MS-III
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The End for Terry Shiavo
Terry Schiavo Dies - From USA Today.com
Terry Schiavo - a name I have loathed hearing ever since I heard it the first time last year. A case embroiled in bitterness and folly. A case that completely demonstrates how stupid our country really is.
The right to die, indeed. More like the right to suffer interminably (if your family has anything to say about it)
What pisses me off so much about this case (among many other things) is that this should never have happened. If Michael Schiavo said she would not have wanted to live in that state, the tube should have been pulled 15 years ago. The line of decision making is from immediate family (husband, adult children) to extended family (parents, siblings) if there is are no formal instructions. The U.S. public should never have even heard of this case, much less have to see it plastered on the front page of every news magazine for the past year.
And the Florida Legislature and Jebby Bush? I am calling for their resignation right now. Actually, I am calling not only for Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature's resignation, I am calling for George W. Bush and the U.S. legislature's resignations as well. It was not their place to intervene in this case, nor any other personal case. This sets a VERY dangerous precedent for the future in this country.
I do not look forward to what is soon going to happen in this country; all in the name of a "creating a culture of life." I certainly hope the American people will be as quick to stand up for their right to die peacefully and with dignity as they have been to "live" despite all evidence to the contrary.
Advanced Directives - From EMedicineHealth.com
10 Legal Myths about Advanced Directives - From the American Bar Association (ABA) web site
Links to Advanced Directive Forms for the U.S. - From USLivingWillRegistry.com
The one good thing that came from this case: That the entire nation is finally learning about advanced directives and durable powers of attorney. For too long have we been taken unawares by our own injuries and near-deaths and found ourselves in similar circumstances as Mrs. Schiavo - getting treatment we would not want. Maybe now so much spotlight has been placed on the issue, more people will complete an advanced directive or durable power of attorney. ¶ 7:16 PM 0 comments
Terry Schiavo - a name I have loathed hearing ever since I heard it the first time last year. A case embroiled in bitterness and folly. A case that completely demonstrates how stupid our country really is.
The right to die, indeed. More like the right to suffer interminably (if your family has anything to say about it)
What pisses me off so much about this case (among many other things) is that this should never have happened. If Michael Schiavo said she would not have wanted to live in that state, the tube should have been pulled 15 years ago. The line of decision making is from immediate family (husband, adult children) to extended family (parents, siblings) if there is are no formal instructions. The U.S. public should never have even heard of this case, much less have to see it plastered on the front page of every news magazine for the past year.
And the Florida Legislature and Jebby Bush? I am calling for their resignation right now. Actually, I am calling not only for Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature's resignation, I am calling for George W. Bush and the U.S. legislature's resignations as well. It was not their place to intervene in this case, nor any other personal case. This sets a VERY dangerous precedent for the future in this country.
I do not look forward to what is soon going to happen in this country; all in the name of a "creating a culture of life." I certainly hope the American people will be as quick to stand up for their right to die peacefully and with dignity as they have been to "live" despite all evidence to the contrary.
Advanced Directives - From EMedicineHealth.com
10 Legal Myths about Advanced Directives - From the American Bar Association (ABA) web site
Links to Advanced Directive Forms for the U.S. - From USLivingWillRegistry.com
The one good thing that came from this case: That the entire nation is finally learning about advanced directives and durable powers of attorney. For too long have we been taken unawares by our own injuries and near-deaths and found ourselves in similar circumstances as Mrs. Schiavo - getting treatment we would not want. Maybe now so much spotlight has been placed on the issue, more people will complete an advanced directive or durable power of attorney. ¶ 7:16 PM 0 comments
Monday, March 14, 2005
Yuck
Well, I'm on call for the 2nd of 4 times this week and I must say that it really blows. Right now I'm on what amounts to a q2-3 call. I was on call saturday, now monday, then thursday, then sunday again. Yuck. Plus, I have a research project to complete this week and the school's email server is down so I can't retrieve what I've done so far and continue working on it.
I hate my life sometimes. The good news is I'll be done with this rotation soon. Sorry I haven't really said much about it - I just don't figure anyone reads my posts anyway and thus far (4+ weeks into the rotation) there isn't really much to talk about. This town is small and it sucks, the hospital sucks, the rotation director made it very clear to us that he doesn't like students from our school, and I'm feeling just a bit bitter about being sent out here to B.F.E. for my OB-Gyn rotation right now. The only cool thing is that I have pretty cool room-mates and most of the residents are actually cool to work with - not that there is much work to be done.
To this point in my OB-Gyn career, I have seen no deliveries and only one cesarean section. Most of my time on call and in this rotation has been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but it never does. Of course, there were the weeks of "surgery" and "clinic," both of which were about this exciting.
I feel sorry for anyone that has to follow us out here - it is really the pits.
