Eric Chatfield's Journal
[Most Recent Entries]
[Calendar View]
[Friends]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Eric Chatfield's LiveJournal:
[ << Previous 20 ]
| Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 | | 7:18 am |
Nice to be done with OBGYN. Hard work, pretty interesting most of the time. It was the first rotation I could see myself doing except I really don't want to invest the time required for it through my career. My favorite part was all the surgery, too. But between OB and surgery, there is a ton of time committment. Plus, they are the types of specialties that, when called, you have to go to the hospital right away. There is no finishing what you are doing, they call you when they need you. But I am confident I can figure out something to do with my life yet. On to internal medicine. Looking forward to figuring out whether medicine is something I can do or not. | | Thursday, September 11th, 2008 | | 11:37 pm |
We now have our first-ever washer and dryer. In our home!! Quiet, it is a big moment for me. | | Saturday, September 6th, 2008 | | 5:44 pm |
It is one week after moving into the new house. The internet is up and running, Mirinda is doing an absolutely fantastic job of not only managing the kids in the new space that is coming together, but putting said space together. She has organized many things, put most everything away. She has done so much. I am lucky that I have done things like set up the TV space, the computer (with now working internet, which is really good, see later), organizing the garage, etc. She has done basically everything else, plus made most of the meals. Amazing. The new house is nice. We run into problems here and there. For instance, there is a yellow jacket hive inside one of the walls (they fly into the outer window frame) and we even had them coming into our bedroom for a while, but the hole they were coming into is now patched, and we will have exterminators coming soon. All in all, though, the house is awesome. No more cigarette smoke coming into the house, no more smelling other people's cooking through the hallway (not a good smell), no more sharing parking. We went to Costco today and stocked up on things like toilet paper 'cause we have space to store that stuff now! Awesome. I am on Peds rotation right now. I actually like it quite a bit more than I thought I would. It is nice to try and care for kids, mostly because they are very honest in their presentation. A sick kid is a sick kid, a well kid acts well, at least until teenage years. Kids are more simple. I still don't think peds is going to be what I settle down with, but I like it more at least. The only trouble is there is a lot of on-line work and not having internet was a problem. Luckily it is up now, so I can try and stay on top of the work. | | Monday, September 1st, 2008 | | 9:17 pm |
The move is done, in that we are completely out of the appartment. We decided we were going to change internet services over to Comcast because with the phone line we have to pay for, we are almost paying as much for comcast high speed, and that is for the slowest DSL account. So we are without internet right now, which is lovely because I am starting a new rotation (Pediatrics) and there are tons of things they are trying to coordinate on line. Perfect. We will hopefully have internet service set up by the 9th of September. And I will occasionally be checking email when I go to campus for lecture and when I get to various free hotspots around town. Like I am doing right now. More later. | | Saturday, July 26th, 2008 | | 4:30 pm |
Happy Birthday, Quinten!!! My son turns 5 today. He starts kindergarten in the fall. That is all crazy. I really kinda feel like I am just finishing undergrad work, not working on finishing med school after taking a couple years off. I feel younger than I am, which is good as long as I don't act like I did when I was twenty-one. | | Thursday, July 24th, 2008 | | 11:31 am |
We found a place to live!
