Things That Are Funnier Than My Whining

So, last week I had another…incident…at Student Health.  I was feeling really anxious and overwhelmed about something and went to get a prescription for Xanex.  I had one from over 6 months ago that I never filled, because no, I don’t usually take Xanex.  I wrote once about my horrific experience with Klonopin and thankfully, I’ve been really successful with managing occasional anxiety with non-pharmacological interventions (working out, drinking tea, listening to music, venting on my blog, ahem…).  For whatever reason (*cough* USMLE *cough*), though, I was just really overwhelmed and unable to sleep.

The doctor told me no, because they run things like that through Psych (which is fine, I guess), but not before a lengthy 10 minute lecture.  She wanted me to skip my afternoon classes to come back to see the psychiatrist and I said no.  I explained that I had a lab in the afternoon that I couldn’t miss and explained that it was a PRN script for ten Xanex, which I hadn’t even filled from before, because I do really well with my anxiety management.  I’m not on anti-depressants, I’m not seeing a therapist (but maybe I should be…lol), and I don’t have any other ongoing Psych. issues.  In her defense, I knew where she was coming from.  In my defense, I don’t have infinite amounts of time and I was there for anxiety.  It would have been nice to be offered one pill to get me through the day and an appointment for the following morning.

Instead, she went on and on about how if it was “really important,” I would have “made the time” to come back, then implied that I was somehow malingering about my anxiety because I didn’t want to come back.  (Except, who malingers about wanting ten 0.25 mg Xanex? *rolls eyes*)  Then, she moved on to a guilt-trip about how other, non-medical people have to miss work all the time for appointments and how I need to be more sensitive about other people and understand “this is how these things work” if I’m going to be a good doctor.

WTF!  Maybe that lecture would have been relevant, if we didn’t consider the fact that I was already in the office.  Did it not occur to her that I had made the time, that I had missed something else important to be there, and that I don’t have a full eight hours a day to play her stupid games, because “even though I could write you the prescription, I’m not going to, because that’s not how we do things here.”

I almost wrote about it here, but 1. I didn’t have time that day (I guess it wasn’t “really important” to me) and 2.  What’s new about some (insecure, arrogant) attending dumping on a medical student at a teaching institution?  There’s always at least a few who try to take advantage of the poor, baby medical students because they’re at the bottom of the totem pole in the The System.  Besides, I have a private practice internist in Bethesda who is not a dumb prick, so I canceled my own clinic hours the next morning to go get the Xanex refill (because it was “really important”).  He also gave me a few other scripts for my sinus medications, so that I don’t have to darken the door of Student Health again anytime soon.  (I love you, Dr. Internist!)

Anyway, as much as I love whining to you about the perils of medical school, I’m not that funny when I write about it.  Usually, it’s all rage and hatred and “residents and attendings are stupid!” (And for real, some of them legitimately are.  A resident in Path lab spent 20 minutes two weeks ago, trying to convince us that a fetal heart with aortic stenosis had a coarctation.  They’re kind of not the same.  Like, dramatically not the same.)

What I write about is nothing like this:

 Many of you already read A Cartoon Guide to Becoming aDoctor, and I do  too.

You know why?  Because Fizzy is not only hilarious, she is disturbingly accurate.  I love that she is able to pinpoint the exact scenarios that happen during medical training.  From the dumped on medical students who have to deal with gunners and mean residents, to residency, where you’re dealing with the obsequious and annoying medical students (or in my case, the ones with sass who hate you).

Fizzy has made it to the other side, and lived to tell the tale (Yes!  There is still hope!).  And, because she's awesome, she's just released a new book of cartoons.

It’s a great coffee table book, or desk/nighttable book when you need to unwind.  (Don’t pretend like you don’t blog surf at your desk anyway, because you do.)  And, if you're not a medical student or doctor, it’s also a great gift for pre-medical students, so that they can get out while they still can with lighthearted mockery about the profession that they are about to embark on.

So, go buy a copy and show Dr. Fizzy some love!  As a special book promotion, Dr. Fizzy will also be posting a new cartoon every day next week on her blog, so enjoy the preview as well.