Intersession

Our last two weeks comprised intersession, marking the transition between third and fourth year. While its not a summer break, it's a wonderful chance to get the entire class back together. The hours are light, mostly filled with practical and relevant lectures and small groups. This intersession addressed health policy, health care organizations, the enormous cost of medicine in America, and quality improvements. After being in clinics and on the wards for a year, these topics have a new relevance to me. I think if I got these lectures a year ago, I'd be much less interested. They got impressive speakers and took unique perspectives; for example, we heard about health care systems in Germany, England, and Canada. We looked at information technology, public reporting of statistics, and pay for performance as incentives for quality improvement. From reading the literature, I feel information technology may be the most important as the foundation enables further improvement.

Much of intersessions also prepared us for fourth year and beyond. There were several panels discussing how to deal with ethical dilemmas and medical mistakes. We reviewed common bugs and drugs, radiology basics, and EKGs. We finally got a formal lecture on common ICU problems, ventilator settings, and the importance of sign-out. We listened to heart sounds and practiced putting IVs in each other. In small groups, we looked at the basic science and clinical trials of the human papilloma virus and the new Gardasil vaccine. It's interesting; in actually reviewing the data, I would recommend it for an appropriate individual (someone with minimal exposure to HPV), but I would be hesitant to recommend it for a population (I am unconvinced the cost-benefit analysis for populations is as favorable as it is for an individual).

For career development, many specialties had information sessions, and we learned about putting together CVs and personal statements. It's all a little overwhelming, but I guess I'll take the process as it comes. In any case, it was really fun seeing all my friends, refreshed and ready. I loved meeting again with my Foundations of Patient Care small group and hearing what everyone wants to do. It's amazing that for many of my classmates their plans and passions have solidified. Hopefully now I'm ready to tackle fourth year.