Seriously people. The social networking craze has gotten out of control. There is now a facebook fan page for everything. Even my favorite egg and cheese bagel sandwich has a fan page. And Clark Griswold. Pretty soon ostriches will have their own fan pages and twitter feeds and maybe sell some stuff on etsy.com. Or maybe not.
But (there's always a but) here's one social networking site that will earn you some cold hard cash. Or at least some plastic. The caveat is that you have to be a member of the AAP. So mom, while I appreciate you faithfully following my blog, the rest of this post will not apply to you. Go put your feet up.
Here's the deal:
Log onto the YP Connection website and create a profile (just like facebook)
For the next 7 weeks, you will be awarded points for logging in, joining a group, leaving a comment on a blog post, etc.
The first week the person who gains the most points by being active on the site will get at $50 American Express gift card. The awards will increase each week and the final week the grand prize will be a $400 Am Ex gift card.
Can it get any better than that?! Well, yes it can. The ultimate reward is that you will have become an active member of the Young Physician community and networked your way across the country. Maybe you'll find a new job, a new book or a new 'special someone'. But you'll never know if you don't check it out. Check it out.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Who I Am Not
I've got something to vent about and I'm going to use this blog of mine to do it. Are you with me? Here we go...
In the midst of this job search that has become the white noise of my life for the past 6 months I have realized something. And no, it's not the futility of fitting all of my toiletries into 3oz bottles and putting them in 1 ziploc bag. Although that's true. I've learned that physicians can be as a group some of the rudest most unprofessional people. Sad but true. And since I'm a pediatrician and dealing with other pediatricians, you know I am referring to the nicest of all specialties, pediatricians. I know, I am surprised too.
I write this as I sit here in a not unfamiliar position of waiting to hear from a physician who I was supposed to speak with an hour ago to discuss a job. This is the second (maybe third?) time I have been in this position. Is it so hard to remember an appointment to speak with a professional colleague? If you are running late, I understand. But I have been waiting for an hour. Not cool my friend, not cool at all. And to everyone who decides that an email is not worth answering for a couple of weeks, even if it comes from a very nice and talented physician and contains a letter of interest and a CV? This blog post's for you. What about those who say "I'll get back to you at the end of (blank) month" and then the end of the month comes and I have to send a 'friendly email reminder' (or two) that I am still here and still waiting and still interested in your opinion of me and what I have to offer despite now feeling like I am the gum on the bottom of your shoe. Shame on you.
I can't change the behavior of my colleagues. But i'll be damned if I will forget what this feels like. And when the situation is reversed, as it will be someday, I will acknowledge the efforts of young pediatricians trying to advance in the scary and often intimidating world of medicine. I will remember that we as physicians are not above simple manners and kindness and be humbled. Until then, I believe in karma and gut feelings and the healing power of red wine and chocolate chip cookies. And i'm a better person for it.
In the midst of this job search that has become the white noise of my life for the past 6 months I have realized something. And no, it's not the futility of fitting all of my toiletries into 3oz bottles and putting them in 1 ziploc bag. Although that's true. I've learned that physicians can be as a group some of the rudest most unprofessional people. Sad but true. And since I'm a pediatrician and dealing with other pediatricians, you know I am referring to the nicest of all specialties, pediatricians. I know, I am surprised too.
I write this as I sit here in a not unfamiliar position of waiting to hear from a physician who I was supposed to speak with an hour ago to discuss a job. This is the second (maybe third?) time I have been in this position. Is it so hard to remember an appointment to speak with a professional colleague? If you are running late, I understand. But I have been waiting for an hour. Not cool my friend, not cool at all. And to everyone who decides that an email is not worth answering for a couple of weeks, even if it comes from a very nice and talented physician and contains a letter of interest and a CV? This blog post's for you. What about those who say "I'll get back to you at the end of (blank) month" and then the end of the month comes and I have to send a 'friendly email reminder' (or two) that I am still here and still waiting and still interested in your opinion of me and what I have to offer despite now feeling like I am the gum on the bottom of your shoe. Shame on you.
I can't change the behavior of my colleagues. But i'll be damned if I will forget what this feels like. And when the situation is reversed, as it will be someday, I will acknowledge the efforts of young pediatricians trying to advance in the scary and often intimidating world of medicine. I will remember that we as physicians are not above simple manners and kindness and be humbled. Until then, I believe in karma and gut feelings and the healing power of red wine and chocolate chip cookies. And i'm a better person for it.
Monday, January 18, 2010
In Over My Head
I had to do something today for which I felt totally unqualified. It had nothing to do with my patients or procedures but everything to do with my lack of years in this field of neonatology. I've explained before that I am a general pediatrician (and proud of it) who wears a neonatology hat for a living. At this point in my career, I feel pretty darn comfortable with it too. Gone are the surges of adrenaline everytime the phone rings and we are called to a delivery. Gone is the should I call for help or should I tough it out on my own internal struggle. I no longer feel like a minor leaguer playing in the majors. Until today.
