Week 2: Thursday

I've been at rounds now for 10 days and I'm understanding more each day. Even if I don't know exactly what a certain term means, I can at least recognize it and place it in context. For example, I know a BUN test is an indication of renal health, and ALT is a measure of liver function. That way, even if I don't know what the numbers indicate, I can follow the general subject they're discussing.

On Monday I sat in on another fellow expansion meeting, where the pediatric cardiology fellows and attendings discussed two new articles in the literature. I was pleasantly surprised that the way they went through the paper was very similar to how we go through papers at Bennington. Clearly articulating the research question being examined, the methods used, and interpreting the results is what we focus on in class, which is what I saw here as well. This may seem like it's a given for how to discuss articles, but this semester was particularly heavy in journal article reading in my physiology class, so it's exciting for me to see the skills I'm learning be applied in the real world.

Yesterday was another cardiac surgery conference where the upcoming cases are discussed among pediatric cardiologists and cardiac surgeons. One case was to correct a vascular ring, which I learned is a defect in the development of the aorta and surrounding vessels. This often causes a double aortic arch where the aorta splits into two vessels after it leaves the left ventricle, and these two vessels then wrap around the esophagus and trachea and compress them. One of the doctors tried to show me on the echo how you can recognize a ring, but I still couldn't really make sense of it :-/. In the same meeting I saw real time images of an angiogram, where dye is released through a catheter into the vasculature. It was one of the coolest things I've seen yet, and shockingly beautiful. It really brought all the textbook studying to life as I clearly saw various arteries darken as the dye spread through them. My obvious awe led one of the docs to suggest I get down to the catheter lab to watch an interventional procedure.

Picture of a cath lab (courtesy of Wikipedia)

So, today I got to see the cath lab, got a pair of scrubs, and will be schooled in the art of scrubbing in before I watch a procedure in a week or so. It still boggles my mind that they can thread a catheter up through the femoral artery to the heart in a little baby. Can't wait to see it happen.

Other than that, research is still up and running and I'm speaking up during rounds to do my job of running the clinical pathway checklist. It's a learning experience for all of us as this is a new protocol here. I'm very excited to have an active role.

Looking forward to meeting some medical students tonight for dinner. I found out they live in the same development as me, so I'm walking 30 yards to meet them at their house with a salad in hand to share :)