RT Scribe: Notes of a Student Respiratory Therapist

Looking for an IT job

2010-09-04T08:23:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday night, I made the mistake of taking a close look at my finances. I think I know what a full blown panic attack feels like now. I couldn't sleep and was second guessing my chances of getting a decent IT job. I was starting to think that I might have to start looking for really crappy entry level IT positions.

I had an interview on Thursday morning with a potential employer and was pretty pessimistic about it, as I was driving to the interview. Traffic was horrible and I made it just in time. When I walked into the building, I was thinking about all the different ways that the interview could go horribly wrong. I was starting to think of the interview as just a way to get some good interviewing experience and perhaps an opportunity to get some feedback into what I need to do to get back into IT.

The interview was the best one I ever had. My two year absence from IT, and my pursuit of an RT career, was an interesting topic of conversation that left the interviewers thoroughly entertained. The interview was fairly technical and was a big confidence builder. I can still "talk tech" with IT professionals and come across as knowledgeable and competent.

I also had an interview with an IT recruiter on Thursday afternoon. I was still pumped about the interview in the morning, during that interview. The recruiter was pretty enthusiastic about me and the employment opportunities that are available to me.

My interview in the morning was the first IT job that I applied for. I had forgotten about how long the hiring process takes. I applied for that job in early August and was interviewed by a hiring manager over 30 days later!

What have I done

2010-08-19T08:35:00.000-04:00

I've pursued an interest in Science and Medicine as far as I need to. Science is interesting but I'm not interested in doing the work required to get a PhD and I hate working in a lab. Medicine is interesting but I dislike several things associated with patient care and working in a hospital.

I have a renewed interest, and enthusiasm, for my IT career and am going to go back to it without any second thoughts.

More details coming soon

2010-08-16T08:20:00.000-04:00

I'll provide more details about what I've done, what I'm doing and what I'm planning to do. The short version of the story is that I'm returning to my Information Technology career.

I'm kind of busy studying for some exams, so I might not be getting around to any serious posting for a while.

I'm thinking about starting a new blog. I'll leave this blog around because it might be of use to people interested in Respiratory Therapy.

My "career exploration sabbatical" is over, but the adventure continues...

Departure Date: 2010-07-14

2010-08-13T20:42:00.000-04:00

I got a copy of my transcript a few days ago. At the top it says:

ELIGIBLE TO CONTINUE
Departure Date: 2010-07-14

I dropped out of the program. After completing about 2.5 months of clinical rotations, I decided that don't want to be an RT. Everyone who knows about it, is shocked. I'm relieved.

Last shift for PICU

2010-07-01T17:12:00.000-04:00

I've already finished my NICU rotation. I'm about to leave for the last shift of my PICU rotation. Next week I'll go back to my base Hospital and do the rest of my rotations there. I'm having trouble coming to grips with the fact that my training will be finished in a about 5 months. I feel like I know so little and have so much to learn.

NICU Rotation

2010-06-15T08:04:00.000-04:00

I'm currently doing my NICU rotation in a Level III NICU. I thought that I would find neonates scary but they aren't that bad. Some of them are actually ridiculously cute. I've got a few days off and am having trouble motivating myself to study.

First week of clinical

2010-05-22T20:07:00.000-04:00

The first week of clinical was fairly unstressful. I went to my first code blue, which was interesting. I always wondered how I would do at a code blue. I was there and did what needed to be done, just like everyone else in the room. Doing a code blue in the school's simulation lab, was a lot more stressful.

My new favorite book

2010-05-15T08:42:00.000-04:00

This is my new favorite book. It's not a Respiratory Disease book that goes into a bit of Pathophysiology, it's a real Pathophysiology book! All of my other so called "Patho books" are a joke when compared to this one.

Clinical Rotations

2010-05-15T08:36:00.001-04:00

This is how much time I'll be spending at each rotation

Adult ICU: 12 weeks
Wards/ER: 7 weeks
OR: 3 weeks
PFT: 2 weeks
Level 3 NICU: 3 weeks
Simulated PICU/PCCU: 1 week
Level 3 PICU/PCCU: 1 week

I'll be doing the first week of my Wards/ER rotation next week. I'll be working with a different Preceptor each day, which should make things interesting next week.

Orientation complete

2010-05-14T13:10:00.000-04:00

I finished my hospital orientation. I did the orientation in three 12 hour shifts. My base hospital is freaking huge! I've already gotten lost 4 or 5 times. The tour of the hospital, on the first day, lasted 5 hours. The person giving the tour actually go lost a couple times. I'll be on Wards next week. I also have a bunch of homework to do for the clinical site and for the college.

First day of Clinical tomorrow

2010-05-09T16:41:00.000-04:00

I'll be starting my clinical rotation tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about it. Next week I'll be doing twelve hour shifts. I'm told that next week is an orientation week. I have to dress business casual, so I'm not sure if I'll actually have any patient contact. I'm bringing some scrubs and a lab coat with me, just in case I need them.

I've now finished the first two years of a three year Respiratory Therapy Program. The third year is the clinical rotation part of my training. Everyone's telling me that everything will start to make sense during clinical. I hope they're right. I should graduate from the program in December of this year.

I picked up my NRP card yesterday.

Passed the composite exam

2010-05-06T19:57:00.000-04:00

The average mark was about 3 percent above a pass. Lots of people are going to be writing up study plans. My final mark for the composite was 77%.

What does a respiratory therapist, right out of college, need?

2010-05-06T06:06:00.000-04:00

Someone recently sent me an email asking, "What does a respiratory therapist, right out of college, need?" She's looking for gift ideas for a relative who's about to graduate from an RT program. Something RTish that could be useful for a new RT fresh out of school...

Asking me for gift ideas is like asking a drowning man for swimming lessons. I was hoping that others could leave some suggestions in the comments...

Composite exam marks by the end of the week?

2010-05-04T16:06:00.001-04:00

Now we're being told that we will get our composite exam marks, by the end of the week. I strongly suspect that too many people got slaughtered on part II of the exam. They're probably trying to figure out what questions not to count or how low to make the pass mark.

I guess I wasn't the only person wondering what made them think that I could actually answer those types of questions. A lot of the questions were beyond me and I mentioned that to a couple of faculty today...

Waiting for marks

2010-05-03T12:43:00.001-04:00

The final marks for fourth semester are starting to be released. I'm still waiting for my Anesthesia and Composite exam marks.

