Catch Up

Posted by Nina Cimino at Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Well I have not been great at keeping up with blogging. It has been a busy, exciting time though, so I will do my best to fill in some gaps without making this post too long!

First, rotations. I had my off block in February, which was filled with interviews and residency preparation. I'll fill you in on that next. In March, I had an infectious disease rotation at U of M, and it was great! Now, I'm in my last week of pediatric cardiology at Mott Children's Hospital (also part of U of M) and I'm loving it! Things move so fast.

Infectious Disease

This rotation was really neat because it was kind of like having two rotations in one. For my first two weeks, I rounded with the ID consult service, which is a specialty team that gets consulted when patients have very difficult to treat infections. This was a great experience for me, because while I found ID really interesting in class, I also found it to be really challenging. I was definitely looking forward to this rotation in order to get more comfortable with ID and learn more about which antibiotics are best for particular situations.

After my two weeks rounding with the consult team, I did two weeks working on the stewardship team. Antibiotic stewardship involves making sure that antibiotics are used appropriately, in a way that treats infections appropriately while trying to minimize resistance and also avoiding drugs that may be harmful to a patient. While working on the stewardship team, I followed up on the use of restricted antimicrobials, and worked on a project to help write new hospital guidelines for the treatment of endocarditis.

Pediatric Cardiology

This rotation has been really challenging, but extremely rewarding. Prior to starting this rotation, I had not had much experience with pediatrics, or critical care. Thankfully, I really liked cardiology when we learned about it in class, but the world of congenital heart defects was pretty new to me! I had a lot to learn coming in.

A typical day involves me getting to the hospital between 5:00-5:30, to work up my patients and review what happened overnight. Then I round from 7:00-9:00, and after that I discuss patients with my preceptor, follow up on recommendations, conduct medication reconciliation, prepare for topic discussions...etc. My first week was pretty overwhelming, and I felt like I couldn't keep up with the pace of the ICU or all the new drugs I was being exposed to. Now though, I am rounding by myself and making recommendations- I'm feeling great! I think the lesson learned here is that even when things seem overwhelming and difficult, I can stick with it and get better fast!

What comes next

Match day has come and gone, and I matched! I'll be heading off to do a PGY1 residency at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland next year, and I am really excited about it! I think this residency will prepare me well for clinical practice and PGY2. I will be working with one other co-resident, and I'm very excited to start. Between now and then though, there is a lot to do! I'm in the process of getting ready for getting licensed in Maryland, taking my boards, and moving. The match process is pretty stressful, but taking things step-by-step definitely helps to keep things manageable.

I'll be moving on to my last rotation, a generalist rotation next week, so I will try to post about that once I get there!