We decided a while back that we were going to try and move from where we are currently living to something larger. We wanted a house really badly, but they were always so expensive, but (I think) because the selling market is so horrible right now, more houses are going up for rent, letting rent prices drop as well. We found a perfect house and were recently told that our application was accepted and will (officially) have the house held for us when we turn in our security deposit. Now, it is going to take us a few days to put the money together, but very soon we will have it, put it down, then we will be moving into an awesome place! Most places we have looked at were what you would call a fixer-upper, but this place is an actual house! It has just about every ammenity we could want! Attached two car garrage, washer and dryer hook-ups, living room AND family room AND dining room AND eat-in kitchen. Fenced yard. Right next to a gorgeous park with BIG play structures. Great neighborhood (it is a classic suburbia neighborhood, not busy streets at all, important with the kids), great schools since Quinten is starting kindergarten. The place is awesome. It is 3 bed, 2.5 bath. Can't wait to move in. Should be able to move the last week of August, with big moving day on the 30th. It is so exciting, I can actually have people sleep at our place when they come into town, there will be plenty of space! | | Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 | | 5:08 pm |
I am back, kind of. A lot of life happened in the last little bit, most of it exciting. I now have a second daughter, currently 2.5 weeks old. And in case you were uncertain, I am sleepy. I have just about completed my 1st month as a third year medical student, doing my 4th week in family medicine. It is going well, but I am always tired....and this is one of my easier rotations. It worries me to think of how much busier I will be during my surgery rotation. But at least it is mostly interesting. And because I did my board exams early (mid May), I have my results. And they are good! Actually, they are exceptional. To go back in time, I took my COMLEX (the osteopathic, DO boards) on May 15th and afterward felt like crap. I honestly didn't know if I passed. 4 Days later, I took the USMLE (the allopathic MD licensing exam) and that one I felt much better about. Well my scores reflect my feelings of performance, except my COMLEX was pretty darn good and my USMLE was absolutely exceptional. And to me, that says something, especially since current statistics show DO students have a pass rate of only about 77% on the USMLE compared to MD students at 92%. So statistically I was disadvantaged yet that was the test I did really well on (which feels really good, since my score is desireable and probably better than the majority of students from even the best schools like Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton....). So major updates: Third Child Born! Chelsea Olivia Chatfield (the name has grown on me immensely). She and Mirinda are both doing really well (other than getting very little sleep at night). Finished 1st month of clinical rotations in Family Medicine. Only 1 year, 11 months left of medical school. And performed exceptionally on board exams. Feels good, a great culmination to the first 2 years of medical school. I actually learned something.... | | Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 | | 7:19 pm |
In less than three hours, I leave for Chicago Midway airport to meet my parents who are coming into town and pickup my wife and kids who have been in Oregon the past two weeks. My wife went home to surprise her mother for Mother's Day. I mean literally surprise her, she sent my youngest, Ashlie, in with a Burgerville milkshake for her at work. Her mom didn't have a clue, I wish I had gotten one of the nurses she works with in on it and had a camera to take some video. Oh well. The other reason she was gone was to give me uninterrupted study time to focus on my board exams (which if any of you out there know me, you know that is a bit excessive, I can't focus on my studies for more than about 2.5 hours in a row, but that let me stop and fiddle on the computer [yes I just said fiddle] or do something else for an hour or two before starting again). I miss my wife and my kids very much and can't wait to see them. Also, it is amazing the relaxation I feel, having finished my exams. Now I just do clinicals for the next two years, which may mean longer actual hours in 'school', but not nearly as many hours after school doing work. I actually have evenings again! I may need to get a netflix account or somethin (1st time in a long time that would be worthwhile, with all the working evenings then school). Anyway, since I plan on keeping up on this now, I need to start getting pictures. So, coming soon..... Also, I am amazed how many of my friends stopped posting about the same time I did. Here is hoping to hear from them some more, since the 10 year is coming up. I don't think I will be able to go, but it is coming up..... | | Sunday, January 21st, 2007 | | 9:07 pm |
And the Bears are going to the Super Bowl. The third quarter was a little ugly (1 first down in an entire quarter's worth of drives), but at the end of the third, they said goodbye to the Saints and put them away all throughout the 4th quarter. I move to Chicago and the Bears go to the Superbowl, first time in 20 years. Coincidence? Of course not. | | Thursday, December 22nd, 2005 | | 10:02 pm |
| | Wednesday, November 30th, 2005 | | 5:32 pm |
