1 Down, 5 To Go

1 week down that is...and it was a pretty good one! The workload was pretty light because my preceptor had two half-days this week (one because her hubby was getting knee surgery, the other because they were skipping town to visit relatives for Easter). Thusly, I have the house to myself this weekend, which is nice I guess. It means I can spend my time hogging the only computer in the house (no wireless internet) to update my sadly un-updated blog.
This is my elective rotation, but due to my dermatology preceptor being axed from having students (...), and my lack of pediatrics/women's health in my previous 18 weeks of family medicine, I'm back in good ol' primary care! This one is actually way more fantastic though. Even with a slow week we've already diagnosed Cushings, dealt with an acute flare of familial pancreatitis, and I personally did 2 paps, 10 or so pediatric visits and 2 suture jobs. Plus there was an interesting case today of a 19 year old female with an intermittently rapid heart rate. Normal exam in the office today, but I'm interested to see what the holter monitor will say! I would really enjoy this type of job.
Living with my preceptor and her family is also going well. The kids are amazingly well-behaved and fun, and I've been thoroughly absorbed into the family unit. We all sit down to the table every night for dinner, and I got a 30 minute lesson in hunting rifles/shotgun and different bullets used for different sized game (I am in South Dakota....) I really kind of hope to have the life my preceptor has (minus the hunting) when I'm her age. A good career, good kids and a happy family - what more could you want?
Tomorrow Andrea (yes, PA student Andrea....we are working in the same clinic!) and I are going to go down and visit Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument. I'm super excited to get out and explore a little bit. I'm hoping the weather holds - there is still snow on the ground here and mumblings of more powder this weekend....
I miss my man, of course, but we've been pretty positive about the separation between us. This is my 6th rotation away, and the 2nd that requires us to go a full six weeks without seeing each other (some were close enough to do a long drive for a quick weekend). We are old pros at this!
Much love to all my homies out there across the U.S...I hope you're doing as well as can be.
Jen