New PGY-1s for 2004-5

[yaah]

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So who else is just beginning their path residency? I do not start until 7/1, I know some out there probably have already started. Are you all ready? Excited? Terrified? Constipated? I still haven't gotten my schedule yet but I am praying to Virchow that I do not have to start with blood banking.

Me, I am definitely ready, although I am starting to enjoy my days with no responsibility other than going to Target to find a new bookshelf. Am somewhat apprehensive about what the year is going to bring, although having done a year of path already I sort of know what to expect. After about 24 years of schooling so far, I think it is about @#$!ing time that I am done with school and can actually do something useful, even if I will be a lowly resident that still feels like he is in school. But dammit I am going to be 28 in 3 weeks.

Good luck to everyone! Let us all know how you are doing.

 

[Gut Shot]

Don't feel too bad, my friend. I'm 30 and I still have a month of third year left. I'm also one inch shorter than you. I do have a PhD in experimental pathology, but it's not nearly as cool as it may sound.

Well, I'm going to go dip into the Celexa samples now...

 

[Doctor B.]

Good luck to everyone starting in the next few weeks. It's what you've all been waiting for!

 

[2005]

Even better, I shouldn't have any trouble getting the residency I want. Yahoo!

 

[yaah]

I am a longtime reader first time poster. Will be starting residency in pathology next week in the midwest.

Slightly nervous but ready to work, earn money (hah), and learn my craft.
Yaah Vol.....do you guys start AP or CP at Michigan?

I believe we start AP hardcore for a year.

Whoo hoo! Represent! Midwestern pathology PGY-1s unite!
I hope you will be at a nice program. Lot of nice programs in the midwest. You say you're in Ohio though, which I guess because I am in Michigan means we are supposed to be terrible enemies (although I am not sure if that holds true if you have no connection to OSU). You stink! Bite me! Go Blue! Hail to the Victors!

Take this:

I'll tell you whut though, even though the money being earned is not that high, it's still a relative windfull, especially when one is moving from the overblown and overpriced northeast to the less expensive midwest (outside of the magnificent mile, of course).

Don't know yet whether I start CP or AP. I think we switch every 4-6 weeks but per discussions with PD at my interview I believe I will be starting with surg path (most PGY 1s start with autopsy or blood bank apparently but given my past experience I may start with SP).

Others?

 

[gungho]

I start w/orientation 6/30, 7/1 and then launch into Surgicals 7/2. Not that nervous having been thru FP residency and yrs. of clinical practice. I know I won't have to be running codes, putting in lines, etc. etc., but I am concerned about being able to once again absorb voluminous material and learn pattern recognition.

 

[ICDEADPPL]

Another long time reader, first time poster here. I start tomorrow and am very nervous. I am a PGY-1 at a not so small hospital in CT and am feeling like I am a bit out of my league. I bought a house that is nice but the previous owners treated it like a crack house, so between the mice, maggots and ants I will actually feel like I am on vacation when I start work tomorrow. Anyway, I am sure we will all do great. It just sucks that we have already spent 8 years packing our brains full of knowledge to learn this week that we know NOTHING!!! Have a great week everyone!

 

[yaah]

Good luck!

I am sure you are not alone in feeling a bit frightened/intimidated. Even though I already have a year of path I still have similar feelings. I know when I started my PSF I had no clue what was going on. We went on a tour of the department and they were telling us about grossing and things to remember, etc. I had no idea what they were talking about. But it all will work itself out. Ask for help, the majority of residents out there remember what it was like to be new and are willing to help out.

And the 8 years will come in handy, believe me. Lots of stuff that seems "basic" to the current people there will seem unfamiliar, but believe it or not all the training will be useful.

I like your username, BTW. There may be benefits to living in a former crack house. I can't think of many, but perhaps you will find some cash or jewelry buried in a wall somewhere.

 

[Weil-Felix]

I did orientation last week. This week I started work for real. (Well, if you can call following my attendings and upper level residents around like a lost puppy dog and asking idiotic questions every five minutes real work.) The most important thing I have learned so far is that I am truly clueless. Sigh.

It's cool, though. I'm glad to be getting started.

