Having my parents out there was so GREAT! Even though I was loving NY so much, I was starting to get just a little bit homesick after 2 months, so it was so nice to have a taste of home! It was incredibly helpful to have my parents out here to help me get the new apartment set up in Long Island; and when we weren't working on apartment stuff, we had a great time exploring NYC. They had never been out here and I enjoyed showing them my favorite places and introducing them to Mike's cousins, Anne & Jean, who had been so welcoming when I moved to NYC! We did lots of sightseeing, including going to the top of the Empire State Building (very cool!), Central Park, Grand Central, Flatiron District, Chinatown, Battery Park, Hudson River Walk, Ground Zero, Brooklyn Bridge....and more!!
My parents on top of the Empire State Building
Neat Chinatown Building!
Chinatown Market
beautiful view of the Brooklyn Bridge & Manhattan Skyline!
After my parents left, I started my Surgery rotation. I was surprised how much I loved this rotation! The hours were intense: rounds started at 6am sharp, which meant students had to get there even earlier to check on patients. I was averaging 80+hrs a week. We usually finished around 6pm, unless we were on call. I had call 1-2 days per week. Call was 24hrs+ and included staying overnight and responding to Trauma pages or doing any "scut" work for the residents like changing dressings, removing stitches, checking on patients, doing physicals in the ER, etc. Overall, I really loved surgery! I will take the time now to give a quick breakdown of my 3 months on Surgery:
-Weeks 1-3 TRAUMA: We got all the traumas from the county, including every gunshot, stabbing, motor vehicle crash, etc. I split my time between the ER, the ICU, and the OR. It was super intense but I learned a ton of skills working with such critical patients.
-Weeks 4-6 GENERAL SURGERY: I spent a lot of time in the OR assisting with general operations like gall bladder removal, appendix removal, laparoscopic procedures, and vascular procedures. I learned a ton here as well about general floor "scut" work, clinical evaluations, and surgical skills.
-Weeks 7-8 NEUROSURGERY: This specialty was awesome! I was allowed to do 2 lumbar punctures all by myself (with supervision of course). I also got to scrub in on crazy neurosurgeries and I got to see many exposed brains and even got to TOUCH a bare spinal cord...super cool!
-Weeks 9-10 PLASTIC SURGERY: I was surprised how much I loved this one. The attendings were great and taught me so much! By the end I had scrubbed in on many plastics cases (breast implants, facelifts, nose jobs, and even a butt implant!) But my favorite were the burn cases...by the end the attending let me do a few skin grafts by myself and I even got to complete a couple of finger amputations and handle a bone saw!
-Weeks 11-12 UROLOGY: This was not my favorite, but I did learn a lot of 'necessary' skills...however I can say right now that my career will not be in this area...I had enough 'wee-wees, pee-pees, and prostates' to last me a lifetime!
The Surgery rotation was insanely busy...like I said, I was averaging over 80 hrs a week and was on 24 hour call 1-2 days per week. However, even with this busy schedule, I was lucky to cram a lot of fun days into the fall!.....
Just a couple of short weeks after I started my Surgery rotation, Michael and my brother Jared made the 24 hr drive from MN to NY and arrived for Labor Day Weekend! I traded call shifts with another student, so I had the whole weekend off and we had such a great time! We did the typical NYC sightseeing but the highlight of the weekend was our day at the US Open, which is held in Queens. Overall the weekend was amazing....it was great to have Mike officially moved out here and I loved having my brother here too!
finally a chair big enough for tall Jared :)
World Financial Center
Sunset at the World Financial Center
Jared & Mike overlooking the Hudson River at sunset
great seats & great day at the US Open!
US Open!
After moving out here, Michael quickly got settled in and found a job...actually TWO! He spends most of his time (5 days a week) working at either Sunrise Cyclery or Sunrise Tri. These are both bike shops, and Mike is IN LOVE with his job! :) Most of you know how obsessed he has become with triathlons, etc., and he just loves working with top-line bikes and learning more about the business and custom bike fitting. His other job is at a physical therapy clinic. He was volunteering at the clinic for a couple of months and when his volunteer time came to an end, they didn't want to lose him so they offered him a job in order to get him to stay and work one day each week!
So Mike has adjusted to life in New York and we are having a great time out here! During the fall, we had a lot of fun! We went into the city often to spend time with the cousins and their friends. We also went to the Twins vs. Yankees playoff game and even though the Twins played like crap, we had fun wearing our Twins gear and standing up for our MN team amongst the sea of cocky Yankees fans! My brother Jared also came through New York again on his way back from visiting a friend up in CT. Early in the fall, we also tried to enjoy scenic Long Island on one of our days off and we are excited to explore the island (including beaches and the Hamptons) more when the nice weather comes back next summer!
A nice fall afternoon at Jones Beach in Long Island
A nice fall afternoon at Jones Beach in Long Island
Twins vs. Yankees game!
Another fun weekend with Jared!
view of Southern tip of Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry
Even though my Surgery rotation was SUPER busy, I did manage to get a couple of weekends off to travel! In October, we made it back to MN for the wedding of two of our great friends, Jenna & Chris. It was an awesome wedding and it was so great to be back in MN for a couple of days! We also traveled to Boston and met our MN friends John & Erin for Halloween weekend and the Vikings vs. Patriots game! It was so much fun and Boston is SUCH a beautiful and historic city. The Patriots' stadium was really nice and the game was great too...even though it was freezing and we had to drive back to New York that same night because I had surgery rounds at 6am Monday morning!
The college girls in Jenna's bridal party
Boston!
Boston!
tailgating in Foxboro for the Vikings vs. Patriots game!
Overall, it was a great fall! Mike moved out here and we had some wonderful times! My Surgery rotation finished in mid-November. I surprised myself how much I loved the content and pace of surgery, even though the hours were very demanding. I am excited to see what else intrigues me as I move along through other rotations....stay tuned! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment