MOHS and the Holiday Season

I love outpatient rotations. And among outpatient rotations, MOHS is especially good. Its essentially the rotation in which Residents learn the business of being a Doc. So rather than focusing on how best to treat patients, we learn about how best to charge for our services within the convoluted government/private insurance world. We do this so that we can stay in business, and continue to help more people.

Because while most people like to believe that I should work for nothing or next to nothing, I have no intentions of doing that. Don't get me wrong, I didn't get into this job for the money. I could have made a lot better money elsewhere. But at the same time, I wouldn't have done this if I didn't know that it could provide a comfortable lifestyle for my family. I don't ask to be rolling on piles of cash or driving a Porsche, but I want to make sure I have a retirement, I want to have a few nice things, and I want to to be comfortable. And if I can't do that being a Doc, I will take my considerable amount of effort elsewhere into a field that will.

And if I am going to make any money, I have to learn to navigate an overly-complicated financial system that is set up to make sure I provide as much care as possible for the least amount of money. If you can't tell, MOHS has made me a little bitter about this. That said, its been a fun rotation, and I can't believe I only have a few more days left of it before FMS starts again. FLEW by.

And now its the Holiday Season. Which means Holiday shopping. Not only is that usually completely brutal, but I get to do the bulk of it while on service. Talk about rrrrough. 1st world problems right? It shouldn't be too bad though. This is the part of my job I like because I can learn from it. Even with 12 hours a day, 12 days in a row, with 4 days off in a month, I think I will have a good time, and I imagine I am going to be looking back 28 days from now unable to believe that I am almost done with FMS. The only difference between now and then will be a few inches of snow on the ground, and Christmas immediately ahead.

I also drew short straw on Thanksgiving this year. Again, not complaining. If one is going to work a holiday, Tgiving is the one to work. It means a few days that would have been full become half, and I get to round when there is a ton of Pumpkin Pie to be had at the various nurses stations. Jaaaam! I also have a real heart for those patients stuck in house over a holiday. Talk about a bummer. Its a lot easier to remember an adage one of my attendings uses when one is rounding during the holidays: It may be difficult to deal with some patients, but 99/100 times its even more difficult BEING those patients. That goes double on the Holidays. As much as working sucks, being sick is worse. And so I pray for the health of the patients. May there be very few to none in the hospital this year over the holidays. And I pray for my own health (and sanity) for another rounder. It will be a whirlwind of a month I am sure. Or worse, a blizzard ;)

Stay Healthy!

MOHS and more Fall Fun.

I am done with Obstetrics. Forever. Thank you Jesus, forever. Well, that is until Mandi and I have children (she does most of the having, but I will share in the credit amyway :D ). But I feel like that will be a different experience. Barring some Emergency Department deliveries or country road deliveries I could possibly be called on I am done. And I while I will always try to be up to date on OB in case I need to know that stuff for emergencies the part of my life where I am expected to do that stuff is past me. Thank goodness.

People often mistake my distaste for OB for a distaste for Women's Health as a whole. And nothing could be further from the truth. I like Women's Health. Meeting the challenges of health maintenance among the fairer half of the population is fun and rewarding. And important! One can't really be a Family Doc if he has to ignore Mom and Daughter. If you count the dog that means I am only taking care of 2/4.5 of the traditional family members! Hardly comprehensive. No, I like women's health just fine. Mammograms, Osteoporosis, PAP smears, and any/all feminine issues are no problem for me.

I just don't like obstetrics. And I don't like obstetrics for the sole reason that I don't like being on call 24/7. I HATE it. I have no problem with home call, as long as I know that 1-2 dedicated nights a week, that I know in advance, can be set aside for call. But one can't do that with OB. When you are doing obstetrics, you're on call for 6 weeks at a time practically, and really even longer than that. Babies come when babies want to come, and all of the miracles of Western Medicine still haven't managed to change that (not much anyway). And while I love caring for my patients, and while I want to be there for them... I want a life too. And my psychology just can't handle that kind of 24/7 pressure. Never knowing when I might get called in, never being able to relax, never knowing what time is truly mine. Ugh... I can't do it. And to all you Obstetricians out there, kudos to you for doing it. I admire that in you, but have no desire to mimic you in that.

So that said, OB is done, and I am on to MOHS! Its essentially learning how to run an office. A rotation that I will actually USE when I leave this place. Talk about FANTASTIC. I am pumped. I get to spend a lot of time with two of my favorite attendings: Dr. J. Golemon and Dr. Awesome Jaffer. (Awesome isn't really his first name... not exactly anyway). It should be a lot of fun, and equate to a lot more time to have fun while off, and sleep. WoooT!

It also continues to be fall. I took a fun trip to Geneseo yesterday to visit Ethan. That was a blast. Ethan, Aaron and I saw a movie (In Time... it was meh), traded some cards, ate some Shanghai, and played some MtG. Overall a pretty Jaaaaam day. And to top the day off, like the icing on the cake I got to meet Katie, Ethan's sig-O. She was super fun in the two minutes we crossed paths, and it was nice to finally make contact with one of the most important people in Ethan's life.

Thats enough for today,

Stay Healthy!