Can you show me just how far the east is from the west?

Blog title is from one of my favorite songs these days, but also serves well for the new area of Psych. 7East is indeed an entirely different world than 7West, and I love it. Dr. N is great, our resident rocks, and the best part is the half-days. And the best friend factor. :)

Wednesday we took a field trip to the State Hospital. I must say, it was a lot less restrictive/more "welcoming" than I expected. I think it was an important part of the rotation, because I'd be a lot more apt to recommend it to a patient now than I was before. And the grounds are beautiful - no wonder back in "the day" the docs that worked there lived there as well. The geese tho, the geese were loud.

Pretty sure I've made this statement before, but if I haven't, I've officially decided psych isn't for me. It requires waaaay too much questioning of your own sanity and is heart-wrenching to me. Two more weeks and then....

PEDS! :) <3

"Code White - 7W"

The last week on 7W was very interesting. Tuesday we had our CPI training (Crisis Prevention and Intervention) and it was just in time. Wednesday was a scary, scary day. Starting pretty much before 8 AM, our first code white had been called. And this code white was very similar to a code blue at the VA - a complete cluster, and nothing like what we were taught in CPI (IE: Code white to CPI as Code Blue VA is to ACLS). Patient was eventually, with the help of a SWAT team, taken down and subdued... for a while. Then someone had the brilliant idea (read: least restrictive environment) that it was safe to return them to general functioning....

5:30 PM - Code White #2. Pretty much as awesome as the first, with complete return of SWAT team. I've decided FOR SURE that psych is never in my future after that experience. I've never been afraid for my life or those around me with a patient before, but I wasn't sure if we were all going to make it out alive on Wed.

And Thursday... we had to do it all over again (show up, that is). Patient was more subdued and we were able to "soft code" once and never needed SWAT... but everyone stayed on edge.

Good news - Psych Rotation 1 and Midterm are done. Three weeks to go and I'll be in my happy place. Got the schedule for my first PedsElective and I'm super pumped! I saw the words "NICU" listed for Wednesday afternoons and began to drool.....

Life on the psych ward.... week 2

Another week down. Another specialty checked off the list. It's not that I'm utterly miserable (when I'm working - everyone's miserable when they're sitting), it's just not my thing. Mental/Emotional change is a lot slower than physical critical/care style change. Occasionally we have a patient come in that makes a spectacular recovery in a few days - that's cool. But that's the unusual. In fact, most of our patients have been headed to MSH lately instead of home :(.
At least I'm learning all about the mental status exam and how to do it right - and quickly. And my team rocks.
One more week on this service. Tuesday is our CPI training if they don't cancel it again. CPI stands for Crisis Prevention and Intervention - pretty sure I could've used that before now.... but it's another certification to add to my CV I suppose.

Went to Sams yesterday and bought myself a centerpiece for the table for Christmas... then put it on the table. Yes, it's October. Yes, I'm crazy. That's what happens when you're locked in a double-locked down unit for 9 hours a day, sitting in a room staring at three other girls and wondering if/when your attending is going to round. But with Pinterest and my new word search book (also from Sams), I feel as though the last few long days on the unit may be a little less stir crazy. :)

Weekend mental health break

The week was... interesting. I can't say unexpected as everyone had told me exactly what to expect from this service, but it was fairly exhausting nonetheless. I had this overall dream world place in my head where psych=sleep... and that hasn't really been the case yet. Two more weeks on this part of the service.

This weekend I took a mental health break and headed south as soon as I got the OK from 7W to do so. Friday afternoon/evening traffic leaving Jackson is always a joy (and a main reason I usually get up early Saturday morning and drive down) but I wanted the extra sleep and extra time at home. I managed to be caught in the Pearl High School Football convoy alllll the way to the Laurel exit (SN: did Pearl win whoever they were playing? I feel like we bonded in that hour..)

I got to get LOTS of baby love which is all the mental health break I needed. Somehow the world just melts away when I'm holding that little boy and he's slobbering on me. Quote of the weekend was my dad looking at him and saying "You're really going to fix those for a living?". He always can make me laugh.

Today was his church dedication - I was grateful to get to be there, and it was very exciting for our little college family to come together for the occasion, minus a couple. It's amazing how much things have changed - and on the other hand - stayed the same over the last 8.5 years.

And the best part? Seems like Sam's doing a real good job of keeping us all together. I fall more in love with that little boy everyday... and I'm blessed beyond measure to be his aunt.

Welcome to 7th floor....

The Psych Sorting Mug (yes, we picked out of a mug) was good to me. #12. This means I spend the first three weeks on 7 West (General Inpatient Psych) and the second half of the rotation on 7 East (Med/Psych). Overall, orientation went smoothly complete with a three hour lunch break.... M and I treated ourselves to Corner Bakery (complete with cookies that we saved for during the afternoon's lecture). Yes, you read that correctly... lecture. They suckered us into two hours of lecture while we were orienting. After all the sitting about and "learning", we went on a tour of Seventh Floor... and I can't lie, I've been in lock-down units before (South State Hospital), but it's always a little creepy, and a little sad.

Even though I have no interest in psychiatry as a profession, I'm looking forward to the next six weeks.... learning how to deal with people on the edge, and hopefully helping bring them back.

Did I mention our mornings start at 8 AM? I think this is gonna be a nice breakrotation.

A new era... and the Psych Sorting Hat

A new rotation ushers in a much-needed blog overhaul. Hope y'all like it!

In other news, I've officially requested my first LOR and unofficially set a date for Step II CS (thanks to my awesome best friend who is determined that we can go together). Time is going by so fast! I can't believe how quickly this year is flying... and how much there is left to learn/do before those two little letters are at the end of my name.

Still a little nervous about starting psych, simply due to the unknowns that go with it. This whole picking out of a hat for your rotations.... I'd rather let the hat pick for me.

PS, psych sorting hat, I'm Slytherin with a side of Gryffindor. I'm pretty sure it's Ravenclaw that would be designed for Consults.... ;)

Internal Medicine is OVER!

Goodbye, internal medicine. Goodbye, grownups (for now, sort of). You see, next up is psychology... and we'll be dealing with a lot of adults who are stuck in not-so-adult situations or wanting to be kids again... or acting like them.. or something. It should be interesting. I'm kind of just going to pretend like it isn't happening and start counting down... 30 work days of that, and I'm off to peds! For ten weeks... just long enough that I really, really REALLY won't want to go to surgery afterwards.

I LOVED Blue House Medicine. LOVED my attending. LOVED my residents. LOVED my M4, and working with my best friend.

I still would rather do the most unpalatable job you can think of than be an internist.
Yay for ruling out one specialty!