Monday, June 1, 2009

The Zoo

So, I will refer to the hospital I'm now rotating through as the Zoo for two reasons. 1) It's a county hospital and is extremely busy and hectic. 2) The name actually rhymes with it's real name. In no way am I trying to disrespect the patients or employees of the hospital. Heck, I'm one.

So, today was my first day at the Zoo. Wow. My pager went off fairly non-stop all day. It's going to be a busy month. It's also going to be a great month, because I'm going to see some crazy, crazy stuff. Already I have a lady with pachy meningitis (I had never heard of it before today), a guy with miliary TB (where tuberculosis is extensive throughout the lung), a young man with newly diagnosed HIV and CMV colitis (a viral infection of the colon causing severe diarrhea and dehydration), and a new mother who likely has herpes hepatitis. And, I just admitted a transgendered male-to-female with a bizarre rash and facial droop.

I'm slowly learning my way around the hospital and the different things I'm expected to know and do. I have a feeling it's going to be 30 days on a steep learning curve. I'll post some updates as I get to know my patients more and hear their stories. I think I'm going to learn a lot - about medicine and about life.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

oh mine, they don't call it the zoo for nothing!