#hospital placements

[linastudyblrsblog]

Fifth week in anaesthesiology and ICU care unit

Spending half of the day in the hospital’s library to revise and take notes

[0ffisially0ll0]

*pukes rainbows onto this*

[here-on-occasion]

If I ever acknowledge just how ooc the mcdonald's stuff was for sylvie I'll probably never get over it so i'm gonna ignore the whole thing

[television-overload]

channeling my severe baby fever made worse by perpetual singleness into writing this msr adoption fic

[hucklebucket]

Girl you need to blink

[catkin-morgs-kookaburralover]

i don't know, i think self care isn't as simple as you take care of yourself or you don't.

i was thinking about last time i bought shampoo. also the first time ive ever bought it without having a specific special to buy from. it was while i was on placement. i was self harming badly at that time and in constant pain from self injury. i was wandering the aisle overwrought and crying. i hadn't eaten at all that day. but i stood there trying to work out what to get, comparing prices and all, and looking for something that was apple scented, because i remember when i was a kid mum would buy apple scented shampoo and i always liked it. i think that's an act of self care.

i don't exactly have a point beyond: little things matter, and being nice to yourself in the little things is important.

[corktreedemos]

i have to book an appointment via phone call and i'm not being brave about it </3

[corneliaavenue]

loy*** doesn’t allow you to prescribe birth control or allow for IUDs????

Oral Birth control and the hormonal IUD work around is prescribing things for acne or heavy menses. So you can prescribe those if you use that as your diagnosis. You can't prescribe a copper iud because some studies show that it can prevent implantation of a fertilized egg and the catholic church does not like that. So if I were to go there, I would not get the opportunity to learn how to insert a copper iud (which is different insertion mechanism than a Mirena) let alone prescribe one for a patient who wants a Paragard (like me, a patient who wanted the paragard)

[snoffyy]

Not me crawling back into fandom with more grumpy surgeon Zhao trash -

“… surgical management of this aortic aneurysm with… any ideas?”

Blank faces stared back at him. Zhao sighed.

“ANH. Which stands for…?”

A spark of realisation flickered in the face of one of the students up front. They tentatively raised their hand, calling out, “Autologous normovolemic haemodilution?”

Finally.

“Yes,” Zhao said, trying to not let his impatience leak into his voice. This group of students were… quiet, to say the least. “However, the patient’s blood tests revealed that their haemoglobin was not at the desired levels. Why would that be, judging from the biometric data on screen?”

He pointed at the projector screen, a table of values neatly collated (and hastily thrown together one afternoon in-between dictating reports).

Another hand.

“The patient is underweight, so their total blood volume and red cell mass would be below normative range?”

“Very good,” Zhao nodded, tapping the spacebar on his laptop to get to the next slide. “Therefore, I prescribed erythropoietin and an intravenous infusion of iron to increase their haemoglobin levels. I am happy to note that they responded well to treatment and was able to enter surgery as scheduled. A fairly standard procedure. They received postoperative erythropoietin and iron and was discharged. Any questions?”

Several hands flew up.

“Seeing that the patient was underweight, did that influence your decision on the procedure you used for extracorporeal circulation?”

“Not necessarily. I settled on retrograde autologous priming, RAP, as you know it, because it has been proven to be a safer and less invasive procedure for both adult and paediatric patients,” Zhao answered. “Patient safety, of course, is paramount, and I don’t see the benefit in taking unnecessary risks.”

Another question was echoed back at him, and he answered dutifully, mind helplessly wandering back to so many years ago, when he was the student sitting at the front, confusion swirling in his head as he tried to make sense of the case study, the surgeon sitting on the panel seemingly untouchable and intimidating beyond their years.

And now he was the surgeon, taking the place of that almost enigmatic professional with the perfect poker face and unerring air.

Sometimes, he wondered how he ended up here.

.

Closing hours was Zhao’s favourite time at the café. Only a scant few weeks ago, he’d hesitated to stay that long, but Yue had managed to convince him that she didn’t mind and that she enjoyed having someone to chat to while she closed shop. Trust her to insist sending her staff home earlier while she took on the last few tasks herself.

