Welcome!

Hello there, and welcome to my blog if you've never checked it out before!  Feel free to look around, and click back through all my old posts to see my full journey from a scared first year to a slightly-less-scared fourth year medical student.  On the off-chance that you don't have hours to waste reading about me (although that just seems impossible), below are links to my favorite posts from each school year so you can get a small sample.

I'm going to be taking a brief hiatus on new posts, so this will have to satisfy for now.  And of course feel free to continue following my updates on twitter (@elenawelt) and continue to check back here for my return!


Where it All Began:
Welcome to My Blog

First Year:
Funkmaster Flex and the Future of Medical Education
Muggle Medicine or Magic?
Studying and My Bed

Second Year:
 Med Student Stereotypes
Jewish Housewives' Disease
Pop Quiz

Third and Fourth Year:
Adventures in Nomenclature: APGAR
The Best Way to Study
What I Learned in the Peds ED
Elena's Parking Space Theorum

Nostalgia

It took me awhile to see it, but I truly love being in University Hospital in Newark.  After spending so much time here over the past four years, I've realized it's started to feel like home.  I only recognize how comfortable I am here when I rotate at other hospitals.  There's a learning curve at every new hospital - the computer system, where everything is, the people.  Sometimes I spend a month at other hospitals and am in awe at how luxurious it feels - you mean you just order a lab and it automatically gets done?  Free lunch every day (ok, that only happened for me once)?  Carpeting in the hallways?  But I've just never been able to feel as comfortable at another hospital as I do at UH, no matter how amazing other hospital experiences have been (and I have had really fantastic experiences all over the place).

It's like vacation.  I love going away and staying in a hotel - who doesn't?  I mean, how great can it get - someone cleans up after you every single day, you could (probably?) drown in the fluffiness of the comforter, breakfast is included and set out for you each morning.  But no matter how luxurious my vacation may feel, I'm always ready to come home at the end.  There's just something so much more comfortable about sleeping in your own bed, perusing your own refrigerator (even if you know it's empty since you haven't gone food shopping), using your own bathroom products.


At UH, I love being able to wave hello to everyone in the hallways because I know the attendings and the security guards and the nurses and the other students.  I like being able to volunteer to run things down to the lab because I actually know where the lab is.  I like knowing that no matter what time of day I'm in the cafeteria, I'll be able to find someone to sit with.

(cheesy, but oh so true)

Maybe I'm just getting nostalgic because I can finally count the months left of medical school on my fingers.  Or maybe it's a little sad that I can describe a hospital as home.  And I know if I spend as much time in another hospital system, I'll get equally attached.  But whether I end up here for residency, or a program close by, or a program far away, I'll always think of University Hospital as my first "home" of my medical career.

Pearls of Wisdom from the ICU

Doing drugs is bad.  Doing drugs in 90 degree heat is really really bad.

Thanks?

Nurse: Ah, you get to go home soon right?  You look tired.

Me: I literally just got here 10 minutes ago.

but thanks for noticing

Step 2 CK Is Over!!

Party Time!  Excellent!

but I am le tired.

Elena's Parking Space Theorum

Back in elementary school I had a teacher who told me not to worry (my pretty little head)* about math but just focus on the things I was naturally good at like reading and writing.  I've always had a bit of a complex about math since then, but LOOK AT ME NOW, I just invented a mathematical theorem:

*note: I added that condescending part myself, but that's definitely what her tone implied.


How much your life stinks on any given day is inversely proportional to how good a parking spot you get at the hospital.



It's true, here are some examples:

• You get to the hospital at 5am for surgery rotation: parking spot right next to the door.

• You're on outpatient and you don't have to be there till 8 or (gasp!) 9: forget it, you're parking on Mars... if you're lucky.

• You're on call on Sunday: park annnnnywhere you like.

• You take a study/research month, and mosey in around 11 for a quick meeting: don't even bother driving, take the train.

• You're on night float and get to the hospital at 7pm after everyone's left: park inside the ER for all we care.

So in summary:  Life Happiness = 1/Parking Spot + B 

where B includes other factors such as weather, fun dinner plans, an upcoming exam, world events, etc.



And that, my friends, is Math Made Easy by Elena.

Best Summer Vacation Ever

I took my last exam of third year on Friday, had some amaaaaaazing time off, and then fourth year starts today!  I can't wait to see everyone, and see how they spent their summer vacation - traveling, volunteering, research? 

Lucky for me, I am actually using June as a study month for Step 2 CK.  For those that thought Step 1 was the end of it - well, nope.  It (literally) never ends.  So even though I wan to do really well and will be studying pretty intensely all month, 3 months of medicine were definitely exhausting, and I am pretty happy not to be jumping immediately into another month of intensity on the wards.  That can wait until July. :)