So far I've got two Bs and two As. I'm hoping Anesthesia is an A+ and the composite exam is a pass. If I fail the composite exam I have to write up study plan and be ashamed of myself, for a couple of days.

Composite exam - Part I and II

2010-04-30T16:40:00.000-04:00

Part I of the Composite exam tested my ability to apply fundamental concepts and my ability to problem solve. I think I did pretty good on that part. That part was 2 hours long. An hour later I wrote Part II.

Part II of the Composite exam was all case studies. I'm not really sure how I did on that one. I felt like I had a lot of opinions and not a lot of confident answers. That part was 2.5 hours long.

I think my chances of passing the Composite are pretty good. The exam tested me on very little of what I studied, or wanted to study, yesterday.

I go to the big shiny new hospital next month and start my clinical rotation.

Two parts

2010-04-30T04:39:00.000-04:00

The composite today has two parts. One is from 9-11AM. The second part is from 12-1PM. I'm going to do some last minute studying, of first year material this morning, and then hope for the best.

I was actually thinking about what I should put in my study plan, last night. That thing could potentially end up being really long and taking a lot of work to get done.

More thoughts about the composite exam

2010-04-29T14:22:00.001-04:00

I finished my last real exam today, so now I'm studying for the composite exam.

I've been studying my ass off for the last 2 years. As far as I'm concerned, I've spent 2 years studying for the composite. I only have today left to review some things, before I write the composite. If I get tested on things that I don't know, it really doesn't matter. If it mattered, then my mark on the composite exam would show up on my transcript or at least have in an influence on a mark that does show up.

If I fail the exam I have to write up a study plan. I essentially just have to make a commitment to study! WTF? I'm almost a straight A student, I didn't accomplish that by not studying. There are a couple of people in my class who don't study that much and get great marks. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them.

Also: Yipee, I can spell check my posts again! That feature has been missing for ages.

Here I go again

2010-04-29T04:11:00.000-04:00

Once again I have underestimated how much I have to study for today's exam. I left school at 11PM yesterday and now I'm up at 4AM to do some more studying for my 9AM exam...

Thoughts about the composite exam

2010-04-28T17:59:00.000-04:00

I'm currently studying for my Pulmonary Diagnostics exam, which I write tomorrow. I will be writing the cumulative composite exam on Friday. The exam is supposed to cover what has been taught over the last 2 years of RT school.

I haven't really studied much for the composite exam and these are some of the reasons why:

I like sleeping.
Trying to cram for an exam that covers 2 years of RT school is just plain stupid and I won’t spend more than a day doing it.
I've probably remembered a few things, which I've learned over the last two years, and probably will be tested on some of that.
The composite exam is supposed to encourage students to review and reinforce things that they have already learned. I don't need the encouragement to do that and will do that over the next eight months.
How I do on the composite will not have anything to do with the marks that show up on my student transcript. If I plan on furthering my education, no one will care how I did on the composite. They will want to see my transcript. I have had no interest in studying less, for courses whose marks will show up on my transcript, so that I can do better on the composite.
If I fail the composite, I will just have to write up a study plan that will address the things that I need to brush up on. I probably would have come up with a study plan, on my own anyway, so that I do better in clinical and can pass the registry exam next year. I probably wouldn't have written one up but I sure would have had one in my head.

NRP Certified

2010-04-28T13:35:00.000-04:00

I'm now NRP certified. I woke up in a cold sweat, last night, when I realized that I told the NRP instructor that I was bagging at a rate of 8-12 bpm when I was doing my resuscitation...

I wrote my Ventilators exam this morning. I write my Pulmonary Diagnostics exam tomorrow. I write the dreaded composite exam on Friday.

Preparing for next week

2010-04-24T17:41:00.000-04:00

Next week is the last week of fourth semester. I have to write an exam for my third Ventilators course, an exam for my Pulmonary Diagnostics course and the dreaded Composite exam. On Monday, I also have to redo my NRP competency and my Ventilator competency. If I blow any of those competencies, I'm screwed.

Last week I wrote my final exams for Pathophysiology and Anesthesia. I think Anesthesia went very well and Pathophysiology was OK

It now looks like I'll be getting an A for my Simulation course. I probably have an A+ for Anesthesia. I'll be happy with a B in Pathophysiology. I might be able to pull off an A+ for Pulmonary diagnostics but will probably get an A.

I also just bought a shiny new car. My life sucks a little bit less because of it.

Scrubs too big

2010-04-19T19:50:00.001-04:00

I ordered 5 pair of scrubs. They're way too big and I will have to return them. I need to wear a different colour, of scrubs, for my clinical rotations and was pretty confident that I had ordered the correct size.

Things haven't been going well

2010-04-19T19:46:00.000-04:00

My clinical rotations start in less than three weeks and things haven't been going so well. So far, I've failed two Ventilator competencies and my NRP (Neonatal Resuscitation Program) practical. I failed my second Ventilators competency today, with a mark of 25%. I had a scenario that included a a two day old term baby. I ventilated him as though he was a 30 week gestational age prem. I also made a major mistake in setting up the pressure that I was using to give the baby his tidal volumes. I thought I was ventilating with a PIP (Peak Inspiratory Pressure) of 25cmH20 when I was actually ventilating with a PIP of 20cmH2O. I was unwilling to increase the PIP any higher, so I wasn't able to achieve the target tidal volume that was required.

I'm currently studying for final exams and the cumulative composite exam. The cumulative composite exam covers 2 years of material. While I'm writing exams, I'll also have to prepare for and redo my NRP certification practical and my second Ventilator competency. If I don't pass my NRP practical redo and get my NRP certification, I won't be allowed to do my NICU rotation. If I don't pass my competency redo, I'll fail my Ventilators course. If I don't those two redos, I won't be allowed to do my clinical rotations. Now I know how it feels to be on the verge of failing and it really sucks.

I did however get perfect on my PFT (Pulmonary Function Test) competency. Lots of people didn't do so well on that one. Apparently the trick to doing that one well, was to watch the patient instead of the computer while getting the patient to do a flow volume loop.

I really hope things turn around, going forward.

