I went home to New York this past weekend, which was fun and relaxing. Saturday afternoon I worked a couple of hours lifeguarding before going out to dinner to celebrate my sister’s birthday. We went out to Mexican restaurant, and I made sure to try to show off some of my Spanish. Sunday I went to mass and then went on a twenty mile bike ride on a local trail with my dad. It was a beautiful day for a ride and a great workout.
After getting back to Hartford on Sunday night, Monday was a whirlwind but exciting day. Two of the other Holy Cross interns and I got to observe a thyroid surgery in the morning, and then we were invited to observe an autopsy in the afternoon. It was pretty intense at times, but an interesting atmosphere. We all enjoyed and learned a lot through this unique experience. Afterward a few of the interns and I went out into Hartford for the evening, which was fun.
This morning I went on rounds for a little bit in the neurology department. I enjoy learning about brain function and its pathologies, so that was cool for me. I left early from rounds to meet another doctor who is involved in management and I previously shadowed to go to the monthly Hartford Hospital management forum. This past spring I interned in Washington, DC, as a part of the College’s Washington Semester Program, where I learned about health reform, health management, and the challenges facing hospitals and health care today. As a result, I am interested in the inner workings of Hartford Hospital and how it is administered, which is why I attended this meeting. I learned about updates on hospital function, as well as recent challenges and successes, which paralleled many of the things I learned in DC. I was glad I attended this meeting, and plan on going to a couple more with the aforementioned physician before the summer is out.
This afternoon I worked a bit on a new project on a study on Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) blocks. It is an ultrasound guided approach where local anesthesia is injected into nerves in the patient’s side to help block pain from abdominal surgery. This is a somewhat new local anesthetic technique for hernia repair that my doctor and I will be studying in the next few weeks. We have a meeting this evening about this promising technique, so I will keep you all posted on my progress.
Catch you later.
ETC