http://parchomd.com Rants of a medicine resident born, raised, and trained in The South... Tue, 13 May 2008 19:31:16 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en We capped with 10 team admissions a little after midnight--so it was a busy admission afternoon/evening and not so much a busy early morning for admissions. I admitted three patients and a fourth went straight to the ICU which counted towards our cap meaning little to no work on ... http://parchomd.com/2007/08/06/the-first-call-2/ I managed to find myself as the first physician present in a code situation today. Talk about terrifying. The nurses were performing chest compressions and giving bagged breaths for a patient this morning by the time I walked into the room. I simply stood at the foot of the bed with a deer ... http://parchomd.com/2007/08/04/the-first-code/ Why wasn't this guy put on a backboard???? http://parchomd.com/2007/08/03/ouch/ I admitted my first patient today. Last month I worked on a consult service--so I never had any of my "own" patients. That all changed today when I admitted a patient with pulmonary hypertension. It was mostly grunt work--filling out orders, doing a rectal, etc. Ya know, the normal intern stuff. ... http://parchomd.com/2007/08/03/the-first-admit/ I like to think I do a reasonable job and reducing medical explanations into something just about any patient can digest. Saying things like "bugs" for bacteria or "your body fights back" for immunological response help tone down the high brow medical discussion. Simple stuff. No big deal. ... http://parchomd.com/2007/07/24/the-things-patients-say/ It's coming. Can you feel it? Don't get sick. http://parchomd.com/2007/06/19/july-1st/ List of things accomplished in the past month--in no particular order: 1. Married 2. Honeymooned in Mexico 3. Bought a house 4. Moved 5. Graduated What a month. http://parchomd.com/2007/06/13/hiatus/ On Thursday evening, I took the following oath: Today, in the presence of family, friends, teachers, and colleagues, I dedicate myself to the profession of Medicine. I pledge myself to the service of humanity. I will use my skills to care for all in need, without bias and with openness of spirit. ... http://parchomd.com/2007/05/18/the-contemporary-oath-of-hippocrates/ So what would happen if all employer's stopped contracting with health insurance carriers? Would the system fall apart? What moron decided it would be a good idea to tie health insurance to employment?* Why should those two go together? My car insurance doesn't come with my job. Yeah, yeah, ... http://parchomd.com/2007/05/15/medical-insurance-as-a-job-benefit/ Panda's just trying to ruin my day: The definition of eternity is the time between midnight and five AM. If you look hard enough you can almost see the clock hands moving backwards and no matter what you do, it’s always just a little after one. In fact, it will be ... http://parchomd.com/2007/05/11/the-first-call/