Things going better now

2010-03-06T08:14:00.000-05:00

I actually passed my last High Fidelity Simulation, which was the first one that counted for marks. Quite a few people had trouble with that one. I got a mark that was just over 80%. I was actually working with 'little miss perfect' on that one and it went really well. I had a chat with her and she seems to aware of what she needs to do to improve on in simulation. She's not shy about pointing out her failings, in sim, and made a point of warning me about them and offering advice on how I can help to make them less of an issue if they come up. I'm not shy about doing that either.

The low mark streak has been broken. I got a 94% on a recent test. I wrote half of my midterm exams last week and will write the rest next week. I hope they all work out well.

In a bit of a slump

2010-02-28T13:26:00.000-05:00

4th semester is essentially half over and I'm in a bit of a slump. These are some of the highlights:

Test marks consistently lower than I'm used to. Getting the same low mark on three tests in a row and then breaking that streak, by getting a fourth mark that's 1% lower.
Joking with a smarter classmate about how she should fail a competency, so she knows what it feels like. She failed the competency and so did I. Up until that one, getting perfect, or almost perfect, was the norm.
Not being able to pass a High Fidelity Simulation. It would have been nice too actually pass a simulation prior to them counting for marks. The last simulation was a disaster. The next one counts for marks. If I fail the Simulation course, I'm screwed.
Being absolutely correct about an answer on a test and still getting it marked wrong. It was taught wrong in class and everyone else accepted it. I guess, for a certain professor, the generally accepted fallacy is the truth. WTF? So much for Science and the quest for truth... She wasn't really interested in the correct answer, which was pretty infuriating while I was talking to her about it.

Books I find most useful

2010-02-15T10:18:00.001-05:00

I've wanted to update the list of RT books, that I like, in my sidebar. Instead of maintaining a list of all of my RT books, I'm now just going to maintain a list of the 9 that I find most useful. Getting the list down to nine was pretty hard.

I'm keeping the list in a carousel widget, which has now replaced my old list. The carousel widget only allows you to have 9 books in it.

Amazon.com Widgets

Simulation #4

2010-02-15T09:24:00.000-05:00

The simulation last week was pretty cool. Something was horribly wrong. We had to figure out what was wrong and fix it. Being able to do that was very gratifying. We almost got a passing mark on that one.

Thoughts about simulation

2010-02-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

These are some things that I've learned during my High Fidelity Simulations so far:

I'm part of a team. If don't act like a part of the team and communicate with team members during an emergency, things go to crap really fast.
Make sure the ties on my gown are done up well. Having your gown fall off, onto the patient, when your doing an intubation is a pain in the ass.
Sharp things can make me bleed.
Don't over plan for the Sim.
I don't know what's going to happen.
I can't preplan for every eventuality.
Being flexible and able to adapt is worth more than "studying up for Sim" the night before.
Communication with team members is absolutely essential. If you're communicating well, mistakes don't get made or can be quickly corrected before they have a chance to matter.
If you can't find something, and you're in a hurry, ask for help finding it.
Always ask for help when you need it. Things get done faster and better.
Be nice to people when you're stressed and don't get upset by people who can't be nice when they're stressed.
Hight Fidelity Simulation is reallly cool.

When doing your best, isn't good enough

2010-02-02T10:39:00.000-05:00

People in my class are having odd reactions to their High Fidelity Simulation marks.

When we do a High Fidelity Simulation, we're being assessed at an "entry to practice standard". In other words, we're being assessed as though we are actual Respiratory Therapists, instead of Student Respiratory Therapists. Not surprisingly, we're not yet doing very well in our simulations. We're still in the last semester of our "in school" training and we haven't even begun our 8 months of clinical rotations yet. Why should we be doing well in Simulation? We shouldn't. In about 4 weeks, we should be getting decent marks for our simulations and that's kind of impressive, exciting and frightening. At this point, anyone who's expecting to do well in Simulation is being irrational and and perhaps a bit crazy.

Unfortunately, at least one person in my class might snap. Miss alwaysright is always right and never makes a mistake, at least in her mind. Even when she's wrong, she's right. She really is quite annoying and everyone just rolls their eyes when she comes up in conversation.

Miss alwaysright is just like everyone else in the High Fidelity Simulation. She's enthusiastic and trys to do her best. Just like the rest of us, her best isn't very good. How is she reacting to this? Not well. Yesterday I heard that she's accusing a person who does the evaluations, for the Simulations, as being a liar and not evaluating her simulation performances fairly. She's not making formal accusations; she's just bitching and complaining to enyone who will listen.

I'm kind of hoping that she will make a formal accusation at some point. All of the Simulations are on video.

Emily Brewster is amazing

2010-01-31T19:41:00.000-05:00

If I could actually focus on what she's saying, instead of noticing how attractive she is, I might actually be able to figure out the difference between the words 'affect' and 'effect'.

This is her explaining the difference between affect and effect: http://video.merriam-webster.com/AvsE4.mov?ec_rate=36

Second sim mark

2010-01-28T05:23:00.000-05:00

I just got my second simulation mark. My partner and I almost passed. I'm actually quite pleased. The mistakes I made, in the last sim, probably won't be repeated. The more I look back on Monday's simulation, the more I think of simulation as being really cool and worthwhile.

I have my first test, of the semester, in about 2.5 hrs. It's for my Pulmonary Function Testing course and the study material is pretty uninteresting.

Crazy Sim Lab today

2010-01-25T19:26:00.001-05:00

My High Fidelity Simulation experience today, was crazy. Lots of stuff going on and a Physician, not very patiently, telling me and my fellow SRT to hurry up.

Unfortunately, I can't really write about what goes on in Sim. "What happens in Sim, stays in Sim".

The semester so far

2010-01-24T18:04:00.000-05:00

On Monday it will be the third week of fourth semester. My course load seems pretty light, when compared to last semester. I'm hoping that I will have some extra time to study things, from previous semesters, that are fading from memory.

I did my first high fidelity simulation last week and was surprised by how real it felt. I only had to pretend a little bit, during the simulation, because the simulation environment and scenario was pretty realistic to start with. We were warned that our first simulation marks would almost certainly be failures because the standard for assessment at the beginning of the semester is the same as at the end. We're being evaluated, from the start, as though we were actual RTs. The first 7 simulations don't count towards our actual marks. The usual people, have already started complaining about their simulation marks, even though they don't count. I failed my first simulation, as predicted, and don't understand why some people are upset about their marks.

We're being trained to a high standard and we now know where we are in relation to that standard. We have been measured and have been found lacking and that's a good thing because we can focus on what needs to be improved.

