Fellow Life
A Day in My Life
of a First Year PCCM Fellow
5:45 am -
Alarm’s ringing and I’m up! Grind coffee (Canaltown Roasters is my saving grace...)
6:10 am -
On the road. A ten-minute commute sometimes feels short
6:30 am -
Sign-in rounds for the MICU. The night team admits 7!
7:00 am -
Supervise the R2 doing a line on one of the admits. Success on first stick! Run around and put a bunch of people on Pressure Support. Puzzle over some unknowns.
8:00 am -
Hyde Conference. My co-fellow presents a great case of Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (say that three times fast).
9:00 am -
MICU Rounds. I manage to do lots of bedside teaching while my attending finishes her documentation. Mid-rounds I intubate (grade III airway!) with my attending on standby. Touch base with some families.
12:30 pm -
Lunch
1:30 pm -
Our COPD patient develops a tension pneumothorax. Place my first chest tube! Teach residents afterwards about chest tube management
3:00 pm -
Staff some admissions with the R2. Puzzle over some conundrums. Talk to our consultants and make a plan. Review RRT case with the APP. Put out some more fires.
4:00 pm -
Weekly critical care teaching. Great ARDS update... must read that paper he referenced.
5:00 pm -
Evening walk rounds. Check in with nurses, follow-up on consultants recc’s, make sure folks are settled in for the night.
6:30 pm -
Sign out to the night team. Glad I don’t have to take home pager call!
7:30 pm -
Eat, run, relax, and bed.
I sought a fellowship program that offered supported autonomy in clinical decision making and substantial procedural exposure. This program has exceeded my expectations in both of these areas.