Makes ya laugh out loud, right?
B
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Working Abroad...
Last week I found myself on the defensive. I was kind of caught off guard. How, I was asked, can I justify wanting to work outside of the US when there are people in America who lack healthcare. To me, this isn't an "either-or" situation, but a both. I was pretty annoyed at the time. And today, I read this passage from the book "Not On Our Watch: The Mission to end Genocide in Darfur and Beyond." It's graphic, and very disturbing.
". . .we met a woman, Amina, cooking on the ground. She had fled her village during an attack. Her husband had been shot as soon as he left their hut. She had two of her children on her back and the other two in her arms as about twenty Janjaweed chased her on camels. First they ripped her five-year-old, Adom [sic], from her, and when she stopped running and begged for her child, they told her they would shoot her. So she continued running away from her village that was up in flames. The Janjaweed then tossed Adom into the fire. He was screaming and calling her name, but she just kept running. Despite her speed, her seven-year-old, Asam Mohamed, was then taken and shot, once in his side and once in his back. She was never able to bury her children."
I wish I could have had that passage on hand when I needed to defend my desires to work in these environments. We have healthcare, and basic rights in this country. There are people who have neither. Tell me they don't need some help from us...
Argh!
Brian
". . .we met a woman, Amina, cooking on the ground. She had fled her village during an attack. Her husband had been shot as soon as he left their hut. She had two of her children on her back and the other two in her arms as about twenty Janjaweed chased her on camels. First they ripped her five-year-old, Adom [sic], from her, and when she stopped running and begged for her child, they told her they would shoot her. So she continued running away from her village that was up in flames. The Janjaweed then tossed Adom into the fire. He was screaming and calling her name, but she just kept running. Despite her speed, her seven-year-old, Asam Mohamed, was then taken and shot, once in his side and once in his back. She was never able to bury her children."
I wish I could have had that passage on hand when I needed to defend my desires to work in these environments. We have healthcare, and basic rights in this country. There are people who have neither. Tell me they don't need some help from us...
Argh!
Brian
Doing "Research"
I'm going to play hooky today. Technically I have a "research day." So I'm going to run to clinic, drop off the project I've been working on-making reference binders, and then am going to go to Pediatric Grand Rounds, and then I'm calling it quits for the day. Well, I mean I am going to do "research." I'm going to research what's been going on with a friend, while we have ice-cream this afternoon. I'm also going to research which coffee shop has the best java-this is actually on-going research, I know which ones I like best thus far...
By the way, this is my horoscope today:
Is your career growing the way you want it to grow? Or is it taking away from the rest of your life? It's time to re-examine your priorities. If your career has been taking too much of your attention, then today you need to schedule a day off or take a long lunch. If you haven't been giving it enough attention, then today you should investigate new ways to jazz up your office routine. You won't be able to change everything, so focus on the things that you can change.
Off to do some research
By the way, this is my horoscope today:
Is your career growing the way you want it to grow? Or is it taking away from the rest of your life? It's time to re-examine your priorities. If your career has been taking too much of your attention, then today you need to schedule a day off or take a long lunch. If you haven't been giving it enough attention, then today you should investigate new ways to jazz up your office routine. You won't be able to change everything, so focus on the things that you can change.
Off to do some research
Monday, June 18, 2007
Random Dream #1
I wish I could take a year off to travel the world. Part of this desire is biased in light of having just read "Three Weeks with my Brother," where Nicholas Sparks and his brother spend 3 weeks on a package tour around the world seeing the great sites. Sure, obviously I wish I could spend 3 weeks traveling with my brothers. But in my fantasy of a year off, I would spend that year traveling from friend/family-to-friend/family.
Somehow I have managed to amass this beautiful collection of friends, and somehow they have become scattered all over the world. 5 continents. Too many states to count. I wish I could leave tomorrow, drive up to Burlington, Vermont and start there. No specific plan, just a goal to move from there and work my way across the US & Canada, end up in Hawaii/Alaska, and then board a plane and go from there. Maybe spend a few days with some people, weeks with others.
