Archive for the ‘Rookie Doc News’ Category

One of my close friends objected to the term “rookie” in the name for this site. Here’s a short video about how taking the perspective of a rookie could help you in your medical school, internship and residency training. Check it out:

I’ve received several questions from IMGs about when the Internship Survival Skills Audio CD will be made available for international orders. Well, first of all, I do NOT recommend that you get it unless you are already in the states or are getting ready to start soon. Can this audio CD help you get into a residency program?

The answer is a big “YES, BUT…” It will only help if you are doing an observership in the US, if you are in an offshore med school and now doing 3rd/4th year clinical rotations in the US, or if you’ve been accepted to an internship coming up and you want to get ready. If you are an international grad and you fall into one of these categories, I think the Survival Skills Audio CD has the potential to help you immensely.

So, I’ve done a couple of things…

I have made the Survival Skills CD available for direct purchase – $27 (US and international orders).

And, I have re-opened the digital-only RookieDoc Membership portion (US and international orders).

Here’s a short intro video to show you some of the things that are part of membership. If it sounds interesting or useful, click the link below the video to find out more.

The images of CDs, books, and DVDs in this video correspond to downloadable products.

I just started posting a whole bunch of video pearls and tips for your training on various video sites (YouTube, DailyMotion, etc). Here’s the first tip. It’s under 2 minutes… check it out.

OK. I just posted a video for interns and medical students on how a mentor’s advice completely saved my career. When I started my internship I was burning out and actually looking for other jobs outside of healthcare.

Well, when this mentor pulled me aside, she gave me a new perspective on things. So, it was better than an individual tip or a single pearl… She gave me a strategy. And I’m giving that same perspective, that same strategy, that same insight today. Here’s the link:

Most of you know that I am married and have 5 kids. That’s 5 weddings and 20 years of college tuition to pay for. What this means is that I could be in a little trouble with the wife for what I’m about to do… You see I’m giving away something to anyone who’s interested, but I have to limit the quantity. For sure, I’m going to lose some money, but it’ll have to be enough to fly under the wife’s radar. (By the way… she never reads my blog.)

So… if you’re not on the Priority Notification List, you might want to get on it. You’ll want to know early before I run out.

Internship and residency application season is in full swing. I’m gearing up to do interviews myself, in fact. And I’ve been reading the med student forums, for some reason reliving the stress of it all. At the same time, I was getting excited and pumped for something I’m going to do this year…

Now this might sound strange on a blog dedicated to giving you tips, pearls, and strategies for your training… but I need to vent, sort of.

Today, I was all psyched because according to the USPS tracking numbers, your package was supposed to arrive at my house today. But it didn’t come, despite that whole web tracking thing saying that it would. It turns out that today’s the day that the county decided to install a new pipe in the creek/bridge that leads to my driveway…. meaning… that the mailman didn’t come today. Nor will he come tomorrow.

Why does this matter to you? Well, I’m testing something that will involve a bunch of people (you) getting something free from me in the mail… something perfect for 4th year med students and interns. But I can’t send it out to you until I review it to make sure it turned out okay.

So…

You’ll just have to wait.

… more in the next few days.

Major changes are coming to the Membership area & other RookieDoc services.

I am making it even better, of course. And in a few more days, depending how long it takes, I’ll have a special surprise that you won’t want to miss.

But here’s the thing… I can use your help. In order to make sure that I cover all of the bases, I made an ultra-quick 2+ question survey. It basically just asks for the kind of thing you think absolutely MUST be taught/given/answered.

Here’s the link to those questions:

Oh… And if you’re not on the Priority Notification List, you might want to get on it. Some of the stuff coming out will be limited in quantity… You’ll want to know early. Judging by the response to RookieDoc stuff lately, I’m sure this stuff gonna go fast.

OK… Today’s a very special day for me. (Actually yesterday, but the idea came to me when I was way to tired to carry it out.)

Yesterday afternoon, my wife gave birth to my 5th child… yes, 5th… that’s not a typo. Many of you know from my stories of raising kids during internship and residency, that (a) I have 4 girls, and (b) my wife was pregnant with #5.

Well, it turns out that #5 was an 8lb 12oz baby boy

Now… with all of these kids, what’s a guy to do, but hold a baby sale? Check out this video for details.

Click here right now to see what your RookieDoc Membership will do for you.

This time of year is bittersweet for me.