Today I was asked to speak to a woman pregnant with twins at 23 weeks gestation about what to expect if she were to deliver in the next 24 hours. I don't need to give you the statistics, but the chances of these babies surviving is small and the chances of them surviving without any disability is slim to none. The gestational age is so early, in fact, that we give the parents the choice of whether or not we attempt to resuscitate the babies at delivery. Parents are completely within their right to allow the infants to pass peacefully, without the long and painful torture of hospitalization and a certainly uncertain outcome. So, I was asked to speak to this couple about their long sought after twins and help them to come to a decision. They would listen to what I had to say and then make the hardest decision of their lives.
There I stood, armed with my statistics in hand and a description of what constitutes a major disability vs a minor disability. I had all the information I needed yet knew absolutely nothing. I watched them listen to my words with tears in their eyes and struggled to keep my own opinion and my own bias out of the inflection of my voice. I wanted so badly to say, "I don't know what you are going through or how you feel but here is what I do know, because I see these babies day after day and month after month and I see their parents at their bedside for every setback and procedure and infection and I see the weariness in their faces and the strain on their marriages and I see their children with tubes and lines and tracheostomies and open abdominal wounds and blindness and blown veins and I see how overwhelmed they are at the prospect of taking their developmentally disabled and medically complex child home with a list of specialist appointments to be made and I see. I see. And I know you can't possibly know what to expect based on these statistics that i've given you. I know and i'm so sorry."
The truth is that I read them the book when what they really needed was to hear the story. The truth is that I don't want them to make their decision based on what I tell them. The truth is that I felt that my hands were tied and I don't have the experience or courage to tell them what I really want them to know. I just pray they make a decision that brings them peace over the coming dark months. Regardless of the outcome.
Today I was asked to speak to a woman pregnant with twins at 23 weeks gestation about what to expect if she were to deliver in the next 24 hours. I don't need to give you the statistics, but the chances of these babies surviving is small and the chances of them surviving without any disability is slim to none. The gestational age is so early, in fact, that we give the parents the choice of whether or not we attempt to resuscitate the babies at delivery. Parents are completely within their right to allow the infants to pass peacefully, without the long and painful torture of hospitalization and a certainly uncertain outcome. So, I was asked to speak to this couple about their long sought after twins and help them to come to a decision. They would listen to what I had to say and then make the hardest decision of their lives.
There I stood, armed with my statistics in hand and a description of what constitutes a major disability vs a minor disability. I had all the information I needed yet knew absolutely nothing. I watched them listen to my words with tears in their eyes and struggled to keep my own opinion and my own bias out of the inflection of my voice. I wanted so badly to say, "I don't know what you are going through or how you feel but here is what I do know, because I see these babies day after day and month after month and I see their parents at their bedside for every setback and procedure and infection and I see the weariness in their faces and the strain on their marriages and I see their children with tubes and lines and tracheostomies and open abdominal wounds and blindness and blown veins and I see how overwhelmed they are at the prospect of taking their developmentally disabled and medically complex child home with a list of specialist appointments to be made and I see. I see. And I know you can't possibly know what to expect based on these statistics that i've given you. I know and i'm so sorry."
The truth is that I read them the book when what they really needed was to hear the story. The truth is that I don't want them to make their decision based on what I tell them. The truth is that I felt that my hands were tied and I don't have the experience or courage to tell them what I really want them to know. I just pray they make a decision that brings them peace over the coming dark months. Regardless of the outcome.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
What I Believe Today
This is what I am loving today. Take it and use it however you see fit.
"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."
ayn rand
ayn rand
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Be. Look. Love.
Happy New Year! My first post of the new year and I have to tell you I am already so excited about what 2010 will bring. For starters, there seems to be love in the air. Do you notice that when things are happening to the people around you you are forced to hold a mirror up to your own life, whether you like it or not? It's been happening to me. My best friend recently met a man about whom she is completely crazy. I've never heard her gush about anyone like she gushed about this guy. I've told her so many times that she deserves the best and I'm not sure she ever really believed me. I hope someday soon I can tell her "I told you so." My college roommate, like a sister to me, recently visited me here in Chicago and brought her new boyfriend along. Second verse, same as the first. They seem so happy together and in love. I left them feeling at peace that she had found someone who finally would see her as the special person she is. And then some. I had dinner last night with a good friend who, after three years of dating, is still amazed at what a fabulous person her boyfriend is and feels blessed to have him in her life. Precious!
A few years ago, I would have held up a mirror to my life and felt....lacking. I had done it over and over again as a naturally competitive person and as my toughest critic and own worst enemy. And now? Now I look at the love of my life and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude that we found each other. I no longer wish to be anywhere or anyone but here and who I am. So as we feel our way into this new year, I am comforted knowing that my life and the lives of my dearest friends are pretty dang rosy. I can't ask for much more than that.
A few years ago, I would have held up a mirror to my life and felt....lacking. I had done it over and over again as a naturally competitive person and as my toughest critic and own worst enemy. And now? Now I look at the love of my life and feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude that we found each other. I no longer wish to be anywhere or anyone but here and who I am. So as we feel our way into this new year, I am comforted knowing that my life and the lives of my dearest friends are pretty dang rosy. I can't ask for much more than that.
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