Back to Studying

Today I went and arranged to get my pants hemmed for work, and those are supposed to get finished for my by next Wednesday. I also got a confirmation yesterday that my drug test came back negative and my other papers had been received(how the drug test came back negative when I was on percocet, I'll never know... but whatever). So other than my move, all my pre-work stuff appears to be taken care of. As for the move itself, someone else in my building seems to have reserved the elevator on the 10th. Which could be a problem, but could be ok as well since the only thing I really need an elevator for is my desk (most everything else is reasonably small, and can be carried well enough by one or two people).

What I get to do next is study. I get to keep studying for the MCAT, and I have to study the binders I got at work to memorize a few hundred abbreviations as well. Memorizing the abbreviations is probably going to be my short-term priority, since it has to get done for me to get/keep my job. It's fairly interesting anyways, actually, and it's much easier to memorize abbreviations than study for the MCAT, so it will probably be a good change of pace. I'll probably go out and grab a few sets of flashcards for that purpose tomorrow.

I have to memorize these fast though, so I can get back to studying for the MCAT; in the end, that's the only test that counts.

And Then A Hurricane?

Really? Really? Really: because an earthquake in a part of America that doesn't get those wasn't enough - we clearly needed an unusual storm as well.

Everyone is expecting the power to go down, which will be inconvenient for my faxing/emailing records back and forth to all the people who need them. Hopefully it manages to get fixed soon enough though, and I can finish my pre-employment requirements prior to my move.

I kept things going today by getting the PPD test for TB, and the first of a series of Hepatitis B vaccinations (the only one needed before work can start). I have to wait till Monday for the PPD results, before I can fax that and my vaccination form over to HR. Once that's been done, I'm effectively finished. They still haven't contacted me for the drug testing, and I'm worried that will cause me trouble. I also still need to get my scrubs hemmed so they fit me properly. All the fundamentally necessary paperwork and visits are now taken care of though.

Earthquakes and Drug Tests

So we had an earthquake. Yeah, a 5.8 one. Nothing particularly relevant to this blog, but it was a pretty exciting event since we hardly ever get them over here in DC. Apparently it was the biggest one we've had in the last 69 years too. It still wasn't that big, although it did break a few pieces on top of the national cathedral, and knock things off walls. There's a bit of a crack in my parent's apartment now, and there seems to be in the Washington Monument as well.

I remember it because it woke me up. My thought process was pretty much: "Why didn't they tell us they'd be working on the roof this morning.... why do they have to shake the roof to work on it... why to they have to shake the building to work on the roof..." And then I was awake enough to figure out what was happening. It wasn't my first earthquake, since I'd been in a few of similar sizes back when I visited Japan. But it was still neat enough. We don't get much weather like that on the east coast. No hurricanes or tornadoes or tsunamis or earthquakes to remind us how small we are.

Anyhow, back on topic. I went out for my drug test today (the company giving it is separate from the one I will be working for). The receptionist just kind of gave me a dull stare when I showed up and asked for my documents. I said I had been given none. Then she asked for a confirmation code, which had been given to me but I had forgotten all about because I've never ever needed something like that for an appointment before. I ask if I can use their computer to quickly check my e-mail and get it, and got another big dull-eyed stare. Apparently I can't borrow their computer for one minute to get the code. So I'm reasonably frustrated. It's not particularly close, and I really didn't feel like coming back the next day.

Anyways, I went back to my car to leave and fortunately realized that I'd left the folder from the orientation in the car, and had written my code down in that as well. When I came back there was a new receptionist who was much more personable and I was able to get the drug test after all, although I wasn't able to just give them my prescription bottle of percocet to prove it's legitimate. Apparently I have to wait for them to call me back once I test positive before I can present it to them. And since it's a drug test I doubt they'll take my word for it over the phone, so it seems I'm going to get to drive all the way back up there anyways. Yay.

But at least things are moving. I faxed over my vaccination records as well, so I'm making pretty good progress. I still need to get my Hep B vaccination and a TB test, so I'm going to try and set those up in short order. Otherwise, things look to be coming along well. My moving date is rapidly approaching, and I checked the wheels of my car and added pressure to them for that. I've been picking up some boxes and bubble wrap as well.

Edit: The new blog design is very crisp. And white. I like the big change in design, as I'm making a corresponding big step forward with my plans. The design feels a bit empty though, so maybe I can find a picture in the coming weeks. With moving ahead though, looking for good pictures isn't much of a priority. I might end up posting a picture of the hospital, but I should probably take my own for that later rather than use a copyrighted one from the hospital's site.

Orientation

The first of several job orientation sessions took place today, from 9 to 5. It was pretty exhausting, but in a good way. The last year or two of courses being taken as prereqs for medical school admissions really managed to replace a lot of the initial excitement of my decision to leave law for medicine with stress focused on tests, application essays, letters of recommendation, and all sorts of other things that seemingly tried to drown a bit of my soul. This orientation reminded me how fun/neat medicine is though, and how exciting it can be to work with it (or even just around it in an emergency department setting).

