June 2006

Thursday, June 29, 2006
It sure is hot in Arizona!
06-19-06--> 06-29-06

Hello everyone,

The past ten days have been pretty exciting, we have some really cool stuff during summer session, and overall I am having a good time :o)

The most important thing is that we had Suture lab a week ago. Basically, we were taught (pretty much one on one) how to tie sutures (stitches). We used “sterile chicken” and basically made incisions in the piece of meat we got and then sutured it up! I absolutely loved it!!! They taught us pretty well, and I caught on pretty fast. It was almost therapeutic to sit there for a good hour and put stitches in and then cut them out… After a while someone showed me how to make square knots while using just the hands without the needle driver and the addson (not sure about the spelling here...). Hans showed me how to tie in this way about 7 months ago, and although since then I forgot the sequence, it came back so easily!

On Wednesday we had Anesthesia lectures… I don’t think I want to do anesthesia… there is too much simple arithmetic involved, and I am just not good at it! OY! During that afternoon we had complementary and alternative medicine lectures—to tell you the truth, I forgot what we learned there, so I better go and review my notes before our quiz… Later on during the afternoon, we reviewed and completed our Endocrine cases.

On Thursday morning, we had our endocrine cases—our group was not chosen again (but we will be soon), and it was actually a really good review! Dr. P and Dr. P want us to truly understand, and it was a calm learning environment. I really appreciated it. Afterwards, we had a lecture about how to survive in surgery rotation. I never thought I’d be interested in surgery, but… I am very intrigued and this is a potential avenue I might explore! During the afternoon we had an ethic lecture which was interesting. And then we had a lecture on how to present a pt to the doctor… I was pretty tired by that point but decided to stick around and get important pointers for next year. I’m glad I stayed…

On Friday morning I cleaned my apartment because it looked like a tornado went through it… I also packed and got ready to fly home to Arizona for the weekend. You can imagine how impatient I was to sit in class and wait until it was over so I could drive to the airport and fly home.

Home was absolutely wonderful!!! I got there on Friday afternoon, and Omer picked me up from the airport, then we got home and I got to meet the new addition to the family—Sancho-Pancho is our new dog’s new name. Our family really struggled with naming him, but finally dad (I think) came up with Sancho-Pancho, which has so much character. If you remember, Sancho-Pancho followed Don-Quixote on a donkey and believed all of the bizarre tales that Don-Quixote came up with…

In anycase, Sancho is smaller than my cats, he weighs about 7lbs and he is a Chihuahua mix. He was so afraid of me that he barked for about 20 minutes until he got used to me. He is just hysterical! I had a good time playing with him… He makes the funniest sounds when he chases the big red ball… to give you a clue to how funny it sounds, Saba Tzvika said that over the phone it sounded like a chicken! :o) Midnight isn’t jealous of Sancho-Pancho, but he gets more one on one attention time because we all don’t want him to feel neglected in any way.

On Saturday, dad went to donate blood at the donation center, and mom and I went with him. They have such a great need for blood that as my pathology professor ERF said: “If you can give blood and you don’t, you are a jerk!” This is so true! I did not donate at that point, but I am planning to find a center with platelets so I can donate the (also) much needed platelets.

On Sunday we stayed home and got all the supplies and materials for the chicken wire we had to put outside to prevent Sancho from running away. It was too hot to actually work… we had to wait until 5am the next morning to get that done… Dad and I put the whole fence in two mornings and it was really great fun! I really like our home improvement projects! I have learned so much, and I can basically do anything at the home with the exception of electricity, which I didn’t get to see yet, and plumbing (installing toilets and sinks). I’m sure there are other things I haven’t done yet, but we really did many projects up to this point that I feel like I can do almost anything without too much trouble!

On Monday we finished the fence and then basically the whole day sort of slipped by and by the time Tuesday came, I remembered to show mom my Spanish notebook… Too bad I didn’t do it earlier, because practicing Spanish with mom was great fun, and well… I am not too good at it yet and need all the practice I can get.

