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jonnybaby
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Birthday: 8/21/1976
Gender: Male
Interests: Basketball, Music, Comic Books, Television, Regular Books
Expertise: Telling you what's wrong with your life.
Occupation: Medical
Industry: Medical
Message: message me
Member Since:
12/3/2003
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| ClinicalsLong time since I last posted. But, there have been a few more updates and pictures on my facebook account. I started out in Pediatrics, which was fun. I miss playing with little kids all day. It's easy to BS your way through medical information with a kid, but parents may be more informed than me, especially since it was my first clinical. It was a lot of strep throat checks. There were a lot of well checks, which are pretty mundane for the most part because most of the kids whose parents are responsible enough to take them to a well check are taking good care of their kids, making sure they eat well, and are taken care of.
My second rotation was in ER. My favorite thing in ER was procedures, and particularly suturing. Suturing was fun for me because I got to work on my technique and improve over time. It was kind of intimidating at first. My second day in the ER I was suturing someone and my contact lens dried up and popped out of my eye during the procedure! I was sterile and couldn't touch the contact lens, so I dropped it off my face onto a counter and took care of the patient. Then, took care of the lens later. Another fun task that I got into was draining abscesses. There is something satisfying about squeezing all the pus out of someone's butt so that they can feel relieved from the pressure, then filling the gaping hole with gauze. It's pretty gross, but nice to be able to give someone instant relief.
Now, I'm in Family Practice in Rome. FP is kind of boring, lots of managing hypertension and diabetes medications. But, there is also a variety of illness and medical presentations. So, I've gotten to see a lot of different things that were rarer in the ER. I've seen lots of herpes zoster (which is shingles, or adult chicken pox, not the same as herpes simplex), thyroid conditions, minor injuries, urinary tract infections, GERD and PUD symptoms, and LOTS of lower back pain. Everyone has lower back pain. If you ask anyone if they have lower back pain, who's going to say no? I mean, you could have a scratch on your eye, but if I ask you if you also have lower back pain you're going to say "yeah, I guess I do, at least a little."
The best thing about this rotation has been living in Rome. My room in medical student housing is bigger than my room in my apartment in Atlanta, and there have been lots of places to take a bike ride in Rome that just aren't available nearby in Atlanta. It's also a great time to be outside in north Georgia. The trees are gorgeous and there are lots of hills and trails to walk and bike around. Berry College is only a couple miles up the road from my house and it's like a big park. Here are a few pics:
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| Happy Birthday! You get to start Clinicals!Happy Birthday to me!
With my old roommates. I'll miss these guys!
But, we had a good time out with some of my friends and classmates.
That week I also started clinicals. My first rotation is in pediatrics, which mostly consists of working in a peds outpatient clinic. About half of what I do is well checks, and the other half get strep tests. It's been fun working with kids, and the biggest thing I have to learn is how all of the developmental benchmarks for each age. Like:
When do babies start to roll over? 3-5 months of age.
When do babies start to walk? 12 months. At 9 mo they should be mobile, cruisers. 12 mo walking, 15 mo creeping up stairs, 18 mo running.
I need to know a bunch of other stuff, too. But, that's a bunch of it.
This week I've been in the newborn nursery at Grady Memorial Hospital. That is the major inner city hospital in Atlanta. Outside, by the entrance, there are ususally people laying in the street. We had a lecturer tell us that you can buy crack from the people selling socks outside by the MARTA station.
Today, I had a baby test positive for coke. Not the kind at the museum next to the aquarium. I like it there though, because it's been a great place to learn. All of the doctors I've worked with have been very willing to teach and wanting to share what they know. We can make lots of mistakes (with questions, not patients) and everyone is pretty understanding of it and willing to help you get your answers straight, not just make you feel stupid for not knowing. Unfortunately, I'm just getting the hang of things here and now I'm done with my time in the nursery and headed back to the outpatient clinic. Oh, well. It's been fun playing with babies.
New roommate
Friends at Brickstore on another night (oddly, I think I'm wearing the same shirt)
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| Done with the didactic year!It has been nearly one year since I moved to Atlanta. Last Friday I completed the lectures, powerpoints, and testing for the didactic portion of my PA training. It's been a crazy year and I couldn't have made it without my friends and classmates:
  
There were lots of other pics of other people, but these were the best ones since my last post. So, in celebration of completing one year of PA school I hiked up a mountain with some guys from NCA:
 
This summer I've gotten closer to many friends, enjoyed what outdoor activities Georgia has to offer, and been tested academically, spiritually, and emotionally. It's been some trying times. I thought that I didn't belong in this program several times, or that I should be back in Texas taking care of other business or tending to other concerns. But, I think I'm all the better for all of the decisions I've made and the paths God has led me on. Before coming to Atlanta, and since. That's what my verse means to me. If you have any other interpretations of Romans 8:28, I'd be glad to hear them. But, this belief is what gives me freedom and strength. Just one man's opinion.
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| Busy weekend?This weekend I had lots of activity, and pictures were taken. So, I have something to post.
Natalie's Birthday, Happy Almost 30th Birthday! (we won't say how many more years until the actual 30th birthday, but it's less than 5)
Ran into Manny and other PA people at a salsa club that Natalie wanted to go to.
Natalie taught me about salsa dancing. (Dipping is not part of the lesson, but Emmy wanted to pose.)
This is a salsa lesson.
So, the next day I went whitewater rafting on the Ocoee river in Tennessee with friends from church. I don't have any pictures of myself rafting, mostly just us waiting around to get going.
Richard reminds me of Keith.
Other folks from my church.
We waited for a really long time. The guides were an hour behind schedule.
Just a glimpse of the river. I'd never been white water rafting before, but it was a lot of fun. And, the river was really beautiful. The hills were very green, lots of trees.
The Ocoee also has the 1996 Olympic course on it, but we didn't go through that part.
Apologies to wifeofanerd for not making it to her house to meet the couple she was hosting who are missionaries in Vietnam. We'll have our Don Miller book club discussion another time. And, to my Atlanta friends, I'm sorry that all these photos seem very self centered, but I post here mostly for my friends from Texas. If I wasn't living in Atlanta, I guess I'd post more for people I've met here. Atlanta people see each other all the time.
I got this Procussions CD, which is pretty good hip hop with a christian perspective. But, I also got the Travis album, Broken Social Scene, and The Weepies. I publicly apologize to Tim for criticizing his TGMX mix.
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