Where A Kid Can Be A Kid

Tonight I dined (and played) at Chuck E. Cheese's. While I wish I could say it was the coolest drug rep dinner ever, this event was purely social in nature...

I had such a fantastic 3-day weekend at home with CJ that I got all fuzzy-headed and left my laptop charger in Hillsboro. Being that I had to do a research project for my preceptor on Symlin (diabetes drug), and I do all of my chart notes on my own laptop, it wasn't going to be a very productive week without battery power.
CJ, being that knight in shining armor that he is, agreed to meet me after work (with my charger) in Salem at the Chuck E. Cheese that his parents own with his uncle and aunt. For those of you that don't know, CJ's parent's also own 2 Chuck E. Cheese's in Tri-Cities, WA. He grew up in them, was working at one by the time he was 11, and managing one by the time he was 18. Needless to say we got free tokens to play all the games we wanted. It turned out to be a fantastic little date for us, even if it took us both an hour and a half drive.

In other news...my rotation is almost 1/2 way done. I can't believe it, on Friday I will get my mid-point evaluation. I'm very curious to hear what my preceptor has to say about me...I know I'm not doing terribly, but I also know he really wanted an experiened student, so the little mistakes I make must be glaringly obvious to him. Still, I'm earning my independence in this clinic, slowly but surely. At this point I usually see the patient before my preceptor does: I do the history and physical, then come out and present the case to him, and then depending on the sitaution he will just help me formulate a treatment plan and let me finish the appointment, or he will come in and repeat the exam and finish the appointment himself. Other times it is a patient that he knows well who has a complicated history, and I will just observe how he manages their appointment. I'm okay with that, because some of his patients have more diseases than a medical dictionary, and I know I'd just be wasting their time trying to figure it out in one 15 minute appointment.

One thing I do know for sure is how lucky I am. This is going to sound cheesy, but it's true: my preceptor is an extremely intelligent, experienced provider with a good set of ethics and an excellent, patient-centered practice. His staff has warmed up to me quickly, and have offered me plenty of encouragement, (as well as given me permission to drink some of the Diet Pepsi they keep stocked in the fridge). Finally, his patients have been extremely approachable, willing to teach and forgiving of my mistakes. This is probably one of the better rotations in the whole program, and I honestly do feel so thankful to have gotten it. I know there are some of my fellow classmates who are having a difficult time getting any guidance from their preceptors, and I can't imagine how difficult that must be. So today, I am thankful. It's good karma to thank the world for what it has given you, even if you were cursing it yesterday when you realized you left your laptop charger at home.

This is rambly because it's 11pm and I need to go to bed

Jen