That afternoon I flew home and landed at Kansas City back at around 11pm or so. During the flight I finally got to my school work… I had to memorize a few algorithms for the ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) course that we had the next day. Oh boy, I am sure glad I memorized everything!!! The next morning I went down to Deepa’s apartment and she quizzed me over it until I felt confident. At 1pm I went to school and our very long day begun… We learned almost everything we needed to know about how to run a code in the hospital—how to analyze cardiac rhythms, know when to shock a patient and when not to. We learned what medications we needed to give, when and at what dosage and duration. We learned many things, and by 6pm my brain was saturated. After dinner break we were called in for a written examination, and then after we were done, we went upstairs to run a mega-code… basically, what it means is that they simulate a real life situation and we have to decide how to treat the patient. It was really fun, and even though I was a bit nervous, I did well. Yes, I forgot a few things, but any mistake on a dummy is better than mistakes on real people!!! :o)

I got home at around 10pm and went straight to bed!

Today I woke up super early to review my soap note formation. I pretty much remembered it, but wanted to make sure I covered the tiny details… At 7:30 I went to school and at 8 o’clock we started our interviews. This was the first interview I tried something new… when I had to perform treatment, I used that time to talk with the patient and explain to them what I was doing and why I was doing it. It was really interesting, because my simulated patients responded with questions and played along with it :o) I also realized I enjoyed treating the elderly patients much more than the average middle age person… so there, I might have to try and get a geriatrics rotation during 3rd or 4th year... Basically at this point I am finding out what I like and what I don’t like… but next year will be the point where I will figure out what I really want to do…

Tomorrow I am going to my friend’s Julia’s wedding which is at Wichita, KS. It is going to be great fun. It should be about a 3 hour drive and my friend Ayo and I will got here together.

Cats update: KC and Vega are doing great! They absolutely love the boxes I brought home to start packing with… They think it’s this big play ground, and who am I to tell them otherwise? :o)

That is truly about it... this was a very busy week and a half!

Many kisses to all, especially to my one and only e.ma! (*Smooch*, mom!)

Reut

29 jun 06 @ 4:40 pm

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Sunday, June 18, 2006
~Summer~
06-12-06-->06-18-06

Hello everyone!

Well, summer session has begun, and I think it is safe to say that we are all having a good time! I missed having normal classes…

On Tuesday morning, we had a short “how to write prescriptions” lecture and then long medical jurisdiction lectures. It was long and the terminology that came out of that lawyer mouth was very foreign to me, yet it was interesting.

On Wednesday morning my group and I met in the morning to review cases for the next day. We managed to get through one case in the morning and finished the rest by the end of the day. Then we reviewed information for the COMLEX PE (that’s another part of the boards that we will have to take before we graduate) and then we had a long Advanced Cardiac Life Support lecture.

On Thursday we had an important lecture on IV fluids. I understand the main idea, but definitely need to review this. Then we had a lecture all about blood transfusion. Afterwards we had two lectures—one regarded herbal medications and the other acupuncture. Then in the afternoon we had our respiratory cases. Uggg… I really don’t like cases. Basically, we have a bunch of case-studies, we then read them, give differential diagnosis, write admit orders and answer a bunch of questions. That part is not the problem; I always enjoy working the cases out. What I don’t like is that fact that during class who ever is leading the cases picks groups numbers out of a hat and then drill them in front of the class. It is really nerve wracking to stand in front of two-hundred people and concentrate. Well, our group was not called on this time, but we will be called on eventually.

On Friday I have some of my elective courses—I enjoy learning sign language! As I had a little bit of it before, it was not a big deal to have missed one class on Monday. The class was real fun, definitely interactive, and since it is really small (we had less than 15 people), we got a lot done.

Let’s see, what else? Today I did absolutely NOTHING!!! Okay, that’s not quite true… I did nothing school or medicine related! I went out to a movie with one of my friends—“The Lake House.” It was a bit slow, but I truly enjoyed it :o) Then I came back home and listened to my CD, fell asleep on the sofa, and played with my cats and my neighbor’s cat (whom I am taking care of this weekend).