I really need to stop dropping things on the floor. Using PPE might also be a good idea...

Clinical site

2010-01-13T21:27:00.000-05:00

I'll be going to the Clinical site that I most wanted too go to. We had to submit our preferences for a base clinical site, ranked from 1 to 9, this morning. This afternoon, we were told where we would be going.

I'll start my clinical rotation in May.

Sim lab orientation

2010-01-11T22:34:00.000-05:00

Today was my first day of school for the semester. All I had today was a SIM lab orientation. Not only do I need to know how to use equipment, I need to know where to find it. I spent about 5 minutes trying to figure out where the face masks were located. I couldn't find them! I had to ask the guy running the SIM lab, where they were.

What it's like to be a patient

2010-01-09T18:54:00.000-05:00

Stephen Gaudet over at breathinstephen.com is a retired Respiratory Therapist, who's been living with severe refractory Asthma since birth. He has once again provided me with a valuable insight into what it's like to be a patient. Unfortunately, that insight comes from his most recent hospital stay, which he blogs about here:

http://breathinstephen.com/97-misinformation-and-a-virus-from-hell/

Rock on dude

2010-01-09T10:54:00.000-05:00

Funniest thing I've seen all year.

The right book can make a difference

2010-01-07T22:33:00.008-05:00

Rau's Respiratory Care Pharmacology is the book that I was supposed to, and did, buy for last semester's Pharmacology course.

Integrated Cardiopulmonary Pharmacology is the book that I wish I would have bought for last semester's Pharmacology course. I just received a copy of this book today and noticed something pretty obvious. The most difficult modules for the Pharmacology course were based on material from this book. I've started to read the relevant parts of the book and a lot of the disconnected facts, from the course, are now starting to come together and make sense.

I personally prefer Integrated Cardiopulmonary Pharmacology. It's a lot more clear and concise and also constantly points out the clinical significance and relevance of concepts.

Rau's Respiratory Care Pharmacology is a good book. Unfortunately, it quite often goes into too much detail and the fundamental concepts get lost in the minutiae. I will turn to this book, when I find that the other book doesn't go into as much detail as I need.

Oprah Winfrey pisses me off

2010-01-07T10:11:00.000-05:00

I've always found Oprah Winfrey really annoying and this Newsweek article, written by Weston Kosova and Pat Wingert, explains why. I've always wanted to go on a rant about Oprah but never really had they energy to do a good job.

Now I just have to find good articles about Dr. Phil, Dr. Weil ,Deepak Chopra, Anthony Robbins and Kevin Trudeau.

Is this more funny if you're over 30?

2010-01-07T07:12:00.002-05:00

New use for a clip board

2010-01-06T11:55:00.001-05:00

When I'm on a small plane I don't like sitting beside really obese people. Their lower bodies have a tendency to ooze under the arm rest and onto my seat! To avoid being touched by the body part(s) that ooze onto my seat, I have a tendency to move away from the ooze. Unfortunately, the oozing continues and I find an ever decreasing amount of seat room for myself. I'm a pretty big guy myself and I get pretty pissed off by other people’s fatness intruding into my personal space and onto my seat.

This situation happened to me again, when I was flying back home from visiting family in the US, during the holidays. I discovered that if I put a clip board between myself and the arm rest, that fatness doesn't make it over to my seat and I don't have to deal with the creepy sensation of someone’s fat ass touching my thigh.

Not getting ripped off

2010-01-06T09:58:00.009-05:00

Now that the Canadian dollar is almost at par with the US dollar, Canadians are being gouged buy Canadian retailers again. A lot of the retailers are claiming that it's not their fault. They're saying that it's their distributors and suppliers who are at fault. I don't really care who's responsible for trying to rip me off. I'm not having any part of it. I have a credit card, know how to buy things online and will give my business to a US retailer who doesn't rip me off. I had to buy textbooks recently, which illustrates the state of things. Unless otherwise noted, all of the following prices are in Canadian dollars:

The College Bookstore was selling the Essentials of Respiratory Care for $103.95.

Amazon.ca (that's the Canadian Amazon) was selling the same book for $94.95.

Amazon.com (the American Amazon) was selling the book for $70.77 (US$65.63).

WTF? $103.95, $94.95 or $70.77!? I ordered the Essentials of Respiratory Care along with the Manual of Pulmonary Function Testing from amazon.com and only had to pay an additional "import fee" of $5.91 (US$5.47).

Back to school on Monday

2010-01-05T22:58:00.000-05:00

I'm back to school on Monday and looking forward to it. Monday is the first day of fourth semester. I have 4 courses and clinical simulation. Last semester was supposed to be the hardest semester and I won't argue that fact.

I only had to buy a couple more textbooks for next semester 4th semester. Most of the courses had "Retained from previous semester" listed as the required texts.

If you're looking for RT blogs / websites to read

2010-01-05T10:53:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for RT blogs / websites to read, look here: The best Respiratory Therapy Blogs for 2010

3rd Semester marks

2009-12-22T15:18:00.000-05:00

As expected, I got spanked on most of my exams. Fortunately, I had pretty decent marks before I wrote my finals. My lowest final mark for 3rd semester is a B+. I can't think of myself as a straight A student anymore, now that I have a B+ mark, and I'm OK with that. I'm still waiting for one more mark, which might also be a B.

I think that a few people, who were just passing, might have failed a course or two. If I'm correct, my class will be a bit smaller next semester

Semester 3 is over

2009-12-19T10:42:00.002-05:00

Semester 3 is finally over. It was a pretty good, until I ran into the final exams. I wrote 7 finals and only felt good about 2 of them. I get all my marks on Monday. I had pretty good marks going into finals, so I'm pretty sure that I didn't come close to failing any courses.

I ordered my 4th semester textbooks from amazon.com. The Canadian dollar is almost at par with the US dollar and retailers, including booksellers, are gouging Canadian consumers again. One of the books I need is The Essentials of Respiratory Care.

The school bookstore wants $103.95 for it.

Amazon.ca wants $94.95 for it.

Amazon.com wants $69.96 (US$: 43.71).

Semester 4 starts on January 11th.

Last exam today

2009-12-17T05:03:00.002-05:00

I write my last final exam today! This semester should be over and done with in a little over 5 hours. I went to bed at 9PM last night and got up at midnight to do some more studying. I'm surprised that I'm still wide awake and studying. Hopefully I won't crash before my exam at 9AM.

