Surgery is over! Time to celebrate in style--catching up on Teen Mom 2 (so much happened between season 3 and 4!) and Weeds, both totally appropriate shows for a future healthcare provider. This past month, I was at a local community hospital for orthopedic surgery. It was incredibly fun: personable staff, patient attendings, and a great co-rotator (or whatever you call someone on the same service). It was so much fun that I actually considered orthopedics as a career for a hot second. It's very hands-on (and you get POWER TOOLS!), and you can choose how much of a workout you want: from total joints (where you're throwing around the dead weight of entire extremities) to carpal tunnel releases (I loved all hand surgeries because it meant you got to sit down). One of the big draws for me was the isolation of one mechanical problem. You walk into the OR, hammer/chisel/saw, and walk out. As long as the patient is medically cleared beforehand, you don't have to worry about their COPD/CHF/diabetes. (Of course, this leads to a certain orthopod stereotype: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rTsvb2ef5k)
Alas, my flirtation with orthopedics was short-lived, mostly because my boards scores are nowhere near elite and after the fifth total knee replacement, it all started to look the same. The ortho fairy worked her magic on one of my previously internal/family medicine friends, and after two weeks, he's going for it (I've already booked him for my dad's knees). I am going to miss the super-cool ortho spacesuits, though. And the power tools. Really going to miss the power tools.
Tomorrow, I start internal medicine, so it's going to be a big rule in/rule out month. I'm back on the road, and this time, I'm in the land of shoo-fly pie, buggies, and Shady Maple. That, plus the increasing anxiety I'm starting to get about boards/residency applications = good-bye, skinny jeans, hello sweatpants.