 

[HotSteamingTurd]

Best of luck to all of you starting your PGY-1 year! I hope to be in your shoes next year...only 4 months of med school now stands in my way.

BTW, I start my CCU sub-I this Tuesday...are there any good books for my CCU month? Haha that's a joke! I'll be reading pathology during this month and NOT asking for extra patients.

 

[yaah]

BTW, I start my CCU sub-I this Tuesday...are there any good books for my CCU month? Haha that's a joke! I'll be reading pathology during this month and NOT asking for extra patients.

I was thinking of somehow creating a fake book cover like "Intensive Care Medicine for Dummies" with the big obvious orange coloring and blue letters like all those other ones. Or getting a cover that was the Cliff's notes version of "Harrison's." That way perhaps people could see me and leave me alone.

Either that, or you could get a real version of Harrison's, and put a path book inside it so it looks like you are reading Harrison's but at the same time you're not. Like the little kids who put Mad Magazine inside Time or some such periodical.

BTW I don't start until tuesday. All I have had so far is hospital orientation. Haven't done anything path related yet except meet the other residents after which we went and got beer. Apparently I start with clin chem, micro, immunology.

 

[gungho]

I started yesterday with Surgicals and got right to cutting in. Very new experience for me, not tapping on someone's belly or looking at TM's or listening to request for pain meds, HA meds, sleep meds, depression meds, anxiety meds, etc. Interesting how much of a neophyte I felt in the actual handling of tissue, the difference in dictation, wondering what in the heck sections to take. Did look at some slides with other rez and staff and was sort of halfway able to sometimes kind of recognize what I thought might be abnormal tissue--or not. At least I survived day #1. Then had to go back today to cut in stuff from last nite...

 

[HotSteamingTurd]

This is all good to hear!

Out of curiosity, could you share what some of that BS stuff that those other folks have to do? I guess the salient points will do.

That will help paint the bright picture that awaits us who are still in med school.

Thanks

 

[yaah]

Well, let's see, some of it be acronyms. JCAHO, HIPAA, numerous medicare/medicaid abbreviations.

Some of it be paperwork, particularly insurance related, medical records related (see JCAHO and HIPAA above).

Some of it be dealing with other people, whether they are patients, doctors more senior then you, doctors less senior than you, med students, support staff.

You also have to worry about work hours, procedures, competencies, and of course the all encompassing term, "PATIENT SAFETY" which can refer to anything from writing orders to understanding critical lab values to learning about proper procedures for placing and ordering restraints. Plus, all that crap about drug doses. And you have to be on call.

I guess, in sum, you have to spend >75% of your day doing things that have nothing to do with your education as a physician and the previous 4 years of med schol. And 75% is a conservative estimate.

 

[HotSteamingTurd]

Ahh...the wonderful world of pathology. Of course, I'm sure path has it's on BS issues but relatively speaking path sounds like heaven compared to other residency fields.

Oh yeah, how could I forget....NO ROUNDS! (right?) 😀

 

[HotSteamingTurd]

As I reflect on two things (the fact that my CCU month starts in less than 9 hours and my earlier post), I'm starting to think that med students going into pathology should be exempt from sub-I's. That's right! If we don't have to do an intern year, we shouldn't have to do sub-I's either. We should be able to substitute those would be sub-I months with pathology months!

Ah my 2 months of internal medicine hell starts tomorrow, hopefully they'll go by quick.

 

[yaah]

As I reflect on two things (the fact that my CCU month starts in less than 9 hours and my earlier post), I'm starting to think that med students going into pathology should be exempt from sub-I's. That's right! If we don't have to do an intern year, we shouldn't have to do sub-I's either. We should be able to substitute those would be sub-I months with pathology months!

Ah my 2 months of internal medicine hell starts tomorrow, hopefully they'll go by quick.

That's a good plan. I'll support you. I should warn you though, I have very little actual power. BTW I saw all those Michigan 3rd year students this AM on their way to starting clinical stuff. Silly rabbits. I felt bad for them.

It's true though that you should be able to do your Sub I in the field of your choosing. If it is path, so be it. A path sub I might be not that intense, but so what? In retrospect, I actually probably learned a bit from my Sub I, but the problem is not much of it is applicable in my daily life, except for the few minutes each day when I thank Virchow I did not go into internal medicine.

