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The Clinical Years: Wilkes-Barre VA HospitalNow that we've finally passed Step 1 we've made it to our goal - getting up at 5:00 AM, work days so long it's a treat when you "only have to work 9 hours", all topped off with kidney-damaging doses of caffeine and whatever your stimulant of choice is. I love it already! |
Welcome to Wilkes-Barre VA
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Home Sweet Home - 5th Floor
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Our Personal Corridor
In The Lap of Luxury: My Patient Room
Chick Magnet: Showing Off The Traction Bar
August 15, 2003 Freshman Welcome: Quality Rhino Time |
This is my outpatient rotation in Wilkes-Barre at the VA Hospital. Since our normal housing is just now being cleared of lead and asbestos, they have us housed on the 5th floor in patient rooms - all the convenience of the hospital, with IV poles, my traction bar, handicapped bathrooms, and wheelchairs galore whenever we want to do a little racing! Not to mention the only inpatient floor is right under us, making it very handy for the students currently on inpatient to roll out of bed and wander down if they get lonely for their patients.|
Outpatient is quite a change from inpatient - for instance, I almost had a heart attack when my attending told her patient, "So you can get your next blood work in three months," because I'm used to taking blood from the patients so frequently you can tell my patients just by looking for the black and blue marks in their arms. Plus everyone seems to just be stopping in for medication refills, so each patient takes about ten minutes to see - in other words, we see about three patients in the time it used to take me to write a SOAP note on my ONE patient that I've been following for two stinking weeks! And what are they doing out of bed? Shouldn't all patients be lying in bed waiting for you to come by and see them? I can see this is going to take some getting used to...
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Wheelchair Racing at it's finest!
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Back to the Docking Bay
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The Drexel Medicine Crew
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| A Moment To Remember: We were sitting in the middle of a three hour computer primer on how to write notes and work with the system at the VA because it's all computerized now (no paper notes), and it was Lame-Ass Boring, so I started my own note, and decided to give my patient, Fred Flintstone, a problem. So I gave him an allergy to pink elephants. And I added a slew of odd and obscene allergic reactions. Then I decided to really elaborate, and I wrote a SOAP note on him, and gave him the additional problem of Rectal Bleeding, and wrote in his subjective section, "Patient reports he is still 'Bleeding like a madman from the anus.'" I proceeded to fabricate a complete physical exam, assessment, plan, and then I joyfully signed it and logged out. That's right, I SIGNED it. I really didn't think it'd be a problem, seeing as how it'd probably be lost in the forty other notes on this fictional patient, and only students would be seeing it. Imagine my surprise when during my first session with my attending, she casually mentioned halfway through, "Say, you know this note here? What's up with this? It came for me to sign." That's right, I'd foolishly decided to be extra realistic, so when I had to pick the chief physician for this "patient", I'd put my preceptor Dr. Metgud in, since it was the only one I recognized, and the system decided to send it to her for review. Incidentally, apparently a ton of other people training for the hospital ALSO see this, because there are a couple of nurse's notes on Fred since the one I left. I like to think that there's a quiet speculation running around the nursing staff on who "Rectal Bleeding Huang" is. At least that would explain some of the wierd looks I get in this hospital? (although the wheel chair racing HAS been remarked on by some of the residents and interns on our floor... but my developing embryonic muscular biceps are worth it...?) |
Me and my preceptor, Dr. Metgud | 
Dr. Metgud and her flock of residents | 
My preceptor, and Dr. Desai, who babysat me while Dr. Metgud was gone
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| Wilkes-Barre itself is remote but beautiful - the drive up is through these nifty mountains, and there's this great tunnel that cuts off my cell phone reception every time I hit it. The only minus is that it rains just about every day, and I always have problems with the road up - I almost ate the guard rail twice today, although I avoided it with the help of a LITTLE fancy wheel-work and an AWFUL LOT of screaming like a little girl. There is also an amazing number of fast food places all within five minutes of the hospital, and the mall entrance road is directly across from the entrance of the hospital, which is convenient if you need some shopping therapy from the incredible stress of sitting in a room and trying to stay awake while your physician renews prescriptions. Life is hard, but I guess someone's got to do it. |
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