a life in transition

rotation switch
i should be used to the constant change by now, but i’m not: 25 months into residency, i almost never sleep well before the start of a new rotation at work! however, i will say that this transition didn’t bother me quite as much as usual.

i’m moving from the wards (and my nemesis that is CALL) to same day clinic, an acute care setting filled with rashes, snotty noses, and the like. the good news is that i prefer the outpatient setting, and it will be fun to be in more of a supervisory role than when i worked in the clinic in past years. the bad is that i’m totally going to catch H1N1 (if i haven’t already had it), enterovirus, and MRSA.

while the hours are more normal (i get to start my day at 8!), the days are quite busy and tend to have a sort of ‘just barely keeping up’ feeling, which can easily spiral into ‘AHHHHHH!’ reminiscent of lucille ball’s famous chocolate conveyer belt scene.

image from devinetics

my main goal for thee next 2 weeks is to not let myself get sucked into the frantic vibe. yes, i may end up staying relatively late, but honestly the 15 minutes i might save by dashing around like a wind-up toy on amphetamines is not worth the way it feels to operate that way. i will do my best to focus on one thing at a time, and i think i need to renew my anti-complaining vows as well.

i also want to try to plan and sneak in some teaching in each day for the interns by spending just a bit of time the night before to refresh myself on an acute-care related topic. this plan is actually a crafty foil to force ME to read, as well. today i will bring in a tidbit on STARI. we’ll see how this goes over!

tidbits from yesterday’s post
■ it doesn’t look like coldplay on thursday is in the cards, but . . . i bought lady gaga tickets for the september 28 show in richmond, VA! i hope that it will be basically a giant dance party, and i am excited already.

■ runner chandra may be joining me on saturday august 15 for boston run #1, and hopefully others will jump in as well! please let me know if you’re reading this and are interested!

■ bethany is a total coffee aficionado and a sweetheart in person as well. it was lots of fun meeting up with her to chat about blogging, various caffeinated beverages, and much much more.

■ we opted out of the movie options i listed yesterday because both of us really wanted to see harry potter! it was sort of like candy — fun to watch, but without lots of substance. an appropriate summer flick.

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8.2.9

workout: 9 miles in CH (a relatively hilly route). i am proud of myself for braving the rain, which actually never became that drenching but did help to temper the impressive humidity. average pace 8:53/mi, with splits that were quite even despite the hills.

doin’ time: leftovers from saturday’s dinner party with a different main course: the super-easy herb-encrusted snapper. i loved this fish! i think that because i usually order this sort of fish at restaurants, it made the home meal feel particularly luxurious.
served with yesterday’s potato + tomato/arugula salads

reading: an article about STARI (southern tick-associated rash illness). this is similar to lyme disease but much more common in this area (we have barely any lyme, but NC is the epicenter of the poorly named rocky mountain spotted fever. tick bites and associated ailments are one of the most common complaints we see in our acute care clinic during the summer, so i figured i’d better prepare.