Archive for February, 2009

I know you could just as easily search for surgical knot tying tutorials yourself, I just wanted to provide you with a list of references for it. Tying knots is the sort of thing that can be a huge stress if you’re not as up-to-speed as some of your colleagues. Now, I’m not telling you to worry night and day if you are not as proficient as you think you should be… instead, I’m telling you that you do have to practice. There’s no question about that.

Actually, it’s kind of interesting… in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, he explores several success stories – the likes of Bill Gates, the Beatles, etc. Gladwell charts the course of the successful. And you might be shocked at some of his findings… like the fact that birth month has a huge impact on success in Canadian hockey leagues. It makes sense. These young boys that are born after the cut off date for starting end up starting the league a little older (albeit only 11 months). They have had time to refine their skills, mature a tad more, etc.

Upon entering the league a slight cut above the other players, they are then shunted into better instruction, all-star teams, and more positive attention. Better coaching and playing against better players means getting better and better. The cycle continues.

In a way, this is not unlike medical and surgical training. If you enter your internship (perceived to be) ahead of the others, the attendings begin to talk about you in a favorable way… they give you more responsibility… they pay a little more attention to you… they expect a little more out of you… and you respond in a way that is expected… You get better and better.

Why did I just blab on about all of that? Well, I am Wordy Boy and I want to tell you to practice. Practice, practice, practice. Tying knots will be mundane by the time your training is over, but in the beginning it can be pretty stressful… especially when anesthesia is huffing and puffing, the OR nurses are tapping their feet, and the surgeon just started rounds without you. Trust me on this. Click the video link below and you’ll be taken to a surgery knot tying page full of goodies.

Debt sucks. And if you’re like me, you probably chose to sort of ignore it at first. That’s what I did… early on anyway. At first, I bought into the fact that doctors were higher wage earners, in general, so I assumed that I would have no problem conquering my debt after residency training.

Well, in my third year of medical school, I began to overhear occasional conversations by attendings and upper level residents complaining about their debt. I saw some of my non-medical friends from college begin to buy houses and cars. And I thought… if the debt burden is already going to be huge, how is that new doctors are able to buy homes right after their training? Do they just add more on top of their already large mountain of debt?

What would happen if there were a life-changing event? A chronic disease? A severe accident? Or a delicate family issue that needed tending to? There’s no way they could leave their jobs, even for a short while, with all of that debt… right?

Well, I saw something horrible happen. A third year resident in internal medicine had begun to develop strange neurologic symptoms. After extensive testing, it was discovered that she had multiple sclerosis. I watched her deteriorate in typical step-wise fashion from a fully functioning resident… one of the best, in fact… to the point where she needed braces to walk. I hear that after I left that hospital that they allowed her to complete her residency even though she couldn’t really finish all of the rotations. Although she probably had several options after her training – consulting, writing, etc – I couldn’t help but think… what if that were me?

What would happen to my wife and kids if my debt came due and I couldn’t work? Anyway, I digress. Let’s get to the next video.

In this video, I show you how I rapidly… and I mean rapidly… got out of debt. This is Part 1 of a two-part video. Even though Part 2 is only available to members, this one gives you the exact step-by-step plan I followed. Click this video’s image to get started. (It might take a few extra seconds for the video to start. The file is a little large.)

For an introductory video this is a little long, but it is important. I don’t know how you feel about it… but if you’re like me, then you probably feel that your training thus far, was pretty skimpy on the financial and business side of things. That’s how I felt anyway.

Well, I’m going to try to change that. And here’s the road map. (My apologies, though… I wanted to get this video out, so I made it while I was pretty sick. It took a lot of editing for the coughs, sneezes, and random breaks in clear thought.) Click this video’s image to get started. (It might take a few extra seconds for the video to start. The file is a little large.)

In the next video, I’ll show you how I rapidly… and I mean rapidly… got out of debt. I’ll give you guys the exact step-by-step plan I followed. You can take it or leave it, but I bet you’ll find it quite useful.