Fröhliche Weihnachten!

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and as long as we're at it, Happy New Year 2007!

A Case Of Mistaken Identity

I spent 4 hours yesterday in the ED at UCDMC. For those of you who aren't "in the know," the ED is what most medical professionals have decided to call the ER. I think medical cognoscenti figured out that, thanks to shows like ER, most people know what ER refers to, and, in order to better confuse patients, they decided to use a different term altogether. I prefer the term ER to ED (largely because "ED" is the euphamism of choice in all those fun sildenafil ads), but nobody cares what I think.

I thought I was going to be out of luck, showing up on a Monday afternoon. I've spent time in the ED before and it's been pretty slow. However, when I showed up there were 7 patients on gurneys in the hall and all 15 beds on the floor were full. There were sick people everywhere! The attending physician seemed glad to see me and promptly put me to work interviewing patients. I was a little surprised at his faith in my abilities, but he was much too busy for me to try and object.

My first patient, the resident explained to me, was one of those SOBs (again one of those acronyms that sounds like something it isn't) complaining of nausea and vomiting. It wasn't long into the conversation that I was able to place her accent. I asked where she was from, and she told me she hails from Graz, Austria! Geburtsstadt meiner Mutter! We chatted it up for a few minutes in German and then I had to go because they were going to take some X-Rays. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to put together a comprehensive picture of her illness, and when reporting to the attending, I could tell he was a little disappointed at my lack of knowledge.

Figuring I wasn't much good to him on the floor, he sent me out into the hallway to interview an old lady, whom I shall call Francis.* He had sort of a thinly veiled smile on his face when he added, "Be sure and take a good, detailed history." Turns out Francis was one of those ladies who loves to talk. I spent the next hour or so with her, asking about her problems (she was having abdominal pain secondary to an abdominal aortic aneurysm). She was in a lot of pain and seemed relieved that someone was finally paying attention to her.

She was a fun old lady and I had a good time talking with her. When she went through her laundry list of health problems, I told her it was patients like her that keep doctors in business. She thought that was really funny and laughed really loud. I finished taking her history and did a quick physical all the while joking with her and listening to her tell me about all sort of stuff. When I told her I had to got to finish her write-up. She smiled and said, "I haven't felt this good since I came in here this morning at 8:00am. Thank you." Then she winked and added, "When you become a real doctor, make sure you don't lose that bedside manner." That comment made my day.

I finished writing up Francis' report and looked to hand it off to the Chief Resident. She told me to hang onto it utnil Francis' labs and MRI got back. I told her I would love to, but I had to go. She looked at me funny, "What do you mean? Do you have class?" When I told her I only was supposed to be there for 4 hours, and that I needed to pick up my wife, she looked genuinely confused. "Why on earth would they only want you to stay here for 4 hours? Aren't you a 4th year student?" I told her I was only a 2nd year student and she started into one of those "that explains everything" kind of laughs. I asked if her if she thought I must have been a pretty dumb and inexperienced 4th year student. She said no, but we all knew she was thinking yes.

Anyway, I am kind of glad the mix-up occured. It allowed me to work on my own with a few patients and not have to just follow the other docs around and try and answer questions about different diseases and patients. I had a great time in the ED, even if it left me exhausted afterwards. I look forward to be able to go back in there again.

*Names may or may not have been changed.

Fare Thee Well, C. John Tupper

The time has finally come to bid Davis a fond farewell. When I interviewed at Davis, I was promised that my second year would be spent learning the art of medicine in a brand new, state-of-the-art facility across the street from the UCD Medical Center. $46 million dollars later, the University of California at Davis has finally completed construction of the medical education building. They are about 6 months later than promised, but better late than never.

The dedication of the new building was this past Monday (the day before my Musculoskeletal final) and what a spectacle it was. All the students were supposed to show up at the building in our white coats. We were ushered into the procession by a 8-member bagpipe band. There were hundreds of people there, including donors, politicians, doctors, professors and the news media. They talked about the history of the med school, its present condition and its future. They thanked all the people who donated the big bucks. Highlight of the speech was when the dean of the school thanked Fernando personally for insisting that "if med students work 80 hours a week they need a ping-pong table to relax." Fernie was looking out for us and as a result we'll continue to be able waste countless hours hitting a plastic ball back and forth.