Check this out: although I look nothing like my parents, and the only person who looks like me is my brother, the way to tell I am my parents’ child is by the pure fact that we are animal lovers… Guess what my folks did this week? The found a dog!!! Abba was walking Midnight on Tuesday morning, and this tiny little dog came out of nowhere and started following them all the way home! He is so tiny and cute! Midnight doesn’t mind the little guy at all (maybe it has to do with the fact that he is much bigger than the other dog, and if he bug him too much he can just sit on him). Mom said that Midi is being super gentle with the tiny one. So far he has been called: “Pinch”, “Boten” (that’s peanut in Hebrew), and now “Peanut”. I am not sure which name is going to stick… I’ve gotten used to ‘Boten’ but I would change as soon as we pick out a name. I’ve put his picture in the picture section, so make sure to check it out (Nany, I’ll send you a picture as soon as I get them developed from the computer).

Well, that’s really about it! Congratulations again to Paz and Tal for their wedding!

Love,

Reut
18 jun 06 @ 12:59 am

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Monday, June 12, 2006
Done with step 1!
06-05-06--> 06-12-06

Hello hello!

To everyone who has wondered… I am done with the COMLEX!!! No more!!! We get the results sometime in August or September— In anycase, that’s done, and it feels great not to have to worry about it.

The first day of summer session started today, and I missed the first two elective classes. I chose to study America Sign Language (I really enjoyed learning it in the past), and beginner’s Spanish. Uggg, it hasn’t even been a full day yet and I am already behind :o)

Mandatory classes begin tomorrow, and I didn’t even bother to look at the schedule… I am too tired, and I think I will save it for 7:30AM tomorrow morning. I can just tell though, it’s going to be tons of topics and then a nice quiz after a few weeks, and the same thing again a few weeks later… sheesh… I am ready to move out of the classroom study mode… I want to go to rotations (In just about 3 months!!!)

What else? During the past 3 months my life has been revolving around boards, but the real world has gone on (is it actually possible that people have lives?) My cousin Paz is getting married in three days, and I am very happy for her and Tal, but sad for not being there. My friend Funky (Karen) just got engaged to Matt. My other friend Julia is getting married at the end of the month. This is just the wedding month :o) congratulations to all!

Well, that is truly about it from here… hopefully next time I write you will hear all about my packing and moving plans and all about my two furry friends (KC is mad at me at the moment for washing poop off his leg (yuck!)…nothing much to tell…)

Night!

Reut
12 jun 06 @ 9:07 pm

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Monday, June 5, 2006
Half way there!

Hello everyone!

Half way done. Today I took the USMLE, which is the MD boards. I decided to take it as well, even though I didn’t have to. It was a difficult exam, but I did my very best, so whatever happens… happens. The next step, and the one that is much more important for me is the COMLEX. This one is the DO boards, and I will be examined next week. I am very happy I had a chance during the test today to mentally outline things I didn’t feel too confident in and wanted to review before “my boards”. So for the next 6 days I’ll review these.

In anycase, what else? My friend Sasha came in the other day to ask for advice and a bit of help c this cute little orange kitty! Oh! He was adorable! I helped as much as I could, and it looks like the kitty found a new home with Caroline (a first year who adopted “Calyx” way back when). Before Sash gave the kitty away he named it “Merck” like the Merck menual! What a cute name!

Well… that’s the major things at the moment… School is starting up again next Monday, and I am missing the first day (due to boards). In a way I wish I would have scheduled my exams differently, so I would have had a bit of a break, but in a way, it’s okay to keep going strong until the end of July.

The weather has been a bit crazy in the past few days. We had loads of rain, which I just love!!! It is so green and beautiful outside :o) Just lovely!

Well, I am off to do some laundry and resting a bit from this long day.

Many kisses!

Reut
5 jun 06 @ 6:10 pm