Of course, you're also talking to someone who thinks the 4th year of med school is a complete flurking waste of time and should be eliminated.

 

[GMO2003]

As I reflect on two things (the fact that my CCU month starts in less than 9 hours and my earlier post), I'm starting to think that med students going into pathology should be exempt from sub-I's. That's right! If we don't have to do an intern year, we shouldn't have to do sub-I's either. We should be able to substitute those would be sub-I months with pathology months!

Ah my 2 months of internal medicine hell starts tomorrow, hopefully they'll go by quick.

CCU actually is not that bad...my first week of call I slept right through the night...keep in mind that on call the intern covers both the CCU and MICU...but you are NOT responsible for MICU admissions...atleast that's how it was at my hospital...also, the daily tasks on CCU are fairly mundane and monotonous patient is either waiting to go to cath, in cath, or post cath and in that case...groin check...yay!!! in between you get to listen to the attending and the cards fellow argue back and forth about when the person they just cathed will be coming back to the hospital...MICU on the other hand...well, that's another story son...and a story I thankfully got to skip during my internship... 👍 👍

 

[yaah]

CCU actually is not that bad...my first week of call I slept right through the night...keep in mind that on call the intern covers both the CCU and MICU...but you are NOT responsible for MICU admissions...atleast that's how it was at my hospital...also, the daily tasks on CCU are fairly mundane and monotonous patient is either waiting to go to cath, in cath, or post cath and in that case...groin check...yay!!! in between you get to listen to the attending and the cards fellow argue back and forth about when the person they just cathed will be coming back to the hospital...MICU on the other hand...well, that's another story son...and a story I thankfully got to skip during my internship... 👍 👍

"Groin check" is a funny term. Mention that to the wrong person, you might wake up the next morning in the dumpster in the back. Hey baby, I'll be right back. Just gotta run and go do a groin check. Either that or it sounds like a hockey term. But what a strange hockey play that might refer to! Oh my goodness he just groin checked him into the boards!

Hey, I know there must be more of you out there starting your first year now! I'm starting with chemistry/toxicology/immunopath. I'm also starting to think I should have done AP only! C'est la vie! At least my first year will include plenty of time to hang around and discuss things like the various iterations of the term groin check.

 

[GMO2003]

yaah..I take it you're enjoying your first month as a path resident...I myself will have to wait atleast another year or possibly 2 before I can say the same...good luck and enjoy the fact that you don't have to do anymor "groin checks" ever again in your life

 

[gungho]

flurking?

 

[yaah]

yaah..I take it you're enjoying your first month as a path resident...I myself will have to wait atleast another year or possibly 2 before I can say the same...good luck and enjoy the fact that you don't have to do anymor "groin checks" ever again in your life

Well actually I have only been a real resident for a couple of days. But it's fun so far. I continue to be dumbfounded that anyone would go through med school and not choose to go into path. But, as Judge Smails said to Danny Noonan in Caddyshack (Spaulding get your foot off the boat!), "The world needs ditchdiggers too."

To be honest though, I never completely minded the groin checks. Although, to be fair, the only reason I can say that was that if I was off doing groin checks it meant I didn't have to be doing something else. If all that stood between me and leaving was a groin check I certainly did NOT enjoy it. But let's see. Groin check, or ER consult. Hmmmm....

Flurking?

It's a Simpsons reference. The Aliens said it once during a halloween show. They actually said, "Holy flurking shnit!" So, I extracted there.

More Caddyshack quotes:

-Hey baby I bet you must have been something before electricity.
-You're a lotta woman, you know that? Hey, wanna make 14 dollars the hard way?
-A wise philosopher once said, 'A flute without holes, is not a flute. A donut without a hole, is a Danish.'
-You'll get nothing and like it!
-Double turds! Spaulding!
-Let's go, while we're young!

 

[HotSteamingTurd]

GMO2003 you're right...CCU isn't too bad. I'm actually pleasantly surprised that I'm finding a little bit of enjoyment in this. The tasks are mundane that is true but the work still isn't too bad. At least I'm not running around the hospital with my little sheets of paper full of those stupid little box checklists. This subI is just like being a 3rd year med student except you know a little bit more than you did as an M3. Call is q7. What a sweet deal. I happen to be on call tonight and they CCU director says that I cap at 2 patients. OMFG this month is looking sweet!

