intern blues

Started by secretasianman
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secretasianman

Glorified Enabler
Verified Member
Physician
20+ Year Member
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on call right now, 2nd icu month in a row... been so long since fourth year med school and the anesthesia elective, that i'm not sure what to expect next year. how's it going now for you ca-1s now that you have some experience under your belts? liking it?
 
passthesashimi said:
on call right now, 2nd icu month in a row... been so long since fourth year med school and the anesthesia elective, that i'm not sure what to expect next year. how's it going now for you ca-1s now that you have some experience under your belts? liking it?
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I'm right there with ya, passthesashimi. currently finishing up 2nd part of Step 3 tomorrow. It's been so long since anesthesia. I cannot wait to move on come June. Sigh...almost there.
 
passthesashimi said:
on call right now, 2nd icu month in a row... been so long since fourth year med school and the anesthesia elective, that i'm not sure what to expect next year. how's it going now for you ca-1s now that you have some experience under your belts? liking it?
Click to expand...

Hang in there buddy. It gets much better as a CA-1 and then light years better after residency. I used to call those off service months "anesthesia appreciation months".
 
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I'm on a killer inpatient peds month. I've written 120 soap notes and/or H&P's in 3 weeks. If that's not an Anesthesia Appreciation month, I'm not sure what is.
Not too much longer...
 
passthesashimi said:
on call right now, 2nd icu month in a row... been so long since fourth year med school and the anesthesia elective, that i'm not sure what to expect next year. how's it going now for you ca-1s now that you have some experience under your belts? liking it?
Click to expand...

What you can expect when starting your actual anesthesia training is to smile non-stop for a couple of weeks when you realize you are done with all that intern crap.

I spent 4 years in the Marine Corps. Including boot camp, I would rather do that 4 yrs over again before doing an internship yr over. Easily the worst year of my life.
 
passthesashimi said:
on call right now, 2nd icu month in a row... been so long since fourth year med school and the anesthesia elective, that i'm not sure what to expect next year. how's it going now for you ca-1s now that you have some experience under your belts? liking it?
Click to expand...

What you can expect when starting your actual anesthesia training is to smile non-stop for a couple of weeks when you realize you are done with all that intern crap.

I spent 4 years in the Marine Corps. Including boot camp, I would rather do that 4 yrs over again before doing an internship yr over. Easily the worst year of my life.
 
oh man. i feel for you guys. this was, without a doubt, the longest, hardest part of intern year. you will make it through. i remember being very nervous at this point in the year bc it had been ages since i'd had my anesthesia elective in med school and i was pretty scared i wouldn't love it anymore. and i knew that i hated medicine and surgery. but thank god once ca-1 year began it was everything i could have hoped for.

almost there...
 
post call now, it's pretty sweet to be home. Thanks for all the responses guys. Dude, I feel the same way you felt before. If I don't like anesthesia as much as I did in med school, I'm screwed! There is no way I'd do medicine or surgery. It is a good feeling to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. For now it's off to bed, then out to drink in a bit 🙂.

japhy said:
oh man. i feel for you guys. this was, without a doubt, the longest, hardest part of intern year. you will make it through. i remember being very nervous at this point in the year bc it had been ages since i'd had my anesthesia elective in med school and i was pretty scared i wouldn't love it anymore. and i knew that i hated medicine and surgery. but thank god once ca-1 year began it was everything i could have hoped for.

almost there...
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Boy am I glad to hear that I'm not the only one wondering if I will still like anesthesia. I have been totally dragging the last few months and the thought of possibly not liking anesthesia makes me even more depressed. It feels wrong wishing years of your life away...definitely in a rut...

Glad to hear it gets better.
 
Just waiting for this week of internal medicine hell (including two call nights) to finish up, and then I get a whole month of anesthesia in March...should be a nice taste of what's to come in July!
 
I share the sentiments of everyone here. While I have certainly learned a great deal about internal medicine, I KNOW without doubt that its NOT for me, lol. This has been one of the hardest and most isolating years of my life. Better days are coming! I can feel it guys!
 
Haole said:
Boy am I glad to hear that I'm not the only one wondering if I will still like anesthesia. I have been totally dragging the last few months and the thought of possibly not liking anesthesia makes me even more depressed. It feels wrong wishing years of your life away...definitely in a rut...

Glad to hear it gets better.
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When you're in a rut, stick it in her butt! :meanie:
 
Glad to hear that there is an end to this misery. Internship makes me a person that I hate. I am cranky, anxious, and want to punch everyone in the face.
 
stargirl50 said:
Wow, this is exactly what I needed to read after coming home post-call today after 2. The thought of a 24 hour call day just seems glorious.
Click to expand...

Post call and unable to sleep right now because my circadian rhythms are jacked up. Im in MICU this month and I will get 100 pages on a call night if I dont sit at the nurse's station the whole time.

I am 3 days and one call away from completing FOUR straight months on call! The worst is almost behind and June is in sight.

Keep your chin up all!

rlxdmd
 
sevoflurane said:
Hang in there buddy. It gets much better as a CA-1 and then light years better after residency. I used to call those off service months "anesthesia appreciation months".
Click to expand...


LOL....I totally agree! You feel like a new man/woman when CA-1 starts...I know I did 🙂 Hang in there, it'll be june before you know it!
 
Just found out that my sweet month of private hospital ICU in April where I was basically going to be allowed to sit around and cherry-pick procedures and not take call is being switched for a medicine floor month with call. Just another reminder that internship is all about seeing how much and how far you can take it up the can.
 