I've hit that point in residency where my day-to-day existence passes by, and I know that I'm moving, but it happens so fast that it actually seems slow, and seems like nothing changes. Every day poses new things to learn and new challenges, but the overall day-to-day is the same. And I don't even know where I'm going in the long run. I'm tired of guessing where I'll end up in 2 years--those plans change regularly. And then I catch myself wishing that I could just meet up with old friends, drink coffee in Denver, or grab a pint in Dublin, and discuss dreams for the future.
Holy shit, that future is rapidly approaching, and it's going to be time to make a decision about what I want to do when I grow up. And that's when I wish I could escape from my life for a year, re-connect with the people whom I have known since those days when the "future" was so far off in the distance, that it seemed like it would never get here.
"Not all those who wander are lost." -JRR Tolkien
I may wander for a while...
Cheers,
Brian
Somehow I have managed to amass this beautiful collection of friends, and somehow they have become scattered all over the world. 5 continents. Too many states to count. I wish I could leave tomorrow, drive up to Burlington, Vermont and start there. No specific plan, just a goal to move from there and work my way across the US & Canada, end up in Hawaii/Alaska, and then board a plane and go from there. Maybe spend a few days with some people, weeks with others.
I've hit that point in residency where my day-to-day existence passes by, and I know that I'm moving, but it happens so fast that it actually seems slow, and seems like nothing changes. Every day poses new things to learn and new challenges, but the overall day-to-day is the same. And I don't even know where I'm going in the long run. I'm tired of guessing where I'll end up in 2 years--those plans change regularly. And then I catch myself wishing that I could just meet up with old friends, drink coffee in Denver, or grab a pint in Dublin, and discuss dreams for the future.
Holy shit, that future is rapidly approaching, and it's going to be time to make a decision about what I want to do when I grow up. And that's when I wish I could escape from my life for a year, re-connect with the people whom I have known since those days when the "future" was so far off in the distance, that it seemed like it would never get here.
"Not all those who wander are lost." -JRR Tolkien
I may wander for a while...
Cheers,
Brian
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Back Home
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Falling off the grid meant a quick, under-the-radar trip to Colorado. Spent a somewhat-lavish-but-modest weekend in Aspen with a great friend, then hung out with the family for a few days. I'm telling you, being in Maroon Bells, the only thing that kept coming to mind was how I was ever able to leave such a great place...
It's kind of good to be back now. I've got a few projects to get cracking on...
Cheers,
Brian
Friday, June 08, 2007
You know you're a resident when...
...when being awake for 24 hours doesn't seem like a big deal. The other morning I got up at 9am, knowing that I wouldn't nap before working the overnight shift, and that it would be well past 9am the next day when I went to bed, and the thought of being up 24 hours seemed REASONABLE? Is that normal? 30 hours make me cringe a bit, but 24 hours...
I have finished my long 6 week stretch. I'm a bit shattered, I must confess. I enjoyed the work, and would have to say that I am definitely leaning toward a hospitalist position down the road. Looking back, the hours were long, but the hospitalists at our hospital work 40 hours a week. Residents hit 80/week. Hospitalists make more than triple what we make. I think I'd maybe prefer a week on, and then a week off. Ideal would be a week of adult hospitalist, a week of pedi hospitalist, and then a week of walk-in/urgent/inner-city clinic, followed by a week off...
My brain isn't functioning, my sleep cycle is out of whack (it's almost 1:30 and I'm wide awake), and I have let a ton of things slide in the past month. I'm going to "drop off the grid" for a bit to relax. Am looking forward to getting out of dodge for some serious R&R.
Cheers,
Brian
I have finished my long 6 week stretch. I'm a bit shattered, I must confess. I enjoyed the work, and would have to say that I am definitely leaning toward a hospitalist position down the road. Looking back, the hours were long, but the hospitalists at our hospital work 40 hours a week. Residents hit 80/week. Hospitalists make more than triple what we make. I think I'd maybe prefer a week on, and then a week off. Ideal would be a week of adult hospitalist, a week of pedi hospitalist, and then a week of walk-in/urgent/inner-city clinic, followed by a week off...
My brain isn't functioning, my sleep cycle is out of whack (it's almost 1:30 and I'm wide awake), and I have let a ton of things slide in the past month. I'm going to "drop off the grid" for a bit to relax. Am looking forward to getting out of dodge for some serious R&R.
Cheers,
Brian
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