Cardiodiagnostics final update

2009-12-14T08:32:00.002-05:00

The Cardiodiagnostics final was hard. I was the last one to finish writing, with five minutes to spare. Everyone thinks it was a hard exam. I heard that it even made a couple of people cry. There's also some speculation that the exam tested some things that weren't even taught in the course this year. I just assumed that I didn't study enough.

Someone left the exam an hour early. I think that person didn't do so well. The exam had a lot of questions that required quite a bit of thinking and figuring out.

There's was even a protest letter floating around about that exam. Not a lot of people were willing to sign the letter, so it's probably not going to be delivered to anyone. There was lots of melodrama from all of the It's not Fair Club members.

Half way finished exams

2009-12-11T13:04:00.002-05:00

Holy crap, this week sucked for exams. I wrote 4 exams this week and only felt good about one of them. I have a Ventilator Competency and 3 more exams to go and I'm done with this semester.

I think next weeks going to be a lot better than this week.

Less pessimistic about Cardiodiagnostics Final

2009-12-10T08:52:00.002-05:00

I'm tempted to delete my previous post. I was a bit overwhelmed while I was writing that one. I'm just flying through the Hemodynamic Monitoring part of my Cardiodiagnostic notes. That stuff just makes sense and I don't have to memorize any lists of things!

I won't have enough time to properly study all of the ECG interpretation material. if I have time, I'll probably just quickly review the electrophysiology of the heart and the characteristics of different arrhythmias. The ECG interpretation part of the course will be tested less than everything else, for the Final.

I'm still keeping the fact that I only need 38% on this final, in the back of my mind. That fact is comforting. I need to be comforted.

Study rush

2009-12-10T06:14:00.002-05:00

I'm doing some rushed studying again. I'm a little bit apathetic about final exams. Do I really learn the material better, by studying for exams? Last minute studying helps for exams but does last minute studying really help me reatain what I've supposedly learned? Most likely not.

I spend a great deal of time studying before tests and exams but still feel the need to do cramming before finals. I feel like I'm just studying for marks. I can't really sit and think about any concepts or relationships associated with anything. I'm just absorbing bits of testable information for exam writing purposes. I'm supposedly not supposed to cram, but the volume of material seems to make it mandatory.

I write my next exam (Cardiodiagnostics) in about 6 hours and the volume of material, that I still have to cover, is quite daunting. I didn't get much studying done yesterday because I had a lot of sleeping to do in the afternoon.

I think I might just stop studying for the damn final and start trying to learn some Cardiodiagnostics instead. I'll probably get a crappier mark on the exam but I'll end up learning things better.

This has been a pretty horrible week for exams. I only feel like I did well on one exam. The other two exams didn't go so well. Today's exam probably won't go well. I need a 38%, for today's exam, to pass the course.

I'm having trouble actually giving a crap. I hope next week's exams go a bit better...

Haha I don't care

2009-12-09T18:16:00.003-05:00

I had a big ass smile on my face when I was writing my Pharmacology final today. I didn't have a clue about a lot of the questions. In my mind, it really didn't matter because I only needed a 27% on the exam. I've never studied so hard and been so unprepared for something before. I just can't seem to remember drug names. I also can't seem to remember what drugs, whose names I can't remember, are for.

I'm planning on learning that stuff properly, after I'm done my exams. Pharmacology's kind of important.

27%

2009-12-09T03:37:00.002-05:00

My exam yesterday seemed to go really well. I sort of felt, like it was written just for me. It tested my strengths and almost none of my weaknesses. I expected to hear everyone talking about how easy the exam was, when we were all finished it. Instead, I heard quite a bit of ranting about how hard and unfair the exam was.

I was quite surprised by one of the ranters. She's one of the best students. I almost never beat her when marks are concerned. She has a freakish recall of A&P and can always explain concepts to others, without any hesitation. Yesterday, she sounded like a card carrying member of the "It's not fair!" club.

Today I write my Pharmacology final. I'm having trouble with all the drug names and dosages. The Cardiac drugs are giving me the most trouble. I need 27% on the final to pass the course.

Maybe, not so good

2009-12-07T20:03:00.002-05:00

My exam today, may not have gone so well. Maybe I'll get a better mark than expected, which happens quite a lot with me.

I just started studying for tomorrow's exam, a couple of hours ago. I'm feeling kind of rushed and a little bit panicked. I need a 34% on that exam to pass the course. I think I could probably pull off a 34% without even studying. Why am I stressing so much?

Should I study more and sleep less or study less and sleep more. That's the question I'm going to have to answer in a few hours. Tomorrows exam is at 9AM.

Required to pass

2009-12-06T19:15:00.002-05:00

I'm studying for my final Neonatal/Pediatric Respiratory Care exam, that I'll be writing tomorrow.

I just did the math. I need 36% on the final, to pass the course. That's a pretty comforting thought.

A few more things to do

2009-12-03T14:50:00.003-05:00

I only have a couple left to do for this semester:

7 final exams
1 lab competency

We had our last lecture, of the semester, today. My first exam is on Monday.

I actually got an 83% on my last Pharmacology test! I seem to have an ability to intuit the correct answers to multiple choice questions on Pharmacology tests...

Intubation on the floor

2009-12-03T14:40:00.004-05:00

I did my Airway Interventions competency a couple of days ago. My scenario was a cardiac arrest, on the floor. A couple of physicians were doing CPR and I was supposed to do the intubation.

The first laryngoscope I grabbed had a blade that kept on falling off. The first ETT I grabbed had a cuff leak. I had some trouble visualizing the glottis, probably because of my positioning relative to the patient, but didn't have too much trouble with the intubation.

Only one other person got the same scenario that I did. Everyone else had more relaxe scenarios like extubation or intubating someone prior to surgery.

Last Pharmacology test

2009-11-27T10:02:00.003-05:00

My last Pharmacology test went about as well as I could have hoped. I'm pretty sure I passed. Fortunately, the test had some really questions. Unfortunately, it also had some specific questions about cardiac drugs and anti infective drugs.

The semester is almost over. Now I just have two competencies and 7 Final exams to do. I think I'll start studying for the Pharmacology exam this weekend.