Gimlet said:
Just found out that my sweet month of private hospital ICU in April where I was basically going to be allowed to sit around and cherry-pick procedures and not take call is being switched for a medicine floor month with call. Just another reminder that internship is all about seeing how much and how far you can take it up the can.
Click to expand...

Hang in there Gimmy'. Almost done friend. Back to internal medicine wards this March.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Intern year in paintings (with exaggeration...)

It's July...You're at the hot gates. Say goodbye to MS4cation.

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Welcome to the garden of earthly delights where all ye who enter here, abandon all hope.

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You will scream when that pager go off Q 10 mins

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Slowly, you will be transformed into the monster that you despised

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The meaning of time slurred. You live on the plane between dream and reality.

dali1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Ha. Good one Plank.

Answer: Because they have $1.4 Billion left in the back when they are done?

That's the only reason I can think of...

D712
 
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Not for me...I'm on ANESTHESIA! Has totally reaffirmed my choice of specialty and that this whole year will be worth it come July. Will hopefully be getting my own cases assigned to me next week.
 
i'm on pulm consult now, life is good.

No 3 am pages for:
potassium of 3.2
pls renew restraints
pls renew sedation gtts
pt on vanco (or whatever abx) but ID has not approved, can you please get approval?
pt has residual > 200
Dr., pt is npo, do you know why?
Dr., pt bp is 95/60, but he is sleeping ok.

After 2 months in a row of that, i want to shoot myself in the face.
 
Gimlet said:
Not for me...I'm on ANESTHESIA! Has totally reaffirmed my choice of specialty and that this whole year will be worth it come July. Will hopefully be getting my own cases assigned to me next week.
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No doubt you are probably ready Gimlet but I think that legally you are not allowed to solo until your intern year is over.
 
SexPanther said:
No doubt you are probably ready Gimlet but I think that legally you are not allowed to solo until your intern year is over.
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hmm. From my distant recollection of the interview trail, I seem to remeber a couple fo programs where the intern year was half med/surg/transitional/whatever and half anesthesiology.
 
SexPanther said:
No doubt you are probably ready Gimlet but I think that legally you are not allowed to solo until your intern year is over.
Click to expand...

Interesting...they pretty commonly throw the interns a few easy cases of their own toward the end of our anesthesia month. I think I would be assigned 1:1 with an attending who would be present the entire time or just down the hall and not tied up with another case. They have been letting the residents I work with take breaks, leaving me in the room by myself already (again, with the attending within shouting distance).

This is at the VA, though...not sure if that makes a difference.
 
Gimlet said:
Interesting...they pretty commonly throw the interns a few easy cases of their own toward the end of our anesthesia month. I think I would be assigned 1:1 with an attending who would be present the entire time or just down the hall and not tied up with another case. They have been letting the residents I work with take breaks, leaving me in the room by myself already (again, with the attending within shouting distance).

This is at the VA, though...not sure if that makes a difference.
Click to expand...

There is a very high probability that I have no idea what I'm talking about.
 
passthesashimi said:
i'm on pulm consult now, life is good.

No 3 am pages for:
potassium of 3.2
pls renew restraints
pls renew sedation gtts
pt on vanco (or whatever abx) but ID has not approved, can you please get approval?
pt has residual > 200
Dr., pt is npo, do you know why?
Dr., pt bp is 95/60, but he is sleeping ok.
Click to expand...

How about potassium of 3.7 -- that's a common one IMO

ID approval for VANCO?
 
passthesashimi said:
i'm on pulm consult now, life is good.

No 3 am pages for:
potassium of 3.2
pls renew restraints
pls renew sedation gtts
pt on vanco (or whatever abx) but ID has not approved, can you please get approval?
pt has residual > 200
Dr., pt is npo, do you know why?
Dr., pt bp is 95/60, but he is sleeping ok.

After 2 months in a row of that, i want to shoot myself in the face.
Click to expand...

oh this sounds far too familiar... currently on my 5th ward month with call in a row in a field i don't even want to do... struggling to fight out the rest of this year but there is light at the end of the tunnel...
 
3 AM, admitting homeless or noninsured pt's for "placement issues" which have one of two outcomes: placed back where they came from b/c no matter what the ED doc says being admitted to the hospital can't get you in SNF longterm if you don't need it or can't afford it, or something worse happens and we work up an incidental finding causing me days of grief.

Only solace comes by remembering I don't have to be an internist!

4 more overnights on Medicine wards
15 more of nights only of ICU as an intern

But who's counting...
Is it July 1st yet, can I work hard at doing something I enjoy yet...No...I have to answer a page from a nurse who asks: "Just curious...why did you [insert plan] with the patient?" My answer: It's 3 am and I'm crosscovering, they're not my patient, the plan's solid, look it up!

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Sorry for the rant...Social work, oops, i mean medicine, stinks
 
requiring ID approval is more common at county hospitals - 4th gen cephalosporins, oral vanc, fluoroquinolones, and big guns like imipenem all needed ID approval at the county hospital where i cross-covered as nightfloat.
 
3am- just drifted off to sleep in MICU after admitting and putting lines in 3 pts.

315- "beep, beep, beep" "I just want to let you know that Mrs X's H/H is 8/25"
Me-"OK, just like all the other 30 H/H's in this pt?"

Sleep

345- "beep, beep beep" "I just want to let you know I am holding Mrs Y's tube feeds because of high residuals."
"OK, when did you start doing this?"
"8pm"
"OK, thank you."

5am- other intern opens call rm door "Oh, you're in here"

WE DO NOT NEED TO SHOW UP UNTIL 7am!!!!!!

I see the light, my friends!!!
 
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