Anyhow good luck to docs of ILX. I do believe that you are all actual *helping* people in a profession that is all "oh I want to help people" but c'mon, let's not equate docs with nurses, teachers, social workers, EMTs, etc.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Thursday, 25 December 2014 04:10 (nine years ago) link
hi ilx medical ppl
I have completed 480+ hours in the ICU of a large teaching hospital in a major U.S. city.
After this experience, I have zero intention of becoming a hospital social worker.
Tomorrow I start 720 hours as a home hospice social worker.
I hope I like it. I like long term care, so that will be my back up.
"Being Mortal" may be an obvious "must read" for medical ppl, but I think it is so worthwhile. It is for me.
gbx how do you do IP psych. It is the saddest most unfulfilling thing I experience at the hospital.
All of the hospital stuff, actually.
Hospital: avoid. AVOID.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Monday, 5 January 2015 04:44 (nine years ago) link
i've only done six months of inpt psych, all last year. i just now (like, hours ago) finished six months of the inpt psych consult service. the former was definitely more frustrating, but a lot of that was buried under the workload that comes with being an intern -- you spend more time writing notes and making phone calls and such and very little time with patients.
i enjoy my outpatient clinic (which is at the VA), in part because the VA (at least our VA) actually has those social services that are more likely to improve a patient's quality of life than my tender ministrations. like if someone is depressed or w/e because they've been out of work or don't have transportation, there's fat lot of good that a script for zoloft is gonna do. but then again i can send them down the hall to any number of offices that will get them connected with ppl that can help them with employment or a ride or something, which is so, so, so much more difficult at a private hospital
― gbx, Monday, 5 January 2015 17:30 (nine years ago) link
also the inpatient social worker at our VA (CHAD WE LOVE YOU CHAD WHY ARE YOU LEAVING) is a fucking miracle-worker, and has shored up my belief that, in mental health at least, the SWs are almost certainly doing more for our shared patients than the actual docs
― gbx, Monday, 5 January 2015 17:32 (nine years ago) link
but my god on our consult service we had a patient on medicine, a 62yo man with the most profound dementia i have ever encountered, who has been medically stable for literally ONE HUNDRED DAYS and cannot find a place to live because, outside of the hospital, he would require p much 24/7 attention because he is still so very physically fit and active and prone to wandering. in the hospital he spends 75% of his time in a g-d net bed (which, if you haven't encountered one, is the saddest thing ever). it is completely messed up, and the SWs on medicine have been working very hard for months to find somewhere, anywhere, that can care for him appropriately
― gbx, Monday, 5 January 2015 17:38 (nine years ago) link
Ugh, what a sucky situation! I am not familiar with a net bed. Sounds awful. 100 days, dear god.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Tuesday, 6 January 2015 00:17 (nine years ago) link
hi dere I am taking an adult psychopathology class
I have *feelings* about the DSM
What are YOUR *feelings,* docs of ILX?
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Monday, 26 January 2015 23:15 (nine years ago) link
where's the thread for mental health consumers to share their feelings about the DSM
― The Understated Twee Hotel On A Mountain (silby), Tuesday, 27 January 2015 01:37 (nine years ago) link
but I'm also curious about doctors b/c my sense is that in general the feeling is "yeah those symptoms are accurate for, like, maybe half of patients"
― The Understated Twee Hotel On A Mountain (silby), Tuesday, 27 January 2015 01:38 (nine years ago) link
it's mostly heuristic, and for billing tbh
― gbx, Tuesday, 27 January 2015 02:44 (nine years ago) link
so this is happening
have gotten two offers so far, about which i am ecstatic, tho they are probably toward the bottom of my wishlist** given what is still possible. am very much hoping i hear some good news from vermont (where i live and which i love), where i was wait listed :/
am currently at the mouth of dart (hi gbx), everyone wish me luck tomorrow on my interview
**man, my list of schools to apply to would look so much different if i could do it all over, i really had no idea what i was doing
― k3vin k., Tuesday, 24 February 2015 01:49 (nine years ago) link
oh snap, good luck man
― gbx, Tuesday, 24 February 2015 10:43 (nine years ago) link
Great news and good luck!
