1 Month Down!

Orientation is officially over! (Even though I'm sure I have a lot more to learn!) The past month of my new job has flown by! It has been exciting, overwhelming, helpful and motivating for what we are about to do. Orientation and the adjustment to Charleston has gone a lot better than I thought it would. Number 1 reason is due to my large residency class. We have one of the largest in the nation and I have really enjoyed that. We've been together a lot this month and really developed friendships. For the most part, everyone gets along and I think the time we've spent together this month will help us over the next 11 months - whenever we are stressed, overwhelmed or simply want someone to go eat dinner with. Carol, in particular, has been a huge answer to prayer. She is from Tennessee and will be doing the 2-year Pharmacotherapy program. She is a true Christ follower and we have enjoyed going together to "try-out" the churches in the area. So far we have gone to East Cooper Baptist Church, Ashley River Baptist Church and Seacoast Church. We hope to make it to First Baptist Church of Charleston soon - it is downtown among all the beautiful houses and carries much of the history of the Baptist Church. If anyone has any other recommendations, pass them along!
One thing I have learned about Charleston: When it rains, it floods within a few seconds... (and Sarah, it is worse than you think Auburn is) - It can sometimes be challenging to drive through the streets during a rainstorm. A few of us have even named a body of water that forms after the rain on our walk to the hospital-Lake Roper.
I start my first rotation Monday - in the Cardiac ICU. I am really looking forward to it, but know it will be challenging! I will also have my first weekend alone as a real pharmacist on Aug 8/9...kind of scary! As for this weekend, I plan to eat at some fun places, shop at the market and outlets and REST...let the fun begin.

Elevators

I have come to learn that I don't like Elevators very much! They scare me... the doors specifically. It's a habit to always stick your hand out as you are getting in to stop the doors in case they start closing... and I still jump everytime they start closing in on me - EVEN though I know they are going to AND I know they will open back up. I just don't trust them! I'm always afraid I'm going to get a limb stuck in the door. There are a few elevators out there that don't open back up for some reason and maybe those 1 in a million are what has caused my fear. Who knows. It doesn't help that I work in a hospital with about 10 different sets of elevators throughout.
Another thing about elevators - sometimes it is just akward to ride with strangers. They told us (really, those from the north) on our first day of orientation not to be suprised if strangers talk to you on the elevator. I'm from the south, so that is not a suprise...but it doesn't happen that often. To me, there is just this akward silence where everyone knows you don't have to talk, but you still want to break the silence... Does anyone else get this feeling?
Oh - and Amy and I got semi-stuck in a VERY small elevator in Greece with our backpacks on - we barely fit - I have the pictures to prove it:

Convenience vs. Necessity

So, lately I have been blurring the lines between these two. I often talk myself into buying things b/c they are necessary, but in all reality, they are not and are simply convenience items! For example... My name tag at work wouldn't attach properly to the shirts I would wear each day to work - so I went out and bought a Vera Bradley name-tag laynard so it won't have to attach to any shirt. Convenience or Necessity? Another... My robe I wear every morning is quite hot here in the summer - so I went and bought a cute, monogrammed towel-wrap. Convenience or necessity? And another... I didn't have a mouse pad at work - so I found a cute polka-dot "J" mousepad to buy for my office. Sometimes, it's these little things in life that make you happy! Good thing I'm finally getting paid soon!

Lowcountry Auburn Club

I'm happy to report that there is an Auburn Alumni Club here in Charleston! They are having a dinner in a few weeks, so maybe I can meet some fellow Auburn grads to watch the games I cannot attend...

HAPPY Birthday to KIMMIE today!

Update from Charleston

The past week and 1/2 has flown by!! I haven't had much time to blog, etc, but I will try to catch up. The first week (2 days) of Residency was good - meeting my co-residents, endless meetings, pager presentation, feeling overwhelmed, etc. We got our schedules on Thurs for the entire year and I am thankful to say that I do not have to work on Thanksgiving (i.e. AU/AL game!!) or Christmas! As far as holidays, I have to work the weekend of Labor Day, Easter and Memorial Day (which will change for Andy's wedding) - so not that bad. I was also happy to find out that I will be doing all of my weekend/night work in the Children's Hospital - and I am the only 1st year Resident that gets this privaledge, so I am excited. I was also happy with my month-to-month rotation schedule and got many of the rotations that I asked for.
We had Friday off for the holiday and my mom was able to come up for the weekend since my dad is in Africa. She arrived about 2pm Friday afternoon and didn't leave until 8am Monday morning. I was glad to have her here to help me finish settling in and find my way around town! We managed to go to the movies, eat seafood, exercise at The Battery and County park, lay-out at the pool, see top 5 fireworks, attend church, go on a carriage ride and meet some of my residency friends. I have 2 slideshows of pictures from the fireworks and carriage ride below. Nothing like watching fireworks that go off of a huge aircraft carrier!
This week we have been working on learning the computer systems for order entry and taking a 2-day ACLS class. I am happy to report that I passed the written and live simulation test and am now ACLS certified! This weekend I have to take the SC law test (Sat at 4pm) so I have been busy studying for this every evening. I will be glad to have that behind me!
So far, so good. I am enjoying getting to know my co-residents and am happy to get a few pieces of the residency puzzle each day. I hope to have a better picture of what this year will be like by the end of the month!