BORING:
I spent last week at a local hospital on their Pediatric inpatient floor. Unfortunately, there were never more than five patients at a time, and we had several residents on the floor as well. Basically, this means that there was really nothing for us to do, and we spent A LOT of time sitting around. Seriously...we even attempted the "saltine challenge" at one point. Ever heard of this challenge? Well, let me tell you: The goal is to eat six saltine crackers in 1 minute. This may sound super easy, but it is IMPOSSIBLE. I promise -- we all sat around a table and tried it. Don't believe me? Try it. I dare you. Triple double quadruple dare.
Fortunately -- as you can tell by the saltine challenge -- the residents were extremely cool and very nice, which made the boring much easier. Yes, folks, this is what the future doctors of America spend their down time doing. : )
EXCITING:
The hospital experience wasn't all bad. In fact, I was able to attend a delivery and got to "catch" my first baby. Basically, the OB team pulls the baby out and immediatey hands it off to a person so that the Pediatrics team can assess and make sure that the baby is breathing okay and doing well. Well, this past Thursday that person was me, and I got teary eyed. Yes, people, birth is both gross and amazing at the same time.
But I don't have to tell you that if you have children.
In other news, I hosted a dinner at my house on Thursday for a few medical school friends. I am on Peds this month with an exchange student from Poland, and there is another student from Greece who is rotating in our ER. A few of us thought it would be fun to get together and have a multi-cultural dinner. I decided that I was going to tackle fried rice for the second time in my short cooking life. The first time, I made an error that proved detrimental to my final dish: I did not make and refrigerate the rice one day beforehand. This time, I cooked the rice in some vegetable broth and refrigerated it one day ahead. I added some mushrooms, red and green bell peppers, onion, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, peas, and cooked egg. It was amazing!
On the left is some pan-fried vegetable dumplings in the back (remember when I mentioned these in my last post? Well, I went and got some!), spring rolls in the front; on the right is some cooked tofu in the back and a vegetarian chicken, with the fried rice in the front.
Fotini, from Greece, made this cheesy pasta-like dish...
....and an amazing Greek salad!
Anna, from Poland, made this potato dish with a mushroom gravy.
...and for dessert: BANANAS FOSTER! If you have never had this, you are missing out!
And here we all are! From left to right: Joanna, Kristen, Kristen, Anna, Me, and Fotini. In the front is Sonya and her very cute son, Andre. These ladies are all my classmates from school.
BUSY:
I started working at a new children's hospital on Saturday. I worked today and will be there this week through Friday as well. This hospital is much, much busier than the former one, and we have had up to twenty-seven patients. (Note: there are many more patients than this, but our team of two residents gets assigned a certain number of patients. That may not sound like a lot, but it is -- especially when we have to see each patient and answer parent and nurse questions with new patients coming in as well. As you all can expect, everything doesn't go as "planned" in the hospital, making for some hectic times.) Unfortunately, I have to be there at 6am which requires my waking up at 4:30 to get ready; however, I really enjoy what I am doing. I may not blog next week, and I also have a test at the end of the month so there is a possibility I will not be blogging until October 1st or so. Sorry! : )
GREAT:
I LOVE rotations, so -- no matter how busy or crazy or hectic or tired and rundown I may get -- I am where I am supposed to be.
Your rice looks amazing! What a fun dinner!
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