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Tuesday, 24 February 2015 11:42 (nine years ago) link
how'd it go
― gbx, Thursday, 5 March 2015 01:08 (nine years ago) link
i thought it went well! i felt like the only one in the room who didn't go to harvard tho, lol. i would be beyond thrilled to go there, man is that campus beautiful
interviewed with r1ch@rd m0rse (ped neuro) and w1lli@m r0sen (optho surg), both of whom seemed v interested in me and were super friendly
― k3vin k., Thursday, 5 March 2015 04:42 (nine years ago) link
well best of luck dude, you should be hearing soon yeah?
― gbx, Friday, 6 March 2015 21:56 (nine years ago) link
k3vin k pls go into palliative care, we need u
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 7 March 2015 00:36 (nine years ago) link
also other doctors of ilx, make sure u have some terminal pt skillz because oh my god, the stories. . . like, I don't know what they do to you in med school but UGH
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 7 March 2015 00:37 (nine years ago) link
one of my interests is onc and i did talk a lot about end-of-life discussions at some of my interviews (including dartmouth) but i'm not sure i can see myself doing palliative as a career. palliativists are heroes tho for sure
― k3vin k., Saturday, 7 March 2015 05:27 (nine years ago) link
I totally get attracting to onc but ime onc docs can suck the very very worst in terms of holistic pt care, i.e. I will offer anything no matter what, even with zero evidence base (or more likely evidence base of NOT GONNA WORK but you go for it anyway). Then super late referral to hospice AND SOMETIMES ONLY IF PT ASKS FOR IT then write them off and they feel totally abandoned.
I expect you'd do better! 'Cause hopefully not institutionalized by Big Med at early age? Or whatevs.
Palliatives are clearly considered bottom of the med totem pole. Not sure how I can change this because the ppl who learn otherwise die/mourn/grieve/move on before they can enact change.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 7 March 2015 06:35 (nine years ago) link
I mean let's be real most docs are "oh yeah palliative v. important yay" but so much BS in practice. IME most docs think pall is for shit and once pts go that way, primary doc SO DONE. So I challenge u ilx meds to tell me what you are doing to help our (N. American) pitiful end of life care sitch.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 7 March 2015 06:39 (nine years ago) link
I mean real talk and srs q: what falls below palliative/hospice in terms of respect/prestige in med specialty land? I can only gauge from my time in an acute care hospital and particularly ICU/critical care. And as a grad student in grad bio/med school. But for real, let's list:
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 7 March 2015 07:45 (nine years ago) link
My outsider experience goes:
surgery/radiology/lolderm/. . . . uh opth. . . . other stuff. . . uh IM and specialties thereof. . . uh psych (no offense gbx proud of u). . . OB/GYN. . . family/primary care. . . blah blah blah palliative why is that even a specialty etc
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 7 March 2015 07:55 (nine years ago) link
onc docs are the fucking worst as far as terminal stuff. neuro better yay plasmon! Also how to get better end o life options for all of us halp.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 7 March 2015 07:59 (nine years ago) link
tbf psych usually sits lowest on the totem pole, quince, i'm cool with it
most palliative docs i've worked with (and most of them at my institution) double-time as something else. we've got internists, family docs, and at least one surgeon
― gbx, Saturday, 7 March 2015 12:20 (nine years ago) link
onc docs are the fucking worst as far as terminal stuff.
this is so fucking otm. onc docs especially seems to think they're winning as long as a patient is drawing breath, quality of life be damned.