The bulk of the time was spent learning the basics of how to chart patients. I'm still learning how it works of course, but the general gist of it is that the form used looks at the HPI (History of Present Illness) to attempt to codify each patient's situation. Things looked at include the location of the injury, the severity of the injury, the timing of the injury, the duration of the injury, the context in which the injury took place, the quality of the injury, any modifying factors, and any other associated signs and symptoms. The ROS (Review of Systems) is a second set of items that is looked at, and includes the PFSH (Past Family and Social History) as well as the physical exam which will look at the Global (general) system, the Eyes, the Neck, the Respiratory System, the Cardiovascular System, and various other systems.

To chart all this down, we get to expand our vocabulary with hundreds of new words. We get to learn about Bradycarida (a cardiovascular rate under 50), Scleral Icterus (the yellowing of eyes), and all sorts of other stuff. We'll also get to associate what conditions match up to what symptoms. It's like taking a course, really, except we get paid for it.

Then to take notes and write down the charts, there's a whole set of abbreviations as well. I'd put them down, but they're not all /that/ interesting on their own. I'd put up an example patient history, but the one's in the materials we got handed are probably copyrighted/not my intellectual property, so I'd hesitate to put it up on the internet. And I haven't learned how to do it well enough to put up a perfect example of my own yet. Maybe I'll get around to it later.

I still have to take my drug test, and that's been set up now. I can go anytime over the next week, but I'm hoping to knock it out tomorrow. I'm still on percocet from my surgery, but have more or less cut that down to one a day. For some reason, I'd feel weird not taking one on the day of my drug test, but bringing the bottle to explain why I'm testing positive. At any rate, I'm going to try and do that in the next day or two, and then I'll finish stopping the percocet completely.

I also need to fax a copy of my vaccination records and get another TB test, but then I'll be pretty good to go. ... for a second orientation, that is. It looks like the start of my real work is still a ways off, although I'll be shuttling around between the HR office and the Hospital quite a bit. Anyways, I'm pretty excited again, and think things are looking good.

I suppose that calls for a new background on this site, so I'm going to go see what I can find to mark this watershed moment.

Moving On Up

So, everything for the job is fairly well in place, and I'm busy tracking down vaccination records, signing up for drug tests, getting fitted for face masks, etc. I received my two pairs of medical scrubs the other night, and the first of my orientation sessions is on August 22nd (as I've probably said before). The scrubs are black, which certainly isn't my ideal color, but I think they're pretty neat. The top has "emergency medicine scribe" stitched on the chest pocket in white, and makes me feel all sorts of official for once (especially as opposed to the almost embarrassing blue "volunteer" jackets they put on us when I was doing my volunteer work at georgetown). The pants are a bit too long, but fit well enough at the waist, so it looks like I'll have to go get them hemmed a bit in the next week or two.

I've finally found myself a new apartment as well. I looked at all sorts of apartments, and was starting to feel dismal over how dreary and unpleasant most seemed to me. That was doubly true because most of these bad to mediocre places were still renting out for over 1100 dollars a month, despite being an hour south of DC. That's a fairly high rent, but I can manage it. What I couldn't manage is paying it for something that felt it should have been hundreds of dollars cheaper. Then I ran into the Westchester at the Pavilions, which suited me much better.

The apartments are well designed, the bathrooms are fantastic (with extra wide tubes that have headrests of a sort), there's a set of tennis courts that have lighting at night, a pet salon, a two mile circuit walk/track around the place, lots of little fountains, and its generally pleasant in every way possible. I think I even like it more than my current apartment, apart from the fact that it's situated in the middle of nowhere rather than in a nice part of DC. The rent was a bit higher than the other spots I looked at (1400), but I think the quality of life difference more than makes up for it. Easily.

I'm fortunate (or spoiled, you can decide for yourself I suppose), so I'm getting my parents to help finance this. I'm paying for half of the first year and they're covering the other half of the rent. My job is a two year commitment (in theory), so I'll need to find a way to cover the second year on my own. At least largely. That's a ways off though, and since I have the option of changing to a full time position after the MCAT I'm not too concerned about paying for the second year (as long as my parents keep helping me pay for food, a bit). The apartment will be ready for me on September 7th, but I'm not actually going to move in until the 10th when my family can rent a small U-Haul and help me carry my things.

What's really nice though is that I was able to get the apartment without my parents being co-signers, so if I want to renue the lease after one year it will be easy whether my parents want to keep supporting it or not (even though I'm not making double the rent).

I don't know my schedule at the hospital yet. I've asked to work the minimal amount of hours sufficient for part-time status this first month, as I'm still recovering from surgery (and will have to make the long drive up to dc twice a week for my physical therapy). Hopefully the schedule works out reasonably well though. I don't anticipate it being otherwise at this point, and am pretty excited to move down there and start.