A Fool For a Master

November 3, 2011, 6:11 pmDoctor Psychobabble20 comments

“No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.”

- Hunter S. Thompson

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Today was rejuvenating. November is officially my dedicated “research month.” What exactly does that mean? Good question. Well, my residency program is actually super cool in that it provides a dedicated month during your PGY-2 year where you pretty much spend the entire month doing research. It’s actually even cooler than it sounds. You get to work with a mentor (mine happens to be awesome) on a research project, which may or may not eventually result in a poster presentation or paper. However, the real “meat” is that although you may not discover the cure to all cancer during your one dedicated month, you end up dabbling in enough research and learning enough to ignite a passion or develop a plan to continue working on research if you so desire. It’s actually a pretty awesome idea, which has served to inspire many residents before me. In addition to working on research this month, I am responsible for supporting our department’s weekly Grand Rounds, and I will be on call every Sunday night. Not a bad deal, at all.

In fact, the only side effect of research month is that there are many days where I don’t actually have to leave my apartment if I don’t want to. I can work on a lot of the research from the comfort of my own home and in my jammies. This is totally awesome, however I realized today that this has an unintended side effect. If I’m not forced to get up at the break of dawn, shower, get dressed, and leave my apartment, it turns out that I don’t. I may get a lot of things accomplished, but I also miss out on “world exploration.” This occurred to me today during my walk to the hospital. I realized that I was quite rejuvenated and excited about walking to work, experiencing the world, and having the opportunity to take photos (see above).

So, today was a great day. Every Thursday, us residents have a dedicated day for didactics. In addition to experiencing some much needed human contact, I learned some cool stuff as well. For example:

1. High Expressed Emotion (EE) can involve emotional over-involvement by family members who blame themselves for a family member’s mental illness, and this can have a negative effect on the patient.

2. Treatment fidelity has to do with how accurately or faithfully a program (or intervention) is reproduced from a manual, protocol or model.

3. Antisocial Personality Disorder is considered the “grandfather” of personality disorders in that it was the first personality disorder to be identified in the DSM.

I’ve been attempting to save moulah and cook dinner for the past week. But tonight is time for celebration and hence time to order sushi (I’m very good at rationalizing). So, this is me signing off. Time to take counsel from the uncooked fishies…

Part of My “Yo Brooklyn, Fuhgeddaboudit” Photo Series

  • Anonymous

    What timing. Just this afternoon I was yapping with a friend on the dock in Picard about the importance of waking up and getting outside asap. So, I’ll give a quick paraphrase. A very friendly retired italian man who swims every morning at the pool I used to lifeguard once told me his number one secret to a successful and invigorating life. “Get out first thing when you wake up. Put some pants on and go for a walk, go to the store, go for a swim, go sit at the park. If you do, you guarantee a winning day. If you don’t you’ve missed out on the uniqueness of who you are that day.” Or something like that. I respect this man, and I’ve strived to heed his tried and true advice. Can you do both? Get work done comfortably from hom AND explore the world a bit. Of course you can Super K!

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      Your friend is very wise! I think the putting the pants on part is key. :) I have been getting up in the morning and going for a run in my running shorts and then coming home and spending the rest of the day in my apartment. I think the key point is to take a shower, “put your pants on” (the “real” pants) and then go out and enjoy the world. I’m getting ready to go for a run right now, I’ll let you know how the new masta plan works out. ;)

  • TheseScrubs

    What timing. Just this afternoon I was yapping with a friend on the dock in Picard about the importance of waking up and getting outside asap. So, I’ll give a quick paraphrase. A very friendly retired italian man who swims every morning at the pool I used to lifeguard once told me his number one secret to a successful and invigorating life. “Get out first thing when you wake up. Put some pants on and go for a walk, go to the store, go for a swim, go sit at the park. If you do, you guarantee a winning day. If you don’t you’ve missed out on the uniqueness of who you are that day.” Or something like that. I respect this man, and I’ve strived to heed his tried and true advice. Can you do both? Get work done comfortably from hom AND explore the world a bit. Of course you can Super K!

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      Your friend is very wise! I think the putting the pants on part is key. :) I have been getting up in the morning and going for a run in my running shorts and then coming home and spending the rest of the day in my apartment. I think the key point is to take a shower, “put your pants on” (the “real” pants) and then go out and enjoy the world. I’m getting ready to go for a run right now, I’ll let you know how the new masta plan works out. ;)

  • Jun

    whatever you do, don’t bury your vibrancy under the mountains of research papers! good luck finding a cure for rudeness- oops, i mean, oppositional defiant disorder.

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      i don’t like using “LOL” but i did in fact just laugh out loud! :) if i could find a cure for ODD and bottle it, i would be one rich girl, and would make millions of parents much happier….

  • Jun

    whatever you do, don’t bury your vibrancy under the mountains of research papers! good luck finding a cure for rudeness- oops, i mean, oppositional defiant disorder.

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      i don’t like using “LOL” but i did in fact just laugh out loud! :) if i could find a cure for ODD and bottle it, i would be one rich girl, and would make millions of parents much happier….

  • http://www.facebook.com/rob.lindeman1 Rob Lindeman

    I dunno.  When I was working on my PhD I actually had to go to the lab!  What new thing can one discover about one’s field, or even about the world, without leaving one’s apartment?

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      The thing about having just one month to dedicate to research is that most of us don’t start a new project. We sort of just work with a mentor, usually on a project that was already begun and possibly completed. Mine happens to be a completed project, so I am basically working on lit searches and other research as well as manipulating the data and coming up with a new mini-research project based on my results. The research has to do with clinical trials actually performed at other hospitals, so I don’t do any of the “hands on” stuff, but more so the bigger picture stuff, which doesn’t require a lab. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/rob.lindeman1 Rob Lindeman

    I dunno.  When I was working on my PhD I actually had to go to the lab!  What new thing can one discover about one’s field, or even about the world, without leaving one’s apartment?

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      The thing about having just one month to dedicate to research is that most of us don’t start a new project. We sort of just work with a mentor, usually on a project that was already begun and possibly completed. Mine happens to be a completed project, so I am basically working on lit searches and other research as well as manipulating the data and coming up with a new mini-research project based on my results. The research has to do with clinical trials actually performed at other hospitals, so I don’t do any of the “hands on” stuff, but more so the bigger picture stuff, which doesn’t require a lab. 

  • http://thuchuynh.com thuc

    Sounds like an awesome month ahead !  :)

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      for sure! :)

  • http://thuchuynh.com thuc

    Sounds like an awesome month ahead !  :)

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      for sure! :)

  • http://anamiracanstory.com/ Amira

    Hiyya, first time commenter.

    Rejuvenating is the right word. Staying home for more than three straight days starts weighing on me; I start feeling down and get snappy.  TheseScrubs story is exactly what I end needing to do to get out of the funk.

    Your research month sounds exciting! Here’s to an eventful November!

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      indeed!! and thanks! :)

  • http://anamiracanstory.com/ Amira

    Hiyya, first time commenter.

    Rejuvenating is the right word. Staying home for more than three straight days starts weighing on me; I start feeling down and get snappy.  TheseScrubs story is exactly what I end needing to do to get out of the funk.

    Your research month sounds exciting! Here’s to an eventful November!

    • http://doctorpsychobabble.com Dr. Psychobabble

      indeed!! and thanks! :)