Merry Christmas! Congratulations to all the residents who are now 6 months closer to finishing than when I last saw you. I wish the best to you and your families over the holiday season. I also wanted to share a little insight into the world after residency. Know that you will be well trained. Keep reading, and you will pass the boards. Just don't focus on the minutia. Focus on spine. Lots of spine.
And as for the real world.... You WILL be prepared to face simultaneous open tibia fractures at two different hospitals on your first night of call. One is on an 80 year old lady with an open ankle fracture, below an open tibia fracture, below a total knee. Thank you Hennepin. Thanks to the VA for my next night of call when 5 hip fractures came in - a variety of hemis, cannulated screws and hip screws. And to the VA and the University for still coaching me through my first total hip, knee and shoulder - your thoughts were in my mind the entire cases. Thanks to the tumor folks who keep my radar high for kids with knee pain. It was osteofibrous dysplasia this time. Thanks to Gillette for teaching me to take care of OI, Perthes, a 3 year old with a femur fracture, cranocleidodysplasia and a SCFE all within less than 6 weeks. Thanks to the sports folks - I've already done 4 ACLS, and have seen more patellofemoral problems than I ever dreamed. And I can't forget the spine training, which allows me to convince patients that it's not their hip that needs fixing, it is radiculopathy. For the hand staff - I've plated a few distal radius fractures, 2 carpal tunnels, fixed a scaphoid and a bony mallet, and placed about a hundred short arm casts. My first 2 femoral nails were in clinic together today. The first reminded me of a valuable lesson... Never take your eye off the guidewire, even if it's your last reamer and it hasn't moved yet and its 5AM.
Thanks also to whoever made us train on so many damn electronic medical records. It's a piece of cake now. Everyone else in town is struggling with the change.
Thanks to all the nurses and secretaries, too. Most of them are pretty good in the private world, but I still miss you guys, too.
I've learned a lot over the past 3.5 months. It's a great feeling. It's wonderful to be in my real house and not my five year house. Work 4 days a week - even if all of your partners work 5. They will soon be jealous.
Merry Christmas, and Thank You Again to Everyone!
Love,
Colleen Linehan
January 2008