The Doctor with the White Steth

I finally graduated to 2nd year of my IM residency. My first rotation was night float. Night float is hard and it really tests you. As a night float resident, you are just working, sleeping and eating! The cases which you see as a night float resident in a community hospital varies widely. Now I am more comfortable admitting a drunk alcoholic patient than admitting someone for the CCU team. Our Hospital is not equipped to handle urgent cardiac cath. So, we have to decide about possible transfer to a hospital which can tackle Coronary cath. We admit a lot of NSTEMI and Arrhythmias. There is a cardiologist on call every night but he is at HOME and resting. It's hard to reach them and as a resident you can only pray for the patient in some situations. So, whenever I am admitting any patient for CCU for gray zone troponin or non-specific EKG changes, I give the patient Aspirin, Ticagrelor and Full dose anti-coagulation. I can not take the risk. I call the attending and he normally ag...

It has been nearly 9 months since I started my internship. When I started my internship, I was full of energy and I could do anything. Now It seems like that It is taking a huge toll on me. I feel exhausted both physically and mentally. I am glad that the vacations came on time. I have been back home in Pakistan and enjoying the company of my parents. They always teach me about life which I can not learn from other people. I can share with them a lot of stuff. Hopefully by the end of my vacations, I will share some stuff which I will acquire from them.  For now, lets talk about the Medical Floor. The hardest part of the IM rotations are the floors. During 4-5 months consecutively on floors. I learned that you can not control everything. Your job as an intern should be to learn but it is so different out there in the real world. Your learning should be done by the attending and the senior residents; more so by the senior resident. Some days I got really sick of the fact that a...

So, I will be rotating with my Chief resident this month. I am extremely Happy about that. First, he is a really cool and funny guy. Secondly, He teaches. The other day he showed me how to work on the floors. He gave me couple of tips which I will share here. 1- Do three rounds. One before the actual rounds with the attending, second after the actual rounds, third round before you leave for home 2- On you sign out sheet, write everything. Develop a system. Write N for notes, L for labs reviewed, AM for AM labs ordered on the sign out sheet. Cross these things as you move forward. 3- Call your consults early. 4- Start from the top floor (or the floor with the sickest patient/intermediate care unit) 5- When you are on one floor, do everything for the patients on that floor. After you are done ordering stuff, talk to the nurse and the social worker for those patients. Start discharge planning early. 6- When you are on a floor and you receive a call or page from another floor,...

Hello Everyone!  So, I tried my best last year. I gathered 6 months of US clinical experience by volunteering at two different hospitals in the US last year. When the time came, one of the Hospitals offered me a job. I am very excited to start my residency in internal medicine. My dream finally came true. I do not have to pursue pathology or psychiatry. Thank you to the Almighty God who helped me immensely at every step of my journey. Who knew a person with an attempt in Clinical Skills exam can match in IM?  Strangers helped more than friends. Even my best friend could not help me get an interview at the Hospital he is working at.  But I think about people who claimed to be my friends and it hurts when they decided to help strangers over me. I am bitter but I have forgiven them. Now, I do not know how will I interact with them! How will I talk to them when I will see them next time? May Allah help me build a mighty heart when the time comes. These days, I am j...

The problem is that I really do not understand everything. Why would they think that a particular field is better for me when I clearly have no idea about it ? On the other hand, I have no idea about the other field. Then again, Beggars can't be chooser. I have the credentials which suits the less competitive field. And Am I willing to waste so many years trying to get into a field in which I have small experience. Should I blindly take the path which is easier than the other path? Then again, my own ego would never allow me to rest in peace, if I go into the less competitive field. My own ego would always push me to achieve a different goal. Or will I be satisfied with my life? Am I willing to go back to my homeland, and start everything from scratch. Why would God want me to take this journey? Should I go back without even trying to find the shore! So many questions! 

Long time since we talked...... So, I cleared my step 2 CK and CS exam. I scored 231 in CK. Al though not a great score to cover my CS attempt, but I am hopeful that I will match this year. I have applied in lots of programs. Hopefully someone somewhere may realize that we are more than just scores . Well, I started contacting a lot of my friends and colleagues to help me with an interview call. I am also seeking help from strangers. Al though, I find this practise futile and useless. And to be very honest, they are reluctant to help me because I do not have the credentials. It is neither their fault nor mine, I can understand how problematic it could be for them. Interestingly, one of my friends told me that you can email the program director and tell him that you are my class fellow and you have heard great things about the program. CS is an exam which is totally unpredictable. Anything can happen to anyone. I may not be the brightest student or I may not have best of luck with me...

I took NBME 2 Online and scored 225. My target was to score more than at least 235. Now I have decided to postpone my exam and take it on 25th April In Shaa Allah! Now I am gona complete uworld for the third time and try to remember stuff from it.  Hopefully I will be doing 100-200 Questions daily! Hoping to score great on step 2 CK !