Progress

Sometimes I can't believe I made it this far!

Accomplishments during my past (very busy) few weeks - finishing cardiology with a above-average grade, registering for my National Registry exam on 7/10/10, and finishing more rotations. I also finally wrote a paper on hypothermia therapy use in the field that ended up being nearly as long as my college thesis.

This week I start rotations on medic units, first as a "team member" and not long after as a "team leader". It's so great to me that I'm trusted enough now to be set free to practice on a medic unit!

I did my ICU rotation last week and was surprised to find that I really liked it. It was a whole new challenge and completely different area of medicine. I'm not sure I could be an ICU nurse or provider, because I really enjoy variety and constant change.

Then on Friday I had an ER rotation with a bunch of interesting patients. We had one with a Potassium level of 8 that we were able to get down to 6 before she was admitted to the ICU. There was a 21 yom who jumped off a big bridge in town - about a 75 foot fall - and managed to survive. He was in major shock when he got to the ER with a pressure of 90/43 and a heart rate of 140. I got to see a woman get cardioverted out of a ventricular tachycardia with pulses into a junctional rhythm. For about 4 seconds she was asystolic, and I was starting to worry. The cardiologist, however, seemed very unconcerned. I guess he's used to that sort of thing.

More posts to come as I start medic rotations and finish out the class!