Signout is hospital slang for the transfer of information between patient care teams. It is also the name of this blog, which represents one of the less dysfunctional ways in which Dr. Signout copes with her participation in a U.S. medical residency program.
For those of you new to Signout, I'm a first-year resident (i.e., an intern) in a medical residency program in the United States.
Medical education is different all over the world. In the U.S., we spend four years getting a bachelor's degree (which doesn't need to be science-related); four years getting a medical degree (in which we take a standardized group of courses in medically related sciences and clinical medicine); anywhere from three to seven years training as a resident (all clinical, all the time, and standardized according to the requirements of the field in which the training is); and an optional two to three years in fellowship (specialized clinical training, usually combined with research).
I'm in the second-to-last stage of that training, which for me will focus on the care of sick adults and children for about the next three and a half years.
Perhaps it's because I'm in training, or perhaps it's because I'm incredibly neurotic, but it never seems that what we do in medicine is without some subtext. A guy getting an MRI is rarely just a guy getting an MRI--there's always symptomatology, pathophysiology, or a social or emotional context to explore. My goal here at Signout to share that exploration with people--to explain why an interaction, a test, a grey hair, a cup of coffee, is something.
Thanks for joining me.
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Comments
Welcome to the club! I look forward to following your adventures.
Posted by: ian | January 18, 2007 3:06 PM
Welcome to SciBlogs! It looks like you'll fit right in.
Posted by: doctorgoo | January 18, 2007 4:04 PM
Dr. Signout:
Congrats on joining the ScienceBlogs team of effulgent if not slightly warped primal-scream-bloggers.
As a former intern I am looking forward to reading your accounts of this singular year in the development of a doctor.
If you ever want to vent, feel free to use me as a punching bag!
Posted by: The Cheerful Oncologist | January 19, 2007 10:51 PM
Thanks to all for the warm welcome! I don't punch, but I do occasionally throw things. Will keep you posted.
Posted by: Signout | January 20, 2007 9:27 AM
hi there, welcome aboard. we need some more medical voices in here, glad to have you :)
Posted by: drcharles | January 23, 2007 8:53 PM