Anyways, at the hospital I'm at, we are also not responsible for MICU admissions. In fact, we block some admissions that, as a result, end up going to the MICU which explains why the MICU residents seem to be a little more bitter than the CCU residents.

Oh BTW, both of the senior residents on our team told me that they should have seriously considered pathology when I told them I was going into the field. Especially when I told them there was no intern/transitional year. Of course, the CCU director responded to my interest in path by asking me, "Uh so what do you actually want to get out of this rotation?" ROFL

 

[yaah]

Oh BTW, both of the senior residents on our team told me that they should have seriously considered pathology when I told them I was going into the field.

I hear that a lot too. People don't get enough exposure to path. The only real exposure most people get is during second year when they equate learning pathology with studying for monthly exams and learning esoteric trivia. "Internal Medicine" on the other hand, is always presented as "something you will see during clinical years" and represents all that is good and right about medical skool. Pathology, on the other hand, is boring, and something you just have to get through.

However, I do think a lot of people say that in part because of lifestyle. And as I have said before, picking a career based mostly on lifestyle is a bad idea.

Did you see what I did there? Did you see I censored your name in the quote so that no one else has to be subjected to it? Horrors! Someone might lose their appetite! Which do you think was the offensive part about your name? The "Hot and steaming" double adjective part, or the subject of those adjectives?

 

[joedogma]

I have found that when I tell other medical students that I am going into pathology, they act like I just stunk up the room. They will say "oh, thats......interesting..." and the conversation usually comes to a dead end. When I tell an intern or resident that I am going into pathology I get a totally different response. I get comments like "great field!" or "I wish I had considered pathology in medical school." What a difference a year or two of Q4 makes... I am convinced that pathology is the best kept secret in medicine...I just started my first path elective and it is fantastic. Its intellectually stimulating, a generally benign environment, you have a huge impact on patient care, and of course, as yaah has pointed out in the past, much less poo...

 

[b&ierstiefel]

When I saw the word "CENSORED" I knew it had to have been one of HotSteamingTurd's previous posts. Touche yaah, touche 🙂 Similar reason why I bleeped out the "turd" under my screenname (I too am sarcastic...technically nobody can give me crap about that now).

Upon further discussion with the admin, the imagery brought on by the name HotSteamingTurd (i.e., a hot and steaming pile of s-h-i-t) was the main offensive issue. All in all, it's a valid point...in any case, I'm over the whole matter anyway...all it took was 14 hours of sleep post-call.

Anyways, I agree about the lifestyle issue. Lifestyle is an important factor when deciding what you want to go into (it involves thinking of what you will be doing in let's say 10-20 years). But, I believe it still should not be the predominant issue (although "lifestyle" was the first comment that came out of the CCU director's mouth when I told him I was going into path). Even with a great lifestyle, I would imagine that someone would still be unhappy if they truly weren't passionate and interested in their field. There's gotta be something that drives you to come into work everyday; something that wakes you up everyday. On the flip side, for me, working in clinic or inpatient wards would drive me to come up with a variety of excuses to not come into work (and there aren't too many good excuses one can really come up with).

And joedogma, I completely agree with your comment that path is the best kept secret in medicine. Nonetheless, I think more people are starting to at least consider pathology, let alone go into it. Two years ago, only 2 out of the 170 students at Michigan matched into pathology...both were MSTP students and that's always been the norm here. However, last year, there were 6 students matching into pathology (again 2 MSTP's...which is constant). This year, there are 5 people on my track of ~40 students alone who are applying for pathology for Match 2005. I think this is quite awesome and impressive. It's cool once in a while to talk to people about common interests...it's quite refreshing rather than justifying to people why you're going into path.

 

[Stinger86]

I just hope that when my time to inteview rolls around, I don't have to compete against a horde of muttonheads who don't really like path, but who've heard the field is easy work.

Psychiatry has already started to become like that...

 

[b&ierstiefel]

People who think path is easy work may be quite misguided. There's so much to learn in pathology.

