No. 150

• Apparently I've written 150 posts over the last 3 years on my med school experience. wow. Although I expect those of you reading this consider that to be "quiet" for me, given how much I talk. :)
• My Emergency rotation is done. It was a good one. You get to see lots of people, lots of different diseases and I feel *very* slightly less uncomfortable with more urgent conditions (though I didn't see any absolute 5-alarm emergencies that require immediate intervention, like a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm).

• My preceptor was awesome!! The best preceptor I've had all year, hands-down. He was the perfect combination of skill, knowledge, compassion and understanding - a wonderful role model. I loved how he'd bring a patient over to the computer terminal to show them their broken (or not) arm. And how he'd print out antibiotic warning/explanations for patients to take along with them if they were about to take something that might give them GI problems. Patients love him, and rightly so. He's also a keen teacher and actually teaches in a way that helps you remember things (like telling me that the things he looks for in releasing someone that's really alcohol intoxicated from the ER is that they can "walk, talk & pee". If they can do all 3 and they're hot to trot, he lets them go.) That's the kind of thing I can remember far more than Cushing's triad for increased intracranial pressure or Beck's triad of I can't remember what. (Oh yeah, cardiac tamponade. See? I had to google it to remember. ugh.)

• Next up is orthopedics up-island - the land of knee & hip replacements. Actually I'm sure Victoria has more than enough knee & hip replacements given the average age but the docs here aren't currently taking students so they parcel us out up-island in various cities. I'm hoping to get to spend the weekend in between my 2-week stint at my mom's friend's house on the lovely Gabriola once more for a little studying/kayaking/market-going retreat. :) I know, I know. I don't exactly seem to be suffering much as a med student, do I? But hey, I am old afterall. No need to fully embrace the student lifestyle of eating only beans & rice and acquiring all my possessions from IKEA.