“So, why medicine?”

He jolted out of his chamomile daze (Yue had cut him off after his second cup of coffee, the nerve of her) to raise his head in the direction of her voice.

“Pardon?”

“Why medicine?” she repeated. “I don’t think I’ve ever asked you.”

Where to even begin? His reasons for entering study into medicine was a convoluted process, and a cause of strife for much of his life. At times it felt like he was putting up a front, unwilling to admit that medicine wasn’t his first love; an almost unspoken blasphemy he shouldn’t be divulging.

But something urged him to tell Yue. Something innate knew she wasn’t the type to judge or hold implicit bias against him. She was simply someone who, over the months he’d spent getting to know through simple interactions of buying coffee, had integrated herself into his routine without him noticing or minding.

“My parents wanted me to do medicine,” Zhao confessed. “They were the type who would drag me to tutoring sessions every day after school, made me study ahead of the school curriculum, and told everyone that I was going to study medicine in the future. They never did that for any of my siblings. I was the eldest, so I suppose they placed all their expectations on me. But for whatever reason, I did well enough academically and passed all the applications and interviews to land myself a spot in med school.”

Yue paused in the middle of cleaning to stare at him, surprised.

“But it wasn’t all on them. I met my roommate and eventually best friend in undergrad,” Zhao said, a fond smile beginning to involuntarily form. “His name was Lu Ten. Now he was the type of person you knew was going to get into med school when he told you he wanted to. He was… brilliant. We suffered through pre-med together, got through the applications together, and got our acceptance letters at the same time. He was an inspiration, and he inspired me to keep going. I wanted to make a difference in the world, not necessarily through healthcare, but in any way I could. It was his drive that drew me in, made me feel that I could be my own person. I don’t know what I would’ve done without him. But…” his smile dropped. “I found out soon enough.”

Yue planted a hand over his, squeezing briefly before she lifted away again, empathetic knowing shining in her eyes.

“What happened?” she still asked quietly.

“Freak accident,” Zhao whispered. “Walking home late at night, got caught between a gang war, and…” he mimed cocking a gun. “Only casualty. Innocent bystander with a brilliant future ahead of him, and he was gone. Just like that. I was at a practical that day and I’d lost my stethoscope, so he lent me his. I still have it.”

He always carried it around in his bag. Still shiny and clean, as new as it was the day Lu Ten had given it to him with a laugh and a tease that he’d better not lose this one or it was going to be counted towards his student debt.

He barely used the stethoscope. It had become something close to a good luck charm. And something told him he wouldn’t throw it away even if it fell into tatters.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Yue said, eyes brimming with empathy.

Zhao let out a slow breath. “Med school was… a chore. I went through the modules wondering if I should even be there. My parents paid my school fees. They were, uh, well-off, and I suppose it became a matter of pride that I didn’t just up and quit.”

“Something must’ve changed your mind,” Yue surveyed him sharply. “You wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

Zhao ducked his head to conceal a small grin. “I was actually looking up different degrees and jobs. I was tempted to join the navy when I was scheduled to visit a rural hospital in the middle of nowhere for an observation. And that visit changed everything. It’s funny, because I was supposed to be there for mainly ophthalmology, but then one of the cardiac surgeons offered for me to sit in on one of their appointments, and I thought, ‘What the hell? Sure.’”

“Your eureka moment,” Yue laughed. “I can relate. First time I steamed milk correctly, I knew I found my role.”

“Exactly like that,” Zhao curled his hands tighter around the mug. “The cardiovascular system made sense to me. It was the integration point for me to understand all the other systems. I loved it. And seeing it in practice, everything seemed to unravel and connect all at once.”

Yue leaned against the counter. “I’m glad you found your calling.”

“But at the same time, I hated that I loved it,” he admitted. “Something my parents had been pushing me towards my whole life, and the moment I observed my first cardiology appointment, I wanted it as badly as they did. I was at the point of wanting to drop out and go no contact, but then… something just clicked, as cliché as it is to say it. I eventually went no contact with my family anyway, but I walked away with something that I had come to love.”

