Countdown to Graduation/Residency

I know, it has been a while since I last blogged. What more can I say -- OB-Gyn can keep a med student busy. This last rotation was a doosie. I was glad that I was able to relax with a rotation like Psych, between Surgery and OB-Gyn. The OB-Gyn schedule was very much like surgery (at times, even more demanding), but the "meat" of the rotation was very much different. My first week was spent in the clinic across the street from the hospital, where much of the day was spent doing routine obstetric visits. Some days were new visits (which take a long time), some days were high-risk pregnancy visits, and other days were Gyn days. Overall, this was the most relaxed part of the rotation. The hours were 9-5, and the pace was busy enough so that time passed by quickly. The downside was that it was very repetitive.

My next week was spent on Labor and Delivery. This was a very interesting part of my rotation. Time was not always used effectively for us as students, which was very frustrating. But it was good to see lots of deliveries, some C-sections, and even perform a few deliveries myself (with some help, of course). A lot of this time was also spent with doing routine checkups on women who were in labor. Sometimes labor lasts a long time, so these checks get a little monotonous for us, and I am sure, for the laboring mother-to-be.

Instead of overnight call every 5th night, like while on Surgery, OB-Gyn has a night float system in place. This means that for 1-2 months straight, a few residents must work the night shift (6pm to 8am). And since I as a student must learn as much as I can, and see as many deliveries as I can, I had to do 4 overnights in a row with the night float team. My sleep schedule got a little out of whack during this time. And since all my time overnight was spent on Labor and Delivery, I was woken up (when I was able to squeeze in some sleep), like clockwork, at 3am every night for either a normal delivery or an emergency C-section.

My last week was a lot like surgery. It was spent on the Gyn service, which is essentially a surgery service. Apparently, OB-Gyns must learn medicine as well as surgery. Because C-sections and other Gyn surgeries are performed only by OB-Gyns. So they are basically surgeons of a very specific part of female anatomy, and medicine doctors of women's health and pregnancy. My week on this service reminded me of my Surgery rotation, since I spent most of the day in the OR.

After my OB-Gyn rotation, I had a short review of neurology, with two full days of lecture on campus. This was followed by a neurology shelf exam, much like all the shelf exams that I have taken after each and every rotation during my third year. After this exam, I am officially a 4th year medical student!! And by this time next year, I will be graduated from medical school with my M.D. degree, and well on my way to starting my residency training. So the countdown begins.