Life as a CA-2 has been nothing but full of fun and new experiences! Although it has only been one month since I have been promoted from Jr. resident to Semi-Jr. resident, the change is significant. For one, this is the year where we begin the bulk and majority of our sub-specialty rotations and we really earn our wings. For me, this means I have been thrown into my natural habitat, the Comer Children's Hospital. Here I am allowed to truly be myself and act my real age. If you haven't noticed yet, I'm a big kid at heart!
My typical day starts around 5:15 AM where my alarm clock wakes up both me and my 1-year-old puppy. My wife on the other hand is a bit of a deep sleeper and she usually doesn't budge. I'll then hop into the shower and get ready for the day. I'll give my wife a good bye kiss and I am on the road by 5:40 AM. I roll into the parking lot by 6 AM with both windows down blasting some "In My Feelings" by Drake to help get me pumped for the day. I channel my inner "Shiggy" and I shimmy myself over to the locker room. I set up for the day's cases and then head on over to lecture where the pediatric attendings drop some knowledge. 7:00 AM rolls around and I'm off to the pre-op bay to meet my first patient of the day. This is where the fun really begins; I get to play patty cakes, build some legos, roll kids around in wagons and most importantly try to convince them to take some oral midazolam (It isn't as easy as it sounds). Once the case is underway my attendings will usually stick around and offer some teaching points for the day and shortly after I'll take my morning break. This is where I get caffeinated and get some breakfast from Au Bon Pain downstairs.
A normal day in the Children's hospital consists of usually 3-4 cases and next thing you know its 4 PM and I have extubated my last patient. I'm usually out of scrubs and on my way home around 5 PM on a typical day in Comer. Once I'm home I'll call my attending to prepare for the next day's cases which usually takes no more than 5 to 10 minutes on the phone. I'll then grab some dinner with the wifey. We live in River North so there is no shortage of awesome restaurants nearby. If the weather is nice we will take our puppy and grab some grub at an outdoor patio. Our favorite is Left Coast Food! They have some bomb acai bowls and we usually just hang out and watch the sun set in between the downtown buildings. We get home around 8 PM and I will usually head to the gym for a lifting session until about 10 PM. After that I'll get cleaned up and try to do a little bit of reading before bed. By this time, it is usually 11 PM and both me and the wife (and our puppy) are ready for bed. I'll turn off the lights, give my wife and my pup a goodnight kiss, and then it's time to rest up for another exciting day.
Patrick Lee, D.O., CA-2 Resident