Neurology

Ahhh where has the time gone. I finished Neuro 5 weeks ago and haven’t updated with my thoughts. In honesty, it was a hard but rewarding rotation. At my med school, neuro is only 4 weeks and for someone like me who learned neurology 4 years ago, it was hard to pick up in such a sort amount of time. That being said, I started out on neuro consults for 2 weeks and it was a perfect mix of everything. I saw a variety of patients and had time to study/relearn everything in between.  I then went to pediatric neurology for two weeks and loved it. The attendings were SO nice and I got to work at a hospital literally 10min from my house. It was SO nice not to have to drive an hour each way.

That said, I was disappointed with my overall score. I barely missed the honoring mark but all well. I am happy I was able to pick up enough in 4 weeks to high pass. The hardest part was coming off of neurology and onto OB/Gyn. I haven’t been able to catch a break! I felt like I had studied so hard on neurology, I’m now burnt out. This is bad because my OB/GYN shelf is just 1 week away!

On the other hand, all my procrastination this rotation has allowed for a lot of fun with family/friends. I saw some good friends who are in town and went to a wedding in Veil, Colorado. I wish I had pics but I’m too lazy to download them from my phone blah.

Dave and I also celebrated my birthday. He took me to dinner the weekend before since I was working nights that week and I got a brand new backpacking bag from Osprey! So excited to try it out this summer!

I have also decided to tentatively take another year off (between 3rd and 4th year of med school). I am not sure what I’ll do yet but this year really burnt me out. I want to enjoy the last of my 20s and take some time to reflect on why I went into this profession and where I want to go. I figured, I’ve lost so many years already, what’s another year on the scenic route? Besides, I’m not in a hurry to work the rest of my life lol.

Dave and I have a lot of fun trips planned, weddings to go to, and just normal people stuff.  Ok…here is what I liked/disliked about neuro:

Things I liked:
  •            The subject. Neuro is very logical. I liked localizing lesions and figuring out what was wrong with my patients
  •       The people: I got lucky I think because everyone I worked with was super nice and I really learned a lot about how to be a good doctor and a good resident
  •       Peds neurology: even though it was sad (see below), I liked how pediatric neurologists got a ½ hr with each patient. The meetings never felt rushed and I never had trouble remembering who is who by the end of the day.

Things I disliked:
  •       Not being able to fix things. There is a lot of diseases in neurology we understand but don’t know how to treat  (ie. Hungtingtons, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, etc). Sure we can slow some of the symptoms but we can’t really cure these patients
  •       The patients- seeing the sequel from stroke, dementia, and genetic diseases made me sad. Especially seeing kids with neurological issues was hard.


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