Some good news and some bad news

2009-11-24T21:05:00.002-05:00

The bad news:
I probably won't be ready for my cumulative Pharmacology test this week. There's just too much for me to study. The test will cover everything for the course. It's essentially an abbreviated version of the final exam.

The good news:
The test is only worth 10%. I still have 2 more weeks before the final exam. Now I know how much I have to study for the final. Studying for the test will give me a good start on my preparations for the final.

Here I am again

2009-11-24T06:22:00.002-05:00

Studying at the last minute because I spent too much time studying something else.

I have a cumulative Pharmacology quiz later this week. It's going to test the same breadth of material that will be on the final exam. I'm going to have to study for that until blood comes out of my ears.

I've got a Sim lab experience scheduled for today. Faculty's seems a bit vague about what's going to be happening in Sim today. I'm wondering if they're going to throw us into a high fidelity Sim too see how much we freak out.

Learning vs. getting good marks

2009-11-24T06:07:00.002-05:00

I've come to the realization that getting good marks doesn't always mean that you're learning well. By learning well I mean that you're actually accumulating knowledge that you will retain, and can use, after you write an associated test and or exam.

I try to learn but I do some cramming because I am convinced that cramming before a test can improve my mark by about 5-10 percent.

I know someone who almost exclusively crams. She starts to study a few hours before a test and ends up getting really good marks. She doesn't seem to know anything, unless she's about to write a test. It's kind of odd and kind of annoying. What's even more annoying is the fact that she's aware of her problem and talks about it frequently.

4 weeks left

2009-11-22T17:26:00.003-05:00

This is the busiest semester so far and, from what I've heard, the hardest semester in the program. Oddly enough, I don't find it that hard. I think I've just gotten used to the work load. I mostly just study and don't spend much time bitching about it.

I actually have to bite my tongue sometimes, so that I don't tell people how much I'm enjoying myself. That would just piss a bunch of people off. Most of my class seems to be doing fairly well with only a handful of people who are on the verge of failing. Guess which students do the most bitching and complaining.

Next week I will be writing 3 tests and doing a group presentation. After that I only have to worry about preparing for competencies and writing final exams. This semester will be all over on December 17th, when I write my last exam.

This semester has just flown by. Now there's only 4 weeks left.

Last midterm today

2009-11-05T05:07:00.002-05:00

I write my last midterm exam today. It's on Ventilators.

I could have gotten an H1N1 vaccine yesterday, but didn't feel like waiting in line. There's still a shortage of vaccine here, so only "high risk groups" can get vaccinated now. As a Student RT, I'm considered to be in a high risk group. I'll get my shot on Friday morning, when the vaccine clinic, at school, opens again.

Maybe not

2009-10-31T15:44:00.002-04:00

OK, maybe I won't be getting my H1N1 vaccine, at school, next week: http://health.lifestyle.yahoo.ca/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=19717&news_channel_id=2097&channel_id=2097&relation_id=70487 There's a shortage of vaccine in Canada.

Midterm exams

2009-10-31T09:44:00.002-04:00

I'm almost finished writing my midterm exams for this semester. I still have a couple of midterms and a test to write next week. The workload for this semester is a bit heavier than last semester. I'm now able to keep on top of things because I figured out how to study effectively and efficiently last semester.

All of the courses I'm taking now, seem relevant and important.

Not drinking vast quantities of coffee has given me a lot more energy. I'm now just drinking tea and diet Pepsi. I sleep like a baby and can study for hours and hours. I've also noticed that I'm not nearly as stressed as I was when I was drinking lots of coffee.

I should be getting my H1N1 shot next week. There have been lots of sick people in school lately, including myself. I wonder how many of them were sick with H1N1. Lots of people in my class are talking about not getting the H1N1 vaccine, for one kooky reason or another. Anti science/medicine kooks are annoying.

September was hard

2009-10-02T21:01:00.002-04:00

The work load this semester has been pretty brutal. I've pretty much given up having any delusions about doing anything, other than studying this semester. I don't even pretend anymore. What am I doing this weekend? Studying. If you have a problem with that, you can talk to me about it in January 2011.

My Cardiodiagnostics course has been pretty tough. We thought we had to learn Basic Arrhythmias (also known as lead II EKG interpretation) this semester. We were wrong. We had to learn Basic Arrhythmias in 3 weeks. I wrote my my first Cardiodiagnostics quiz this week and passed by 2%.

Someone in my class was talking about dropping out and joining the Army. I think he might have been serious.

I was in pretty rough shape last week, with a cold that was kicking my ass.

I have 5 tests next week.

Despite the heavy workload, I'm enjoying school quite a bit. I must be a glutton for punishment.

I win!

2009-09-19T04:29:00.002-04:00

I never did have a meeting with Campus Administration. Apparently the person I was talking with, who mentioned a meeting, meant that there was a possibility of having a meeting with some people to discuss the issue. There wasn't an actual meeting planned.

As things stand now: I have my locker back and am keeping it. The locker allocation system has been taken down for maintenance, so that they can fix it or replace it with something better.

I sent an email to the Chair of my Academic School and the Program Coordinator for my program, that details what has transpired so far. I don't trust Campus Administration and wanted to make sure that they didn't hassle me about any of this stuff.

I can't believe that something as simple as getting a locker could escalate into such a big deal. I just want to study Respiratory Therapy and not be hassled by anyone while I'm doing it.

Taking back a stolen locker

2009-09-17T19:59:00.002-04:00

Someone stole my locker and I took it back!

On August 31st I went onto a locker selection website and selected a locker. A was sent a confirmation email confirming that the locker was successfully assigned to me. It's a nice locker because it's close to the Library.

On September 15th I found out that my locker was assigned to someone else. On August 16th I went to Campus Administration, to get the problem resolved. I was told they would investigate.

Today I went to Campus Administration and was told that the locker was now assigned to someone else and that nothing could be done. I was furious. I pretty much gave up and grudgingly decided to pick another locker. Lockers are in short supply, so the lockers still available are in horribly inconvenient locations. I went back into the locker selection website and selected a crappy locker. At that point I came up with a theory about how someone could use the locker selection website to steal someone else's locker. I tested that theory by taking my locker back!

I went back to Campus Administration and presented them with the email that confirmed that the locker was again successfully assigned to me. The woman I was talking with logged into the locker selection system and confirmed that the locker was indeed assigned to me now. She was pretty shocked by what I had been able to do. At that point I told her that it's my locker and I'm keeping it. She then asked me if I could attend a meeting tomorrow with herself, her boss and someone from the IT department. I'm going to the meeting. I think I want to bring an impartial third party with me, so that they feel a bit of pressure to address this issue with some common sense and fairness.

