signout

Oh, readers. Is there anything I can say that will appease you? Thank you for the inquiries, the orders, and the pleading tones. I swear, I'm alive; medicine is still interesting and worth writing about; and although Scienceblogs.com may eventually lose patience with the intermittent nature of my…

I've been away from the blog for a while, working on fellowship applications and riding the wave of the ICU. Thank you for your patience, as ever. As you might remember from my days as an intern, I used to love the ICU. That love is no longer: doing procedures to people whose fate is inevitable isn…

It's October 1st (well it was yesterday, anyway), and I'm pretty excited, because this means it's the start of another DonorsChoose challenge. For those of you who weren't around at this time last year, DonorsChoose is an organization that pairs up your ka$hmoney with educational projects in public…

Courtesy of the excellent bioephemera's Jess Palmer comes this item of news, which concerns photographs of patients taken at the University of New Mexico Hospital and posted to a website. The photographs were reportedly close-ups of injuries being treated--no faces or patient-identifying features…

From the Department of the Maximally Self-Righteous comes this delightful little piece of scholarship, a letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that describes a survey of internal medicine interns on the subject of professionalism. In it, participants were asked to rate…

While I slowly scrape together some original Signout blather on one of my favorite subjects, please to enjoy this terrific post by Dr. Rob about why much of the crap patients go through is not the fault of their providers. When you're done, read PalMD's interesting piece that follows up his first…

There was a very nice piece in the New York Times yesterday about an oncology nurse's first code. Go read!

Anyone wishing to consume some tasty medical writing around the theme of "education" should have a peek at this week's Grand Rounds at A Chronic Dose. Laurie has kindly included not one, but two of Signout's snowflakes in her recent flurry of activity. Speaking of which, this daily-plus blogging…

You heard it here first: John McCain got Sarah Palin's daughter pregnant. You think I'm kidding? John McCain has repeatedly voted against legislation that would have prevented unwanted pregnancy by providing insurance coverage for birth control, programs to increase access to and awareness of…

Every now and then, I get email from pre-med types who are having a lot of trouble deciding whether to go to medical school. Dear Dr. Signout*, I was supposed to start medical school last week, but [I've deferred for a year to figure things out.] I guess the thing is, I like living so much, and…

One night last week, with not a whole lot going on, I strolled into the MICU to say hello to my friend Tom, who was working overnight. "Wanna go for coffee?" I asked. "Can't," he said, leaning against the nurse's station. "Probably gonna code the lady in room five sometime in the next half hour…

It's been an exciting week here at Signout. Now that I am back from my unannounced sabblogtical (yeah, I made that up), I've tended to some much-needed housekeeping. To wit, the blogroll has been pruned of defunct and outdated links. Now you may futz around all up in the sidebar without fear. Futz…

Last week, I got invited into my program director's office for a little chat. My previous week's attending had emailed him about a complaint made by a family with regard to the way I'd handled an event on the general pediatrics wards. The exact events don't really matter: all you need to know is…

Yesterday, when I was on overnight call, something truly astounding happened: the hospital ran out of coffee. By which I mean, there was no coffee available all day, nor all night. To quote one of my favorite ScienceBloggers, what the fucking fuck?! Seriously, what kind of hospital runs out of…

You know how, when you squint at a colorful tree, the borders disappear, and all the leaves merge together into one big mass of green? Turn that inside out, and you have my relationship with The Hospital. At times--especially difficult times--all the departments and interests and people in that…

Praise be, and hallelujah! That is all.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that my first name is Trixie. I spent most of my first year of residency introducing myself as "Trixie Signout, the junior resident on the team." I got called "nurse" a lot, then started introducing myself as "Dr. Trixie Signout." I wanted people to feel…

I love to cook. I have a blog. Today, and probably a few more times in the future, I will post about cooking on my blog. Questions, concerns, and hangups may be directed to the management. I once had a friend who didn't understand the fetishization of chocolate. He so resented its common…

"What I want you to do," I said, "is breathe in deep, then blow it all out like you're blowing out birthday candles." He focused his eyes in concentration and blinked a few times, then did as I'd said, aiming for the finger I held in front of him. I listened to his back with my stethoscope. "Again…

A few months ago, a new patient walked into my clinic at four o'clock on a Friday afternoon. She was a fiftyish woman who had recently moved to the area from a different state. On the plane ride up, she had developed a fever and cough, and the day after arrival, had been admitted to the hospital…

Hey, look! A new book about residency. Man, my thing is so five minutes ago. Would anyone like to venture a guess at the reason so many doctors-cum-journalists are men of Indian origin? I'll bet the Jews had something to do with this. I've read the first chapter (which you can link to from the…

It's been a while. I've been in a demoralizing, soul-sucking stretch of rotations for about two months. Suddenly, sleep has become more of a priority than ever before, and documenting the details of my crappy life seems less important and ultimately, less useful than ever. Still, you people seem to…

Friday, Thursday, Sunday--when you're working the night shift, they're all just words. Days run into other days and their names become meaningless, signifiers only of times when the mail comes and when it doesn't. I don't mind working nights for a couple of weeks at a time. There's a kind of…

Most of my memories of Charles are upside down. When I was a kid, that's how he carried me around--on his back, giggling; under his arm, waving at his knees; or thrown over his shoulder, poking at his armpit. I remember him as big, gentle, and quiet, with his mouth where his eyes should've been.…

You guys remember that DonorsChoose campaign in which Signout participated last October? Well. A project called "The Pencil Monster" was funded exclusively through donations obtained via this very blog. And because it was a great project, it got televised. Behold, the 20/20 clip! (At this linked…

I switched on the boob tube the other day while folding laundry and somehow ended up watching children's television. (What? It happens.) On Nickelodeon (motto: "Entertaining stoned adults since, I dunno, 1982?") I caught the tail end of a show called "Yo Gabba Gabba." Per the description on the…

In response to a few kind inquiries, several gentle nudges, and an overwhelming quantity of porn-related comment spam, I'm posting again. I'm not one hundred percent sure why I stopped. I think it has to do with my sneaking suspicion that my job may actually be just a job, and that really, not that…

Oh, the public's clamor is too much! Must Signout give and give and give until there is no Signout left, even for Signout? I kid. It's not that my life is really all that chaotic these days, or that nothing interesting is happening at work, or that I'm incredibly depressed--I just don't have that…

"Is anyone running this code?" There were two residents in the room, one administering chest compressions, and one getting an arterial blood sample. Neither of them answered me; in response to my question, there was only the binging and bonging of various monitors ably detecting a dead man. "OK, so…

Yowza! Within four days of my announcement about the Donors Choose campaign, you guys donated enough to more than double Signout's fundraising goal. You've raised nearly 600 bucks, kids, and I couldn't be prouder! Of course, don't let that keep you from telling your friends or checking out some of…