Onto happier thoughts now - only one and one half weeks left on this rotation, then back to home-sweet-home! I'm so ready. One cool thing that I did while I was here is I went skiing. There is a ski resort only 4-5 hours away, so on my weekend off I went up there and tried to kill myself again. Next time, I'm going to try my hand at snowboarding - I'll probably really break my neck then!!
Nothing else really happening with me right now. Just watching and waiting - and trying to decide where and when I want to do all of my 4th year electives... It's time to get this stuff finalized and scheduled already. Of course, the school is being almost no help, which is about true to form for them. Tomorrow (after I have a nap after call) I'm going to make some phone calls and get some stuff settled already. I'm tired of the endless waiting for answers that never come. I'll just take things into my own hands.
So, here is a tentative list of 4th year electives - if I can fit them all in when and where I want them:
* Anesthesiology
* Emergency Medicine x 2 months
* EMS
* ICU/MICU/CCU (whichever)
* Radiology
* International elective/Medical Spanish elective (if I can get it approved by the school - which I hope)
Possibles include Cardiology (preferably with a large EKG/arrhythmia/acute MI component), a pedi EM or PICU month, and there is something else I can't think of right now. The biggest problem is that almost all of these will be away rotations, which means big $$$. I hope there are loans we can take out for all this travel and stuff.
Then there is step 2 of the boards. I haven't decided whether to take USMLE step 2 as well as COMLEX 2 or not. I've considered it, just because I think it would make me more competitive for my residency spots if I had USMLE steps 1 and 2 available when I apply, but that's another test to take, etc, etc, etc.
Of course, the whole residency thing is still pending as well. I don't really have to worry about it, because I think I'm going to take a rotating internship after school and apply for final residency during my internship. I don't know if I agree with the philosophy of the internship year, but the area in which I want to practice is one of the "famous 5" and I don't want to screw myself out of licensure by not taking the internship year and then not be able to get the year approved. So I'll take the hit, be a slave to the AOA for a year, then I'm off to the races. ¶ 6:27 PM 0 comments
I hate my life sometimes. The good news is I'll be done with this rotation soon. Sorry I haven't really said much about it - I just don't figure anyone reads my posts anyway and thus far (4+ weeks into the rotation) there isn't really much to talk about. This town is small and it sucks, the hospital sucks, the rotation director made it very clear to us that he doesn't like students from our school, and I'm feeling just a bit bitter about being sent out here to B.F.E. for my OB-Gyn rotation right now. The only cool thing is that I have pretty cool room-mates and most of the residents are actually cool to work with - not that there is much work to be done.
To this point in my OB-Gyn career, I have seen no deliveries and only one cesarean section. Most of my time on call and in this rotation has been sitting around waiting for something to happen, but it never does. Of course, there were the weeks of "surgery" and "clinic," both of which were about this exciting.
I feel sorry for anyone that has to follow us out here - it is really the pits.
Onto happier thoughts now - only one and one half weeks left on this rotation, then back to home-sweet-home! I'm so ready. One cool thing that I did while I was here is I went skiing. There is a ski resort only 4-5 hours away, so on my weekend off I went up there and tried to kill myself again. Next time, I'm going to try my hand at snowboarding - I'll probably really break my neck then!!
Nothing else really happening with me right now. Just watching and waiting - and trying to decide where and when I want to do all of my 4th year electives... It's time to get this stuff finalized and scheduled already. Of course, the school is being almost no help, which is about true to form for them. Tomorrow (after I have a nap after call) I'm going to make some phone calls and get some stuff settled already. I'm tired of the endless waiting for answers that never come. I'll just take things into my own hands.
So, here is a tentative list of 4th year electives - if I can fit them all in when and where I want them:
* Anesthesiology
* Emergency Medicine x 2 months
* EMS
* ICU/MICU/CCU (whichever)
* Radiology
* International elective/Medical Spanish elective (if I can get it approved by the school - which I hope)
Possibles include Cardiology (preferably with a large EKG/arrhythmia/acute MI component), a pedi EM or PICU month, and there is something else I can't think of right now. The biggest problem is that almost all of these will be away rotations, which means big $$$. I hope there are loans we can take out for all this travel and stuff.
Then there is step 2 of the boards. I haven't decided whether to take USMLE step 2 as well as COMLEX 2 or not. I've considered it, just because I think it would make me more competitive for my residency spots if I had USMLE steps 1 and 2 available when I apply, but that's another test to take, etc, etc, etc.
Of course, the whole residency thing is still pending as well. I don't really have to worry about it, because I think I'm going to take a rotating internship after school and apply for final residency during my internship. I don't know if I agree with the philosophy of the internship year, but the area in which I want to practice is one of the "famous 5" and I don't want to screw myself out of licensure by not taking the internship year and then not be able to get the year approved. So I'll take the hit, be a slave to the AOA for a year, then I'm off to the races. ¶ 6:27 PM 0 comments
