Reason number 542 NOT to bring your kid to the ER...

I'm at the ER again today.  I think I just have the worst luck, because once again not a single kid has actually qualified for a study--don't get me wrong, we've had TONS of kids with abdominal pain and whatnot, but none who are being tested for appendicitis--mostly just constipated.  Woot.  It's a poopy kind of day.  Only kid who might have qualified for my other study had x-rays with him when he arrived, which ruled him out.  (ETA:  Finally had a qualifying kid come in at 15 minutes til my shift was up...ended up staying almost an hour late but it was worth it because I got to help run the ultrasound for his broken clavicle!)

Best chief complaint of the day: kid who was brought to the ER (yes, folks, the emergency room) because he had cotton from the end of a Q-tip stuck in his ear.  The US medical system at work, folks, right here in front of our eyes.  

I'm thinking of talking to one of the doctors here about finding someone who's doing a case review study that I could help out with and get published.  All the cool kids are doing it, apparently...and God knows I have to keep up with the crowd.  In all honesty, though, it would definitely be a boost to the CV if I had a publication, even if peds doesn't necessarily require it. 

We had our lottery for the student-run clinics that we can run in our second year.  Basically, the school has four clinics throughout the city that are essentially run by second year med students (reporting to legitimate physicians, don't worry), and we can get two elective credits for working once a week for seven weeks at one of them.  Obviously, lots of people want to do this, so to make it fair in terms of who gets to do it (and which clinic they get to work at) we have a lottery.  Everybody's name got randomly assigned a number and then today at the lotto session when they called your number you picked which clinic and which session you wanted to work.  Unfortunately, I had a pretty high number so I didn't get my first choice clinic, but I did get one that I think will be a fun one to work.  I'll be working for seven weeks next spring (at the end of the year, when I might actually know something and when things will stick the most for third year, I'm hoping) in a clinic that serves mostly women, some children, and a few men, most of whom are involved with a local half-way house.  I'm super excited and can't wait to get some more clinical experience under my belt.  

Only two more weeks of class, study week, then two weeks off before my externship starts!