After all the speeches they, used their big scissors to cut the ribbons and people threw confetti and streamers. The Sacramento Bee captured this moment in their feature article on the grand opening. This picture was included in that piece. That's my friend Tyler in the front, but directly behind him, you can see what really caught the photographer's eye. The Bee has a circulation of approximately 295,304 readers. Upon seeing this photo, I am sure they were all exclaiming to themselves: "Man, that guy in the back looks like he is going to be one heckuva doctor!"

Sean and I went through the building to inspect the lecture halls and classrooms, to see the new student lounge and check out the super-cool examination rooms. The place looks awesome and I am excited to actually get to go to school there. And if this picture is any indication, it looks like we are going to fit in quite nicely.

Of course, starting school in Sacramento means leaving behind the dilapidated facilities in Davis. This really isn't much of a bad thing, considering the place was a dump. Really, the only thing I am going to miss is being in Davis and eating lunch with Cami on her lunch break. I guess you can't have it all.

So, good bye C. John Tupper hall! Good bye uncomfortable orange seats! Good bye vet students! Good bye aggressive ducks and the ever-present smell of manure. It's been a good year and half.

It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas!

It is finally starting to feel like the Christmas season! Hooray! This weekend my mom came up and we did a lot of Christmas shopping, which is probably my favorite kind of shopping.

On Saturday night we had the classic ward Christmas party: dinner, singing, Santa, and a program. At the last minute they needed two more elves to help Santa, so of course, the Young Women get asked. This is me and Talmage (a Laurel) pretending to be elves. Tim was the star of the program which consisted of reading a story to the primary kids. Everyone thought he was pretty funny. I really wanted to find him a turtleneck & a plaid sport coat to wear and then we could gel his hair, but I didn't want to make it funny if it was supposed to be serious.

On Sunday night we had Wendy, Stuart, Daniel, Jessica, Beth, Ashley, and Sean over to our apartment for dinner. It is amazing that we can fit that many people in our small apartment, but as long as they bring their own chairs it all works out. Daniel brought the gingerbread (graham cracker) house he had just finished making and then he started tearing it apart to eat it. It looked really cool, but also really disgusting. But when it comes to sugar Daniel is not very picky. So, in conclusion this weekend finally made me feel like it is Christmas. I was starting to worry that the Christmasy feeling would never come and I would miss out on my favorite time of year. My Gingersnaps that don't snap and Sean's hot chocolate probably had something to do with it too.

Turkey and Tryptophan

Thanksgiving is over and it is now officially time to start celebrating Christmas. It's about time. Every year I get a little more annoyed at the fact that corporate America seems to forget about Turkey Day on the rush from Halloween to Christmas. I always get angry when I hear Christmas songs being played on advertisements on November 2nd. Don't get wrong, I love Christmas just as much as the next guy, I just like keeping it special. If I had it my way, Christmas season would officially begin on December 1st and not a day earlier. Anyone caught singing Christmas songs or putting up Christmas lights before then would be subject to public ridicule. Unfortunately, I don't plan on taking over the world anytime soon.

For the Thanksgiving break, Cami and I drove 10 hours down to St. George, Utah to spend the holiday with her family at her sister Stephanie's beautiful new home. We somehow managed to jam 30 Callisters (15 under the age of 12) into that house and co-exist for a good 5 days. I think it is safe to say that there wasn't a silent moment the whole week. There is nothing like spending time with family, there's also nothing like being pestered by 15 little rugrats for 5 days straight either. Unfortunately, Jake hadn't learned anything from our last meeting and had to be put back in his place again.

Honestly, there is nothing like a good ol' fashioned turkey dinner, and there is also nothing like have 4 turkey dinners in one week (we cooked 3 birds in St. George and Cami and I had a little dinner with some of our friends the Sunday before). Couple that turkey with a little dessert of ice cream and pie and it's pure heaven. By the way, I am in love with rhubarb pie. Cami says that makes me sound like an old granny. I don't care. Because I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!

The whole trip was a blast. We played a lot of games (by the way, I am still the world's best Mafia player) but one of the highlights had to be watching BYU beat the U for the first time in 4 years on the last play of the game. I won't write much about it, but the "that game was so awesome" feeling stuck with me until the following Tuesday. Wow, that felt good.

We got up early Sunday morning to make the trek home. By that I mean, we got up super early and I drove while Cami slept in the car. Fortunately, we were able to beat most of the traffic and get home without any major complications. Now it's back to school and work until Christmas vacation. Honestly, I can't wait.