Although it’s great that so many people are joining RookieDoctor.com’s Exclusive Membership Program with such enthusiasm (and jitters about starting internship), it’s not so great because some people will have to be left out. I may have to close the membership program to new members, so that I can continue to concentrate on the existing members.

The questions and worries and concerns pick up around this time of year (for obvious reasons). For me that translates into more time with members.

Plus, as I write this, my wife’s contractions are 15 minutes apart (not sure if tonight’s the night for baby #5 or not, but I wanted to get this message out before that).

So here it is… Check out this video… If it looks like something you might be interested in, click the link below it. But do it now, while this is still available.

Click here right now to see what your RookieDoc Membership will do for you.

The images of CDs, books, and DVDs in this video correspond to downloadable products.

I’ve started a Residency Horror Stories series. The point is not to get you nervous about your training or being on-call or anything like that… In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Most people think they learn best through experience. That’s true, for the most part… but there’s another piece of “experience” that is even more important than the experience itself… and that’s “the story”. We remember things as stories. We further ingrain the memory by retelling that story. And each time we retell it, there’s an opportunity to extract new insights from it and an opportunity for the listener to benefit from your story.

Now some of the medical establishment (the Old Boys Network) may be a little upset with me for saying this, but… the dry, factual version we often present on rounds is not always optimal.

Which one are you going to remember?:

THIS?:

49 year-old obese female with a history of type 2 diabetes and smoking who presented to the ER with severe chest pain, hypotension, and diaphoresis. Her EKG demonstrated 3mm ST segment elevation inferiorly. Cardiology was consulted and she was emergently taken to the cath lab. After a brief Vtach arrest requiring 260 Joules for return to sinus rhythm, her right coronary artery was successfully stented with two Taxus stents with good angiographic results. She was transferred to the CCU in stable condition with an intra-aortic balloon pump, IV heparin, Plavix, and aspirin.

THIS?:

It was my first week as a second-year resident and I was on-call in the CCU. I was called stat to the ER for a CCU admission that was described as a “49 year-old obese female with a history of type 2 diabetes and smoking who presented to the ER with severe chest pain, shortness of breath, and diaphoresis.” I was told that cardiology was consulted via phone & they recommended transfer to CCU after a VQ scan.

I went to see the patient & there’s a morbily obese lady lying in Trendelenberg, IV fluids wide open, heart rate in the 40s, and huge “tomb stone” STs on the monitor. I introduced myself and told her that we would take good care of her. She looked up at me and said, “Son, I’m gonna die tonight if you don’t do somethin’.”

I went to the ER doc and said, “This lady’s clearly having a huge RCA MI! She’s bradycardic, hypotensive, complaining of chest pain, & her EKG… well, look at it! We can’t send her to the unit with a VQ scan.”

He responded, “Well, I talked to the cardiologist on-call.” And I asked, “Well, are sure he understood what we’re looking at here? I mean, no offense, but sometimes it’s all in how we say it. I think you should call him back.”

Well, he did… the ER doc called back the cardiologist on-call and got screamed at… loud enough for me to hear it through the phone from about 4 feet away. “I said!… Admit to CCU and get a VQ scan!”.

He hung up. There I am, a new second year, one of my first nights with any kind of real responsibility and I’m disagreeing with the ER attending and the subspecialist. What should I do?

Well, there was no question… that lady said to me, “Son, I’m gonna die tonight if you don’t do somethin’.” So I did… I firmly asked the ER doc, “I’m not comfortable with this! Are you comfortable with this?!” He said, “No… No, I’m not.” So, I asked, “Well, how about TPA?” He paused… so I snatched the EKG out of his hands and ran 3 floors up to the telemetry floor. There was a cardiologist (from a competing group) and I shoved the EKG in front of him and said, “49 year old lady in Room 8 in the ER, tons of risk factors, heart rate in the 40’s, telling me she’s going to die… no labs back yet.”

He said nothing to me. He picked up the phone and called the cath lab. Together he and I wheeled her into the lab. While we were lifting her to the table, she arrested….

So which one are you going to remember? Which one will give you strength to do the right thing when the time comes. Both of those versions are true. I lived through it. More importantly, so did the patient, but not before her night got much, much worse. I’ll tell you the full story and the lessons learned in the second video for “Residency Horror Stories”… the first video will be in the next few days.

Do you have a story we can all benefit from? Tell us. Here’s the link again: