Day 25:

Today was another long day on the unit. There was practically nothing going on all day, which is great for the patients but really dull for us when we want to see stuff! It was nice, though, when the woman doctor I mentioned yesterday arrived. It’s amazing how some people are just natural teachers…one of the patients was having irregular heart rates and she was looking at the monitor, which led to an impromptu lesson about heart rates and pulse ox’s. Basically you know there are arrhythmias if the peaks on both the pulse and oxygen saturation don’t line up, and above all machines only aid in care, and you as the doctor are ultimately the one who needs to understand and be able to interpret the science behind the machine. It’s interesting because I never would’ve thought to ask about the machine because I know its general function; however, once she started explaining, I ended up asking a lot more questions! This doctor also helped us interpret an x-ray (it showed fluid in the lungs) and explained deep vein thrombosis (the reason why people wear those really tight socks after surgery). So it ended up being a decent afternoon, and we’re onto OB tomorrow!

Dinner at Moledina's on Monday

ICU

X-ray machine