― kate78, Sunday, 8 March 2015 08:12 (nine years ago) link
dunno if i've mentioned this before, but one of the most horrifying experiences i had as a student was coding a cancer patient who then ended up in the ICU. we (the ICU team) consulted palliative, and they said that the onc docs at this particular institution were especially bad about avoiding the DNR/DNI talk, they didn't want them to give up hope
― gbx, Sunday, 8 March 2015 16:34 (nine years ago) link
oh shit it's ~Match Day~ oh shiiiit
― gbx, Friday, 20 March 2015 17:26 (nine years ago) link
there are so many proteins. sooooo many proteins
― usic ally (k3vin k.), Friday, 28 August 2015 19:16 (eight years ago) link
why can't one protein do everything
― usic ally (k3vin k.), Friday, 28 August 2015 19:20 (eight years ago) link
Hey gbx remember back when you were a first year and you posted abt that woman in your class who was obsessed with going derm? What did she end up with?
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Friday, 28 August 2015 19:35 (eight years ago) link
Also Kevin k I am the world's expert on one protein from a tamarin virus, happy to share this valuable knowledge with u
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Friday, 28 August 2015 19:37 (eight years ago) link
derm!!!
― jason waterfalls (gbx), Friday, 28 August 2015 22:26 (eight years ago) link
kk I have a jacket made by Rab and when I wore it to school people just would not shut up about it
― jason waterfalls (gbx), Friday, 28 August 2015 22:27 (eight years ago) link
haha you should have written SNARE on each sleeve
― usic ally (k3vin k.), Friday, 28 August 2015 22:36 (eight years ago) link
quincie tell me about this virus protein, i want to know all the proteins
― usic ally (k3vin k.), Friday, 28 August 2015 22:43 (eight years ago) link
― usic ally (k3vin k.), Friday, August 28, 2015 2:20 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i think this every day
― jason waterfalls (gbx), Saturday, 29 August 2015 00:39 (eight years ago) link
Well I had a lead that this protein may have lead to chronic vs acute liver infection. Virus is closest relative to HCV in a small mammal. Protein (GVB-V 5A) I am world expert about; no one cares including me.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 29 August 2015 01:34 (eight years ago) link
world expert is pretty cool
i mean i'm fairly knowledgeable about 'journeymen who once played for pittsburgh sports teams' but i wouldn't call myself a world expert
― mookieproof, Saturday, 29 August 2015 01:39 (eight years ago) link
this protein binds to everything! http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3987992/
― go hang a salami I'm a canal, adam (silby), Saturday, 29 August 2015 16:17 (eight years ago) link
kevin, trust me, there are approximately six quadrillion proteins that you should be more interested in than GBV-B NS5A.
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 29 August 2015 22:35 (eight years ago) link
back when I was in grad school Take One everthing was all about transcription and I was SO LONELY as a translation person. Now everyone is all proteomics this, proteomics that, and I'm all oh please, I was doing proteomics (back before THAT WAS EVEN A WORD) back in the mid 90s OK?
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Saturday, 29 August 2015 22:39 (eight years ago) link
good idea for a med school band name: blood islands
― k3vin k., Thursday, 7 January 2016 23:17 (eight years ago) link
the valves of houston
― jason waterfalls (gbx), Friday, 8 January 2016 02:41 (eight years ago) link
another good band name idea: the somatic hypermutants
― k3vin k., Saturday, 1 October 2016 20:47 (seven years ago) link
― usic ally (k3vin k.), Friday, August 28, 2015 3:16 PM (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― usic ally (k3vin k.), Friday, August 28, 2015 3:20 PM (one year ago)
i still maintain that this would be a better way of doing things
― k3vin k., Saturday, 1 October 2016 20:58 (seven years ago) link
just went to the local med school's match day and good lord it was retraumatizing
― jason waterfalls (gbx), Friday, 17 March 2017 17:24 (seven years ago) link
may this spur your compassion for those less fortunate
― a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Friday, 17 March 2017 17:30 (seven years ago) link
if you find you are too frazzled and upset for compassion, meditate on New Mexican mountains to calm yourself
― a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Friday, 17 March 2017 17:32 (seven years ago) link
that's the plan alright
― jason waterfalls (gbx), Friday, 17 March 2017 17:47 (seven years ago) link