… but for some reason I don’t have any clear ideas to carry a whole entry.  I have a million different compartments in my brain working on all different ideas / problems / dreams / plans but none of them are complete or really all that interesting.

Of course I’m thinking about my upcoming interviews

i have to review my application and re-learn about my undergraduate research project… i need to go over those "frequently asked questions" and start thinking over my answers… i need to finalize that rental car plan for san fran… i need to make a packing list and try on that "back-up suit" to see if it fits me now and decide if i’m going to check or just carry-on and what i need to pack up for aj to bring to seattle when he comes back… i need to go to the residency websites and look over the details of the programs so i can talk intelligently about why i want to match there (even if i don’t really want to…)… i need to e-mail the residents at the uw that i met during my rotation and keep those connections up… and probably more than all this, but really, isn’t it enough?

and I’m thinking a lot about the Distinction in Community Service project I am working on

i need to update my "steps to completion" sheet… i need to contact my new advisor (dr. frankenstein, heehee, it’s her real name but pronounced franken-STEEN) and go over my project idea with her since my last two advisors in that department have left or changed positions… i have to research tobacco use trends in st. louis teens and find evidence-based journal articles discussing types of smoking cessation programs that work for teens and then compile that info and come up with a database of programs that pediatricians can use to help their teen patients kick the habit… i need to make an outline for my paper so i know what other information i need to look up…

and I also have my schedule for the rest of the year to work on

i really need to e-mail my developmental peds course directors and let them know i won’t be around during the first week of the rotation since i’ll be off interviewing (luckily part of the week is thanksgiving vacation anyway so i’ll only miss 3 days)… i need to e-mail the anesthesiology department and find out if i can do peds anesthesia for just 2 weeks (instead of the normal 4) so i can put it in at the very end of the year; and then i need to get registered for that and drop cardiac auscultation since i know a self-directed elective like that will not work well during my last two weeks of school…

then there’s the Admission’s Committee responsibilities I have

i have to plan to attend some of the committee meetings this year and i have to remember to pick up the applicant info cd’s before the meeting so i can review who we’ll be talking about… i need to make sure i get more tour guides scheduled for the weeks between now and christmas break and let the admissions office know who will be doing them… huh, i guess this thread of thoughts isn’t that overwhelming…

and I also have this new tutoring gig with a second year student who had taken some time off and wants to get back into studying mode

we’re going over cardiac physiology at our next session so i really need to review that since i only vaguely understood it in the first place and now i need to be able to teach it and i don’t want to look stupid… and we’re also going over cardiac embryology which is a bit easier to grasp but definitely something i need to review… but the valvular disease and congenital diseases, those should be okay… oh and i have to stop by the student affairs office and figure out what forms need to be filled out so that i can get paid for doing this… and i have to make sure i get a system going for keeping track of my hours so i can get paid… and she wants help with step 1 as well, and i don’t remember a whole lot about step 1… and i just don’t want to look stupid…

and besides all that there are the fun and entertaining things that are on my mind too

aj and i went to the driving range last night and i did pretty well and i would love to go again soon… i really want to go see a movie at the moolah but "jarhead" is there and i don’t have a strong desire to see such a realistic war movie right now and "shopgirl" is at the chase and that would be fun but i really wanted to go to the moolah… i miss playing racquetball regularly and i had so much fun playing 4’s with aj and 2 of his law school friends this week and i wish i could do that more often… i’m glad i’ve been working out at curves regularly, even if i didn’t go today because i’m feeling kind of sick… i heard about this restaurant called "1111 mississippi" and i wonder what it’s like, people say the food is awesome, but the menu looks a little eclectic and i wonder if there’s anything on it that i would really like… i want to try more new restaurants around here but it’s hard to decide where to go and it takes a bit of courage to just walk into a new place for dinner…

and, of course, that little to-do list that’s always in the back on everyone’s mind

i’ve got to get those clothes out of the dryer and it’s probably time to do a load of towels again… the garbage needs to go out and the kitchen could really use a thorough cleaning, especially the refrigerator… the living room is getting clutter-y… i need to get my oil changed and the air pressure in my tires checked, and since i’m going out of town now would be a great time to get the tailgate and mirror and stuff fixed so i really need to go in to get a quote first so i can leave it there when i leave, although now that i think about it aj could always drop it off sometime after i’m gone… oh and i need a ride to the airport since aj won’t be back from seattle yet when i have to leave, i should ask jill, maybe at star trek night on monday… i want to pick up some more allergy medicine from costco and we’re almost out of milk…

So there’s a few cars on my train of thought today.  Enjoy the ride?

