pre-reading for surgery. It has been a long day. In a quiet/boring kind of way.

Time for Fun Facts:
-A normal healthy person sighs 9-10 x per hour. This protects the lungs from atelectasis. (Patients undergoing and awakening from anasthesia do not sigh or cough and thus this is a possible complication. I'd never thought of sighing as protective, had you?)

-Licorice consumption can lead to renal potassium loss. (Okay, I think I knew this one, but it is still pretty cool, so be careful what you eat!)

There are more, but I don't want to bore you. I am 90 pages in to Lawrence's "Essentials of General Surgery" and I have to say, I wouldn't be if it were not for this protected study time, so yay!?!

13 days until my neurosurgery rotation, at least I have that to look forward to!