You may see people like what you've mentioned on the interview trail. Hopefully, the people who match into your program will not have that mindset.

 

[yaah]

People who think path is easy work may be quite misguided. There's so much to learn in pathology.

You may see people like what you've mentioned on the interview trail. Hopefully, the people who match into your program will not have that mindset.

It's funny - on the interview trail you really don't often meet other candidates - at least at the places I interviewed. I think there were only 3 interviews I went on where I met any other candidates.

But I agree I hope people don't have that mindset. Red flag! Red flag!

 

[wellrested]

I am a pgy-1 in the west,from the east (so not too biased). You failed to mention west coast programs in your top 5. I would put UCSF, Stanford, Wash, and maybe UCLA some where up there.
It's great to finally start working and stop shopping for bookshelves in Target. I never expected to have so many presentations to give, however, and i think my program could give Dale Carnegie a run for his money.
Path is a great residency even with weekly home call. If you are thinking about a career in path, from my one month experience, I can't complain so far. Whatever your reasons for the residency you choose, keep in mind that residency does not last forever. Try to get a feel for the job market, and most importantly do what you like. Even if your hours are good, if you are bored or hate your job, you will regret your choice in the long run.

 

[Matte Kudesai]

"Last time I saw a mouth like that, it had a hook in it."


"It's easy to grin / When your ship comes in / And you've got the stock market beat. / But the man worthwhile, / Is the man who can smile, / When his shorts are too tight in the seat. "


"Oh Porterhouse, look at the wax build up on these shoes I want that wax stripped off there, then I want them creamed and buffed wih a fine chamois, and I want them now. Chop chop."


"So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga... gunga, gunga-galunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice."


Dr. Beeper: "I thought you'd be the man to beat this year. "
Ty Webb: "I guess you'll just have to keep beating yourself. "

"Elihu, will you come loofah my stretch marks? "


"He called me a baboon, he thinks I'm his wife."

 

[yaah]

"It's easy to grin / When your ship comes in / And you've got the stock market beat. / But the man worthwhile, / Is the man who can smile, / When his shorts are too tight in the seat. "

SPAULDING GET YOUR FOOT OFF THE BOAT!!!!

I'm a cool guy. Just ask my Grandson Spaulding. He and I are regular pals!

But Grandpa, I have asthma.
I'll give you asthma.

But Grandpa, I want to play tennis.
You're playing golf and you're going to like it.

Wow, look at that hat. That's the worst hat I've ever seen. I bet if you buy that hat you get a free bowl of soup. (Looks at Ted Knight) Oh, but it looks great on you though.

p.s. thanks for posting wellrested. You're right, I didn't include west coast programs other than Utah, but I always qualify that by saying they are my choices, and I never even thought about applying to the west coast, because I just didn't want to spend my residency there. Those are good programs, from what I've heard though.

 

[stormjen]

Ahh...the wonderful world of pathology. Of course, I'm sure path has it's on BS issues but relatively speaking path sounds like heaven compared to other residency fields.

Oh yeah, how could I forget....NO ROUNDS! (right?) 😀

I rotated through the Microbiology department, and the residents actually rounded with the attending in the labs. They went around from tech to tech looking at agar dishes and talking about bugs and antibiotics and stuff. Not patient rounds, but still rounds.

Also, I know that Blood Bank/ Transfusion Medicine has some patient contact. I wouldn't completely eliminate having to round on patients on that rotation.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

yeah, what the hell was hotsteamingturd thinking? that kid is an idiot.

oh wait...

 

[stormjen]

He's come back from the dead to haunt you.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

the ghost goes away after i take some haldol.

😴

 

[gungho]

Did Calif. finally slip into the Pacific to make Utah on the West Coast? Guess I need to stay more alert. 😱

 

[yaah]

Did Calif. finally slip into the Pacific to make Utah on the West Coast? Guess I need to stay more alert. 😱

Only in my dreams...Although if California disappeared all the people that make California such a miserable place would just move eastward and turn Salt Lake or Vegas into the new LA and the new SF. Interesting to contemplate.

Just kidding. I don't really wish all of California would meet a fiery death. I just don't want anything to do with it.