60 days until my birthday. (check out www.jillcook.com for daily updates :-))

3 residency interview invitations: UCSF, Oakland Children’s (in the greater SanFran area), and Denver Children’s.  I’m trying to get one long SanFran trip scheduled so I can do 4 interviews there all in 1 week.  It’ll be an interesting week, being "on" all the time.. but much nicer than making 3 or 4 trips out there separately.

I love my job.  Okay, it’s not technically my job yet, since really I’m still paying for the privilige of working crazy hours in the hospital… but I’m going to love my job.  And that’s nice to know.  I’m also going to complain about it a lot, because it seems that that’s what residents do and I will get sucked in just as easily as everyone else seems to be… BUT, knowing that, I will try to keep the complaining to a minimum and remember all the great things that make me love my job. Here’s a few from this week:
Little kid smiles
When babies just look at you, all nice and content
The suggestion, from a 10-year-old patient, that I could be "a princess" for Halloween, "or a DEAD princess!!!" with a white dress covered in blood and half of a tiara
Being called "doctor"

Halloween – what to do for Halloween?  I want to have a little get together… a party… a soiree… an affair, a celebration, a fete, gala, occasion, function, bash – however you want to refer to it, I want to have people and food and decorations and maybe scary movies, or semi-scary movies anyway.

In case anyone was wondering… I am still alive and kicking.

I have been back in St. Louis now for about a week and a half and I have been nonstop busy the whole time.  I started my sub-I (sub-internship: a way to test the waters and let me see what things will be like when I am a doctor next year, and I get evaluated to make sure I am up to par) and it is going fantastically well.  Though it started out kind of crappy with a disorienting first day (new people to meet, given a patient load right away without good instructions, I was also on call…) but it just got better from there and I am all settled in now and loving it.  I am on call again right now, I’m on call Q4 (which means every fourth night) but sometimes it feels like I haven’t had a break for a long time.  I really like the independent feeling of working as a sub-I, and it will be even better next year when I don’t have to get anyone to co-sign my orders. 🙂

I have been seeing kids with asthma, diarrhea, pneumonia, cellulitis, acid reflux, diabetes, cat scratch disease (we think), osteomyelitis… lots of different things.  All very interesting, all things I am trying to read more about so I can better understand the management end of things.  Last year I spent so much time learning about the conditions, what causes them, how to diagnose them… but I didn’t learn a whole lot about how to treat thing so that’s what this year is for.

Outside the hospital things are good too.  I saw "Serenity" and totally loved it – though I was disappointed by the small turnout at the theatre.  Too bad that people are missing out on a great movie (and that they missed out on a great tv show when it was on).  I don’t have any brilliant solutions or suggestions.  I just wanted to say I loved it, it was full of Joss Whedon, which was fantastic.  You could totally tell that this was his movie from the characters to the plot to the witty dialogue and subtle treasures included in every scene.  Joss is brilliant and I want more of him.  I am not so sure about this new Wonderwoman thing he’s got going on – I fear he will be a collaborator and not the driving force so his stuff may get lost in the crowd. But I will see it – I will support Joss – and hopefully he will continue creating great entertainment.

I also saw "The Corpse Bride" – because it was at the Moolah and I like going to that theatre. 🙂  If anyone visits out here, you will definitely see a movie there – no matter what’s showing, you just have to go.  It’s worth the experience.

Hmm, guess it’s back to work.  I have to call some primary care doctors and let them know their patients are in the hospital, and go dictate a few "clinical summaries" for kids I discharged over the past few days… and maybe go watch an upper endoscopy if there’s time.  Hopefully I can find some time this weekend to get some more pictures up on here.  I’ve taken a lot over the past week since I’ve been back, but they’re all on my computer at home so no love right now.