“My dad didn’t like the idea of me starting my own business,” Yue glanced at one of the paintings hanging on the walls. “He came around eventually. I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to walk away from your family, no matter how much you disagreed with them.”

“It was hard,” Zhao traced the patterns whorled around the mug’s rim. “And harder yet to admit that I came to enjoy the one thing they kept pushing me to do. But I loved medicine in my own way. Just like how you’ve crafted your café in your own way.”

She smiled, and it was in that moment, it felt like a barrier had broken down between them and Zhao was being seen in a way he hadn’t in a long, long time.

“I’m not a very good teacher,” he blurted out, not knowing why. “I go to the panels at local medical schools anyway, but I’m not Lu Ten. He’d have loved it. He wanted to go into paediatrics. I could never.”

“But you’re here now,” Yue said gently. “And you’re making a difference. You like it, don’t you?”

He thought for a long moment, Yue’s smile overlapping with his memories of Lu Ten’s. Any one of the patients he’d had could have been a Lu Ten to someone. Any one of them could have been a Yue. There were people out there worth saving, and then there were people that made saving worth it. Sometimes, there were those that were both.

He wondered how he’d almost forgotten that.

“Yes…” he said softly, watching Yue begin puttering around again with her spray bottle and rag. “I suppose I do.”

[baldursgrape]

vibrating thinking about how I’m gonna be a PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY NURSE

[linastudyblrsblog]

One of the best moments in my previous rotation

The hospital was very close from the sea , I could enjoy the beautiful sunrises and the magic of the Mediterranean Sea 🤍✨

[goawaygoongit]

okay thank god ....dont want to jinx it or anything but i got a positive answer from one of the places i want to go to for my co op class which is a career exploration type thing for either 12th graders that want to get the hell out of here so bad orrr very very high achieving anal retentive 12 graders...i am a disturbing combo of both. (i think i was a high achiever when i could just coast on like having a good reading comprehension through every class except math but now you see just like the real world + uni will be, when class started requiring things like paying attention....extra, self-managed practice...mla citations with severe consequences if u dont do it right i kind of fell off the wagon a bit. and my grades arent awful or anything but i do get whiny about not being able to get 100s all the time anymore.) anyhow. very excited about the place im going to it is the french public library. but the person my teacher got in contact with claimed to know me and i have never heard her name in my life unlessss she knows my mum which would make sense but i reaaally hope there wasnt a mix up...

[army-of-bee-assassins]

frustrated about not getting a LEND program clinical placement i applied for because they think it's not actually well-suited to my interests population-wise, and it's my own damn fault cause i talked too much about being interested in sensory disabilities instead of neurodevelopmental disabilities (which is what the placement is for). i AM very interested in neurodevelopmental disabilities, i'm just interested in working with those disabilities in the context of a school for the blind or deaf. but evidently i didn't get that across very well. the people at this placement do really like me (i was emailing them before the application even opened and they were super nice), and they said they actually want to try and start a different LEND placement at the children's hospital for me. but it's not guaranteed and they are gonna get back to me on friday about it. i am trying very very hard not to get my hopes up. also i'm kinda bummed anyway cause even if i do end up at the children's hospital, it'll be a different supervisor than the one at the original placement, who everyone says is the best supervisor they've ever had. doesn't mean it'll be a bad supervisor, but i guess it'll just be the luck of the draw. again, IF they're even able to place me there.

[humandisastersquad]

able bodied people are pathetic wusses "wahhh i dont like wearing masks they make me feel so claustrophobic" im asthmatic and have sensory issues and i can wear a tight fitting n95 mask for several hours straight bc the alternative is catching spreading a virus that has killed millions of people and disabled millions more. suck it up and mask up dickhead

[turtleneckshiv]

not that i’m at all complaining but can someone please explain to me why my body doesn’t get sick until it has time to be sick

[sleepychaika]

mhh im gonna get hospitalised and. and its very inconvenient for my studying process and . kind of scary tee bee eich :(