The locker selection web site has been unavailable since shortly after my last conversation with Campus Administration.

It has begin

2009-09-13T09:39:00.001-04:00

I am once again surprised by how much studying I have to do. Glad to be done the first week of school.

No job for me

2009-09-13T09:36:00.002-04:00

I was thinking that I might get a tutoring job. I'm not getting that job. I put off pursuing it for so long that all the positions have been filled. As far as I'm concerned, not having a job is a good thing.

I need a coffee

2009-09-12T19:34:00.002-04:00

and a cigarette. I know that if I have both at the same time, I'll stop feeling like crap. But they're both not good for me, so I'll just feel like crap until I stop feeling like crap.

What are the benefits of not drinking coffee anymore? You can't get a decent night's sleep and everyone in the world tries to piss me off.

I'm just one week into the school year and I'm already swamped. I also miss coffee.

Second day of 3rd semester

2009-09-09T05:11:00.002-04:00

I have a quiz today, in my first Ventilators class of the semester. Quiz questions will come from the final exam that we wrote in last semester's ventilator course. Fortunately, todays quiz doesn't count for real marks. I believe the purpose of the quiz is to show us how little we know, of what we have supposedly learned.

For the safety of others

2009-09-08T14:04:00.002-04:00

I spent most of the morning being pissed off, sweaty and craving a coffee. I had to do a little bit of group work this morning and was getting pretty angry about something that should have just been a minor annoyance to me.

I finally broke down and took a 100mg caffeine pill, to ensure the safety of others. :-)

First day of school and I have a test tomorrow!

Caffeine withdrawal

2009-09-07T11:58:00.002-04:00

Caffeine withdrawal sucks. I think I'm going to be stocking up on some Diet Pepsi soon. There should be enough caffeine in the Pepsi, to take some of the edge off of the withdrawal symptoms. I'll go without caffeine for a few more hours before I go get some Pepsi. Part of me wants this process to be unpleasant, so that I don't forget it.

So far so good

2009-09-06T15:43:00.003-04:00

I'm on my third cup of decaf and plan on having a fourth in a few minutes. I'm pretty sure that decaf coffee has some caffeine in it, so I haven't actually quit the caffeine completely yet.

I haven't even had a caffeine withdrawal headache yet. I did spend half the day in bed sleeping though, which might have something to do with the drastic reduction in caffeine today. All things considered, my first day without real coffee is going surpisingly well.

H1N1 Rap by Dr. Clarke

2009-09-06T15:08:00.001-04:00

1st day without real coffee

2009-09-06T08:11:00.003-04:00

Last night I got fed up with how tired a was feeling and the amount of coffee I routinely drink. Coffee just doesn't seem to do much for me anymore. I've been drinking at least six cups a day.

I drank a couple cups of home brewed decaf this morning and am hoping for the best.

Why am I doing this a couple of days before school starts?

Optometry Intern

2009-09-04T19:55:00.003-04:00

I went to see an Optometrist today and was examined by an Optometry Intern. I think I might have made her day. I have some odd things associated with my vision and got the "Optometry Intern who doesn't want too miss anything, eye exam". I wanted to ask her about her clinical experiences, and some other things about her training to be an Optometrist, but she seemed way too busy while she was assessing my vision/eyes. When she wasn't shining some ridiculously bright light into my eye, I think I saw a "damn that's pretty cool" expression on her face more than once.

My eye exam took an hour and 15 minutes.

New student orientation

2009-09-02T20:28:00.000-04:00

Second year starts on Tuesday next week.

I went to the new student orientation, for the RT Program, this week. Myself and some other second year students were there, to offer some encouraging words and answer questions. No one asked any questions. There wasn't enough time.

I dragged my sorry ass out of bed at 6AM today, in an effort to get used to getting up early again.

Two weeks

2009-08-25T07:12:00.002-04:00

School starts in two weeks (September 8th). I'm spending this week hanging out with family in the US.

Timetable

2009-08-17T09:49:00.002-04:00

I'm now able to see my timetable, for 3rd semester. I have classes Monday through Thursday, starting at 8AM. My school day will be over at 3 or 4PM, depending on the day.

My two days of Practicum will be done on Fridays. Friday will be a day off, when I'm not doing a Practicum.

I'm scheduled for 21 hours of lecture and 4 hours of lab, for a total of 25 hours a week.

Last semester I had 18 hours of lecture and 4 hours of lab, for a total of 22 hours a week. 3 of last semesters lecture hours were for a really easy History course.

Bastards

2009-08-17T00:39:00.003-04:00

My timetable, for next semester, is supposed to be available today.

It's been August 17th for over 40 minutes now. How come I can't see my timetable yet? I stayed up late so that I could take a look at my timetable. It's not fair.

Bastards.

:-)

Arterial Line Placement

2009-08-15T07:11:00.000-04:00

Placement of an Arterial Line from Cruz Rincon on Vimeo.

Elmo Vs. Pharmacist

2009-08-14T22:19:00.003-04:00

Thoracentisis

2009-08-14T16:04:00.001-04:00

Thoracentesis from Cruz Rincon on Vimeo.

Orotracheal Intubation

2009-08-13T06:07:00.000-04:00

Orotracheal Intubation from Cruz Rincon on Vimeo.

Chest Tube insertion

2009-08-12T11:20:00.000-04:00

Chest Tube Inserction from Cruz Rincon on Vimeo.

Cricothyroidotomy

2009-08-11T17:53:00.000-04:00

Cricothyroidotomy from Cruz Rincon on Vimeo.

Can you save the bunny?

2009-08-11T16:40:00.001-04:00

Save the bunny!

Golden handcuffs

2009-08-11T08:57:00.003-04:00

Most people who make career changes don't do it to make less money. I am.

When I was working in IT, I would often times think about my job as my golden handcuffs. I felt kind of trapped in IT and a big part of it had to do with money. I was making really good money and, if I changed careers, I would be making less while making the change and when starting a new career. The problem with golden handcuffs is that you don't want to take them off because they're really shiny and made out of gold.