Wow, sorta been a while since I updated. So kinda a lot has happened. But really....I am not going to comment on much. I am going to apply to a couple grad school programs. I am looking at Biochemistry and Cell and Molecular Biology, with a small possibility of Public Health. The problem is that if I got for a Masters, I have to decide whether to go for the PhD or go for my MD. I just don't know on that front. Oh, and I jumped on the GRE wagon, did an evening of studying (can you cram for the GRE?), and did alright. Got a 560 verbal (man, I need to read more, I have been watching a lot more TV lately) and a 760 quantitative. And don't know about analytical yet. I just hate being in the limbo I have been in for so long, and since I am, for all intents and purposes, wait-listed at the two schools I have interviewed with so far, I have a long way to go before I can escape my limbo. Work is interesting, however, Corvallis had its first fatal police shooting in 14 years a few days ago. Interesting. | | Thursday, November 10th, 2005 | | 6:13 pm |
Bummer. The 29th of October, we went to a halloween party. Mirinda was driving and we were getting back on I-84, turning on Hawthorne on 39th. Well, there is a camera at that light and Mirinda isn't used to those. She got caught. Now she has a court date December 29th and a 237 dollar fine to pay. Lovely, just in time for christmas. Now we get to figure out whether it is worth sending her to traffic court 8 months pregnant up in Portland or to just send in a letter and pay the full amount, hoping that we get a refund after the fact. Don't know. | | Wednesday, October 26th, 2005 | | 4:03 pm |
Well, OHSU interview is done. Seems to have gone well. I have been pretty quiet about it (to the annoyance of friends and family, I am afraid), because I don't want to start speculating and getting my hopes up. That was no fun last year, feeling like it was my year to get in and getting absolutely crushed. Anyway, it went well enough, interview with two physicians, an opthalmologist at the Casey Eye Institute (REALLY nice building), and an ENT doc (otolaryngologist for all those purists) who was very nice, kinda eccentric, and we interviewed in the glass sky-bridge connecting OHSU hospital and the VA. He was my favorite. Now I just wait. 4-6 months. And I start bugging schools. Again. | | Wednesday, October 19th, 2005 | | 3:30 pm |
Must keep LJ momentum, lest I neglect it to the point it stops existing....or whatever. Not much new, however. I have my interview at OHSU in six days, then DMU 5 days later. Hope it goes well, I am brushing up on interviewing skills (but not as much as I probably should). And I have decided I will drive up from Corvallis to the interview instead of spending the night in Portland and going from town. I figure the advantage I have from preparing the night before hand, don't worry about disturbing others, have the comfort of my own bed and what I want for breakfast, etc. out-weighs the advantage of being in town and sleeping a little longer. I also like the idea of being awake for a little while longer and thus have allowed my brain to get to proper RPMs before I speak with others that affect my future (hopefully). Uhh...can't really think of anything else. | | Wednesday, October 12th, 2005 | | 6:05 pm |
I am set up to interview at OHSU on the 25th. It is much earlier than I have ever interviewed. Won't get my hopes up, though. | | Wednesday, October 5th, 2005 | | 3:30 pm |
Wow, it has kinda been a while since I posted. Why can't I seem to workout and diet at the same time. I know I would make my goal if I could. It seems whenever my workout routine is going strong, I can't stop eating to save my life, and when I diet, I don't have the energy or time (it seems) to workout. I certainly am not starving myself when I diet, I actually eat quite well. It isn't that important, I just hate being in the technical category of overweight. And it doesn't help that there aren't any good gyms in corvallis. Sure, we have some nice ones, but I can't afford them, and then I see the commercials on TV for 24 hour and Bally's for 20 bucks a month....Corvallis stinks. I do have my first med school interview set up, a regional interview in Portland for Des Moines University's school of Osteopathic Medicine. They have a 500 dollar deposit, which is the cheapest for all the Osteo-schools I have seen. So with any luck, I will get in, lock in a seat so I am not going to be sitting around another year or going to grad school heading toward a career I don't really want. And Murphy's Law states that once I put down my money down and can't get it back, more opportunities will arise. So hopefully this is the start. | | Wednesday, September 21st, 2005 | | 5:09 pm |
| | Thursday, September 15th, 2005 | | 5:50 am |
Wow. Fading fast. So far, we have done nothing especially productive tonight. Taken care of people that really didn't need caring for. Well, at least one guy did, but it was his own fault. Oh well. One more hour. | | 3:46 am |
Well, I have two of the four left. I finished one, started writing for another one, realized what I had written was complete drivel and decided to just wait for a time when my eyelids didn't want to close. So perhaps tomorrow. Or the next day. | | 2:53 am |
Procrastination. Always came natural to me, and it still does. It is a constant fight to make myself do now what I know I can put of till tomorrow in order to save me undue stress, cramped schedule, and shoddy work. Yet here I am writing in my journal instead of doing my secondaries. I have four applications to turn in. One is done, one is easy. The other two are pains in my butt. I really gotta get to it, though. Will be here until 7 AM, yet another 16 hour shift. Gotta get it done before I get too worthless, which will probably happen in another hour. I hate from 4-6 AM. It sux. |
[ << Previous 20 ]
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
chatty's journal