Something for the Girls

No, it's not nekkid men. I save those for myself. But if you've ever had a manicure, I think you will find this funny.

Another Work Related Letter

Yes, I’ve “unpublished” my last two posts. It’s fun to delete. My posts now have an average lifespan of 6 hours. Maybe this one will stick.

A letter to a fellow associate:

Dear Dickhead,

Your secretary is not a bitch and she is not incompetent. You are a prick. Once you realize this and start acting halfway human towards her, your job will become a whole lot easier. She might even start covering your ass for you so that the next time you screw up, you won’t get invited to another one of those intimate closed door meetings with the partners. And your refusal to participate in the Secretary’s Day* festivities made you look like the biggest asshole loser on this planet.

Sincerely,

Medblog

P.S. If I were you, I’d think twice about eating any chocolates you receive on Boss's Day.


* That’s what the secretaries call it, so that’s what we call it (as opposed to Administrative Professional’s Day)

4/26/07 1:15 p.m Okay, I was going to "unpublish" this one because it makes me sound like a Grade-A bitch. But I'm going to leave it up and just say that I was a little cranky when I wrote it. I really do need a vacation.

Goodbye MSG

Yesterday I read that MSG was retiring Creating the Godcomplex. I really hate to see him go. MSG’s blog was one of the first medblogs I found. I made one of my rare early ventures out of lurkdom just so I could ask MSG to write about how medical students learned to suture. And he was nice enough to do it.

I don’t know if other readers experience this, but sometimes I just “connect” with a blogger. MSG was one of those connections. I didn’t always agree with what he wrote, but I always felt like he was writing from his heart and I appreciated his honesty.

Good luck, MSG. I'm going to miss you.

There is No Math on the LSAT

During law school orientation, the speaker (can’t recall who it was) asked people in the audience why they were going to law school. There were the usual answers: I want to help people; I want to make a difference; my father (mother, brother, etc.) is a lawyer. Naturally, I was trying to blend in with the woodwork so I wouldn't get called on, and of course I was called on. I answered truthfully: There is no math on the LSAT (Law School Admission Test). Everyone laughed and several other people admitted that was the reason why they were there as well.

Occasionally, I am asked why I don't go to medical school since I am enamored with all things medical. It’s easy. I suck at math/science and I am very particular about what I will put my hands on. And then there is what I call the “Yuck Factor”. You know, pee, poop, pus, puke, blood, etc. I don't think I could ever get past the Yuck Factor. Whenever my cat threw up a hairball, there was always a 50/50 chance that the clean up of said hairball would be interrupted by my own cookies being tossed.

Surprisingly, despite being the sensitive marshmallow that I am, I don’t think I would have too much of a problem with the emotional aspects of medicine. Of course, there would be the challenge of trying to suppress the urge to giggle at inappropriate times. And since I have the sense of humor of a twelve year old boy, that might be an insurmountable obstacle.

But what if someone really, really, really wanted to become a doctor? Could they learn to overcome the Yuck Factor? Are there people who start out in med school/nursing school who have weak stomachs and then learn to deal with it? Or do people drop out after eventually realizing that they will never be capable of basking in the glory of butt pus?

Delete Heartbroken?

I just got finished reading a horrible post on another blog. It included threats of de-linking. It sounded so lame and pathetic that I immediately came back to delete my “Heartbroken” post. I reconsidered though (mainly because of the comments re: EMTALA; you should check them out, very informative and entertaining).

Hopefully, everyone who reads “Heartbroken” realizes that I am poking fun at myself for briefly getting my feelings hurt because ATM was removed from the KevinMD feeds (ATM did not get de-linked by Kevin). If I were really upset about it, I would do what I always do: remain silent, pout and make BF’s life miserable until I got over it, even though BF had nothing to do with it.

Lawyer Joke of the Day

Q: How many lawyer jokes are there?

A: Just two, all the rest are true.

I've added a new feature to my sidebar. Lawyer Joke of the Day. Now all I have to do is remember to post a new joke every day.

And y'all be nice. I know they are old jokes. But some of them are kind of funny.

Heartbroken

Sadly, every word in this post is true.

A while back, there was a little controversy going on in the med-blogosphere and I found it interesting that some bloggers used their blogroll like a weapon:

"I cannot believe you feel this way. I have banished you from my blogroll."

"You are brilliant. I have added you to my Links and put a star by your name."

Addicted to Medblogs ("ATM") has been de-linked twice. I couldn't give a rat's ass about the first de-linking. I still think that blogger is kind of nutty. The second de-linking stung, but I understand why he did it.

But I was heartbroken to learn today that ATM has been removed from the KevinMd.feeds. While I never felt like I deserved it, I was truly honored that ATM was included on the KevinMd.feeds page. I don't know why ATM was removed. Hopefully it was removed because it was unpopular, and not because Dr. Kevin thought it sucked.

So now, drawing on what I have learned from the medblogs, I realize that today I have gone through the five stages of grief:

1. Denial--this can't be happening to me. Surely it must be a technical problem and ATM will be back up tomorrow. Maybe I should e-mail Dr. Kevin.

2. Anger--feelings of wanting to fight back or get even. I am going to de-link KevinMD.feeds. No, I can't do that. I love his blog and the feeds; plus I like the convenience of the link.

3. Bargaining--attempting to make deals to stop or change the loss. Please Dr. Kevin, I will post more frequently. I will finish my research and write an interesting, thought-provoking post on EMTALA [instead of going with my original plan, which was to just write a post asking someone to explain why ER physicians say that they do not get paid for treating uninsured patients. I understand the on-call physician situation, but not ER docs. Not too dumb a question, is it?]

4. Depression--feelings of hopelessness, bitterness and self-pity. Well, yes, but not enough to warrant a visit to ShrinkRap for anything other than entertainment.

5. Acceptance--accepting the loss and finding that good can come out of the pain. I am going to work on my writing skills and improve the quality of posts on ATM. It will be the best damn blog ever written (umm, is delusional part of the grieving process?).

Everyone knows what mends a broken heart. I have to go now. There is a giant bowl of chocolate fudge ice cream in the kitchen with my name on it.