When I try to explain the golden handcuffs to people, they don't really seem to understand what I'm talking about or why they were such a big deal. I think that's because I have always been reluctant to talk about how much money was involved. The money that I used to make is in the past, so I think I can now talk about it, without coming across like a pretentious Ahole.

My last year of full time employment, in IT, was 2005.

Year: 2005
Employmet Income: $101,292.64
It's going to be a long time before I see money like that again. I was wearing the golden handcuffs and was looking for the key to unlock them.

Year: 2006
Employment Income: $53,253.18
I was a full time student studying Biotechnology/Science. I was working part time. That was the year of being really, really tired. People at school thought that I was always "so happy". I was more relieved than anything else. I'm actually kind of a grumpy person, so I was surprised by how people thought of me that year. I was wearing the golden handcuffs and had the key, to unlock them, in my back pocket.

Year: 2007
Employment Income: $60,276.39
I was a full time student up until the end of April and part time until July. I was still working part time but trying to work more hours. Making more money was more important than going to school, at that point, because I was saving for RT School. I unlocked the golden handcuffs but was still carrying them around with me because they were so pretty and shiny.

Year: 2008
Employment Income: $48,656.35
At this point I was living 10 minutes away from school and a couple of hours from work. I was working 3 days a week until September. I quit my job in August and started RT school in September. If I was working during school, I probably wouldn't have done very well in school. School was quite a grind. I put the golden handcuffs in a shoe box in the back of my closet.

Year: 2009
Employment Income (so far): $0.00
I will probably start a peer tutoring job when school starts back up in September. I thought I put the golden handcuffs in a shoe box in the back of my closet. I can't find them anymore. Where they really made out of gold? Did I really have a pair? Why didn't I sell them to somebody? I sure could use the money.

Fortunately, I had a bit of money saved for retirement. Unfortunately, most of that money is tied up in the stock market. The stock market really kicked my ass. I'm now living off of borrowed money, while I'm waiting for the stock market to recover a bit. Fortunately the stock market is recovering. I think I'll dip into my retirement savings in Novemeber or December.

If things go well, I'm hoping to make about $50, 000.00 in 2011 when I'm working as an RT. That's about what I was making in 2006 when I was a full time student and working part time.

RN Medics?

2009-08-10T16:38:00.005-04:00

Quite some time ago, when I was wandering around in Toronto, I saw an ambulance that had 'RNMedics' written on it instead of the usual 'Paramedics'. Did some ambulances in Toronto have RNs on board? I tried to figure out what was going on by poking around on the Internet and didn't have any luck.

I was in Toronto a few weeks ago and saw another one of those ambulances and discovered that they had 'CBRNMedics' written on them and not 'RNMedics', as I had incorrectly remembered. CBRNMedics makes a bit more sense. CBRN stands for Chemical, Biological, Radioactive & Nuclear.

Privacy

2009-08-09T19:20:00.003-04:00

A few months ago I had to go to a Doctor's office to get a photocopy of some blood test results. The results of the blood test prove that my Hepatitis B vaccinations have given me immunity to Hepatitis B.

In order to get a copy of the results I had to sign a release form, authorizing release of the blood test results to myself.

Huh? Uh. OK.

Lame apology

2009-08-04T10:54:00.003-04:00

In an earlier post I mentioned my neighbour who's doing renovations. Last night he knocked on my door and sort of apologized. He essentially apologized for breaking the noise bylaw. He then asked if I could let him know whenever I go out in the evening, so that he could do some more renovations when I'm gone! I told him that I'm usually home after 7PM and probably won't ever be doing that.

What about being civil to your neighbours? I talked to him twice about all of the noise and that didn't work. The threat of a $5000 fine, and a Bylaw Enforcement Officer knocking on his door, made him stop acting like an idiot. He's essentially behaving himself, like a reasonable human being, because he does not want to be punished. The concept of having some respect or consideration for his new neighbours still hasn't seemed to cross his mind. He's definitely still in the Ahole category in my books. If you don't act like an Ahole because you don't want to be punished, you're still an Ahole.

It's OK to say you're sorry

2009-08-01T15:58:00.005-04:00

It's OK to say you're sorry, there's a new law that says so.

When I first heard about the law, I was glad to hear about it. Then I started thinking about why we needed a law to make apologizing OK, in the first place...
http://www.hiroc.com/AxiomNews/2009/April/April27.html

Ready to go

2009-07-28T17:04:00.004-04:00

I've paid my tuition. I've purchased the required textbooks. I've gotten my student card updated. I'm ready to go, back to school in six weeks.

Useless health tip of the day

2009-07-24T13:10:00.003-04:00

Health Tip: Avoiding Shin Splints: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_87264.html

Who the hell wrote that? Maybe the article should have mentioned something about "Avoiding Shin Splints". I'm just sayin.

Enrolled for 3rd semester

2009-07-20T20:57:00.003-04:00

I'm now officially enrolled for 3rd Semester, which starts in September. Three of the courses have a lab component. If I don't count Hospital Practicum/Simulation I, it looks like I'll have 25 hours of classes and labs in 3rd semester.

These are the courses I'll be taking:

Neonatal and Pediatric Respiratory Care
Ventilators 2
Blood Analysis and Diagnostics
Airway Interventions
Cardiodiagnostics
Pharmacology
Hospital Practicum/Simulation I
Advanced Practice

My neighbour baffles me

2009-07-17T01:17:00.003-04:00

Today my neighbour, in the condo apartment right beside me, was back to his old ways. I wasted 45 minutes hoping that he would knock off the hammering and sawing, until I couldn't take it anymore. At 7:45PM I called and made a noise complaint. The city only had one By-law Enforcement Officer on duty, so it took him about an hour to show up and knock on my neighbour's door. Unfortunately, when he got there, my neighbour wasn't making any noise.

The Officer explained the By-law to my neighbour and made him aware of the fines associated with breaking the noise By-law. The next time my neighbour breaks the By-law I now know that I should call right away, so that the Officer who arrives will actually be able to hear the noise. If my neighbour doesn't smarten up, I'll just follow the By-law Officer's advice and keep on making noise complaints.

What's going through my neighbour's mind? Did he think that after two days of not breaking the noise By-law, I would forget about the fact that all that noise pisses me off?

I don't have to put up with the noise, so why should I? Why does my neighbour think that I would? He really does baffle me.

The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation : In Our Lifetime

2009-07-15T22:02:00.008-04:00

I'll let this video speak for itself: