Category: Year 3 (Page 2 of 2)

Prepare for the Drive

August 12, 2020 / Jacob Brown

With third year going strong this summer, my wife has gotten to experience what it is like to drive a fair distance to work. I have driven about 40 miles per day since we moved to Ohio, but she has not had the same experience. We live very close to the medical school, about 0.25 miles from the parking lot. So, most of her driving up to this point has been short.

Since she started working in Orthopedic Surgery, she has been driving about 50 miles per day. This rotation only runs for about 4 weeks, but in her next rotation she will drive a good distance as well (about 60 miles per day). The schedule change has a new set of challenges for her.

In the morning she has to wake up 30-40 minutes earlier to get to work than she did in the past. This also means that she needs to get in bed sooner, and has less time for extra activities during the day. When she is tired from work she still has to climb into her car and drive home, which takes about 45 minutes. It’s important to me for her to have a comfortable and safe vehicle in these circumstances. There is a lot of standing and walking in her daily schedule, which takes a toll on her. So, an uncomfortable car can amplify any aches or pains she is having from the day. Her previous vehicle tended to make any pains she was having worse. This is partly why I recently got her into a new car. Not only for the comfort, but the reliability of the new vehicle gives me some peace of mind while she is driving all over the Midwest. There will be times when she is away in another city, and it benefits me having her in a reliable vehicle. I feel that I don’t have to worry about her as much now as I did before, while she was driving her previous vehicle.

I have found that driving this distance to work to have positive effects as well as negative effects. Overall I enjoy driving this distance to work, but if given the opportunity to drive shorter I would consider it. This is a list of some of the main points that come to mind. It really will depend on who you are and what you enjoy doing. Do you enjoy driving? Do you need alone time?

Positive Effects

Time to clear my mind after work.
Alone time to reflect on your day or plan.
Quiet time to be with my thoughts.
Wind down from the stress and work of the job.
My wife and I enjoy driving, so it has a fun factor for us.

Negative Effects

Increased time away from home due to driving 1 hr+ per day.
Have to stay focused until getting home before relaxing.
Delayed dinner on occasion.
Have to wake up earlier to get to work.
More time on the road means a greater risk for an accident.

There are things that can be done to prepare for longer drives as well. Keeping water and snacks in your car is one thing that can help when getting out of work. My wife doesn’t get a lot of time to eat lunch, so her drive home could be used to catching up on eating leading into dinner. One thing that is extremely important to safe driving is making sure that you have slept enough. Falling asleep at the wheel can spell disaster, even in a smart vehicle that has advanced safety features.

It is important to me to have a reliable car and good tires when looking at driving long distances. As we are getting closer to fall and winter here in the Midwest, the road conditions will change and allow for a higher risk of accidents. Things will change as we near winter weather as this will add more factors to the long drives.

Prepare for the conditions and find ways to make it enjoyable for yourself. Make use of this time alone to reflect on your day or look forward to what is next. If you don’t have anything to reflect upon, crank the tunes and have fun with it. Make it into something you look forward to because it is enjoyable. Be safe out there!

Early Mornings

July 8, 2020 / Jacob Brown

My wife just started her third year of medical school. For those that don’t know, third year requires students to partake in activities alongside interns and attendings. The learning takes place in their (the doctors’) work environment on their schedule. This period of the students’ learning allows them to see how hospitals and clinics operate. They get to learn different procedures and techniques related to the many sectors of the medical field. It is the time when the traditional classroom learning environment diminishes and they begin transitioning into “hands on” training.

Our basic schedule is outlined below. It’s nothing exciting, but it is good insight in what is to come for those going into third year. My wife does a lot of different things at the hospital. Some of the things she does include rounding, scrubbing in on surgery, performing procedures, and others. I will definitely be writing another post that goes more depth on what she is doing, and how to best be prepared.

Starting the day.

My wife is currently working in surgery. Due to surgeries being scheduled nearly all day in hospitals, she is working longer hours than I am. My day typically involves me getting up at 5:15 am, but her day requires 4:30 am. Due to the fact that she begins earlier than I do, I get up with her to keep her company and help her get ready. She has to leave by 5:10 am to head to the hospital to avoid being late. She doesn’t have to be ready until about 6:00 am, but it takes a while to get ready with all of the time spent parking and prepping for the day. While she gets ready in the morning I take the initiative to make her lunch. I usually pack some items for making sandwiches, salads, or other items that we have made recently.

Lately I’ve been including salad with mozzarella, tomato, dressing, and chicken breast. Other items included are croutons, apple slices, and a bottle of water.

Lunch time.

My wife does not have a regular lunch schedule. Most of the time she has lunch randomly or not at all. The time allotted is typically when it is convenient in her schedule. I pack snacks bars for her for in case she has time to eat them. It is a lot easier to grab a snack bar in a quick break than to sit down and eat a full meal.

With the amount of unknowns such as lunch, she has experienced some new stresses. She has to go long periods of time on occasion without getting to eat. This could be one of the main contributors to her feeling more tired in the afternoon, but it could also be that by noon she has been up for over 7 hours by noon.

Departure from work.

My wife tends to leave around 6 pm, but there have been a few times where she has left between 12-2 pm. The scheduling right now is sporadic with COVID-19, and incoming patients. I leave work in time to get home and start dinner before she arrives. She is always very tired when she gets home, and I find having dinner ready helps when she needs to study before heading to bed.

I use the time when I am home and she is gone to exercise, work on projects, or make dinner. This is the time where I can catch up on things that I am behind on before she gets home. Usually I am behind on dishes and keeping our kitchen clean. I like to cook and am terrible at keeping everything tidy.

Tips for the reader.

Make it a team effort. Medical school is already hard enough. I find that taking the time to help with the little things make a big difference. Making lunch, dinner, or cleaning up the house goes a long way in reducing stress.

Follow their schedule if possible. I wouldn’t be able to follow my wife’s schedule if she were on third shift, or me, but I can right now. I think that it works well having us get up together and go to bed together. We have opportunities to create more unity and help each other.

Third Year Start

June 10, 2020 / Jacob Brown

My wife it at the cusp of beginning her third year of medical school. She has kind of started already, but she is just doing an online class due to COVID-19 keeping most medical students out of hospitals. Soon she will be shadowing doctors in their workplace, experiencing more of what is like to be a doctor and less of a classroom setting. From my experience a classroom setting is good for building some background information, but it can’t totally educate a person on a task that will be performed. As an example, in the United States we typically don’t have children read a book on how to swim, then push them into a pool on their own expecting them to swim perfectly. It takes time and practice within the workforce to gain important skills that can’t be obtained within a classroom.

My wife signed up for a year long layout of clerkships. She will be watching (and hopefully assisting) doctors in field that in orthopedics, surgery, OB/GYN, family practitioners, and many more. This year looks like it will allow her to try a lot of different specialties, which should in turn help her pick what she would like to go into as her career.

A new experience. A lot of medical students have job shadowed before, but not on the level that they will embark during their third year of school during clerkships. Most of schooling that they have experienced has been classroom work, which makes this changeover a totally new experience. I view it as one of the most important steps in becoming a doctor. The students have the background information, now it is time to apply it and tie all of the information together.

Change in learning style. I have found that there are people that excel in classroom learning, and there are people who excel in hands-on learning. My wife happens to be someone who is very good at both. I know that she is better at classroom learning than me, and she loves hands-on learning. Being able to apply what we know is crucial as it is the way that we make it all useful.

Schedule changes. Now that she will be shadowing doctors in clerkships, she won’t be in a classroom daily. She will have to travel to the doctors work, a hospital or clinic, for learning. Not only will she have to drive to their location, she will be on their schedule. This can be a little bit sporadic, but the schedule should be fairly consistent. The schedule is dependent on what specialty she will be shadowing at the time.

My wife has done a lot of research to figure out exactly what she needs in order to be successful in the clerkships. She has done shopping for shoes and other clothes. A big portion of what she has been looking at lately is office supplies. Make sure that you never run out of pens or are unprepared to take notes. Another thing that she has been interested in is what to keep in your white coat on a daily basis. This includes everything from office supplies to snacks. There are times that she won’t be able to take a normal lunch or break, and it’s good to be prepared for those times.

Third year looks like it will be a good change from the first two years. It will allow the medical students to grow more and increase their abilities to have relation with patients. They also get to step into the life of practicing doctors, and learn from them directly.

Tips for the reader.

Research online. Looking at forums or other blog posts can help you find what you may need. Being prepared will make you more comfortable and confident.

Ask past third year students. Past students are a simple source to find out what you may need. They have been through it, and they can help you decipher between what you need, and what you don’t.

Do what makes you comfortable. Within reason, and any guidelines set forward by the program, do what makes you comfortable. If you are uncomfortable all the time, it will make it much harder to focus and do your best. This applies to everything from shoes to your hair style.