DC, DRUNKEN MADNESS, AND MY FUTURE

Well I’m back from DC and there is a lot to tell. The trip was pretty fun, overall. It’s always fun to travel with a bunch of people who realize that they are all of a sudden away from a stressful job, away from their home lives (spouses and kids, etc), and can celebrate by going somewhere fun in a cool city and get drunk. And Washington DC is a cool city. And we did get drunk.

I flew out last Wednesday – a nice direct flight from SeaTac to Reagan National Airport. Landed, went to the hotel, and then met everybody at some Irish bar where we proceeded to get tossed. Ridiculous. About 20 of us from work were there, including nearly all second and third year residents, multiple staff docs, my program director, and a few others. Next thing I know it’s 2 in the morning and about 7 of us are back in a hotel room. Two people turned over a mattress where Pete was lying and then massive wrestling broke out. There was a lot of laughter. There also now exists a picture of me riding Pete like a horse complete with that “giddy-up spank” move. It’s hilarious. I’ll post it up if I can. Good times.

Thursday the conference started. Everyone was a little sluggish, but not too bad. After waking up late we went to breakfast. Some of us talked about skipping out on parts of the conference to cruise over to the Vietnam War Memorial on Veteran’s day (last Thursday), but it didn’t work out. I hear it’s a sight to see, however. Come to think of it, my uncle was probably there. Instead we cruised down and “participated” for awhile. A lot of residents were giving presentations in the various subspecialty rooms set up and so groups of us with nothing to do at particular times would go watch their talks and hence support our peeps.

Thursday afternoon I went and talked with the internal medicine consultant (discussed below). Thursday evening we had a nice dinner in Georgetown, had a few drinks. Then four of us stayed up until about 2 am playing Euchre, a fun card game. It was a more mellow night, but we knew we had Friday night to go nuts.

On Friday Pete and I got up and skipped the morning talks to check out the Holocaust Museum. Of the Smithsonian’s, it’s the one I hadn’t been to, and I’m glad I went. Not the most uplifting experience in the world, but its is REALLY well done. It’s incredibly informative (as well as horrifying) and I enjoyed reading about the millions of little aspects surrounding world war II Germany, including Hitler’s rise, the ideology behind the racism, the indoctrination, etc. Sadly, Pete and I could only spend about 2 hours there the first day (before we had to get back to the conference) and thus we only got about half way through and then had to leave.

Friday afternoon was full of more presentations and poster viewings. It was also nice to see former residents from my program (now stationed in or doing fellowship in DC) wandering around and to catch up. Friday evening there was the medicine resident Jeopardy team competition and my program’s team (which includes my boy George) did very well, advancing to the final and providing the main competition to the eventual winning team (the Walter Reed team from DC).

After Jeopardy there was a reception for the medical students and in between attempts to hook Pete up with some chicks we kept hitting the open bar. Whoa – talk about starting a night up. I must have had 5 drinks in an hour before 8 pm. Trouble.

Friday night turned into madness. Everyone from my program (probably 30-40 of us in all including staff) went down to “Adam’s Morgan”, which is apparently a popular hang-out district in DC. We had some good east coast pizza (so good, I mean really, the difference between east and west in this regard is ridiculous), and then launched ourselves over to this bar called “Madame’s Organ”. (Of course, this place is a play on words for the district itself, you see…)

At the bar it got ridiculous. Madigan personnel, old and new, gathered and went nuts. Drinks were flying. Shots were flying. It got nutty. It was good to see everybody and there was a whole lot of “I love you man” stuff coming out between all the residents.

The rest of the night I spent drunk, very drunk, and talking to old residents. We reminisced and told stories and played pool and joked around. There are some hilarious stories from the night but to truly enjoy them you really have to know the people. One resident fell drunk down some stairs at the bar and is still limping. Another kept commenting on some married resident’s breasts – it was so out of character for this guy that it was hilarious. Again, the “I love you man” stuff was flowing. Eventually we ended up in the street, eating more pizza, dancing in a pizza place, hoisting various people in the air over our heads while yelling, and doing a lot of other nonsense. Eventually we ended up back at the hotel where we pissed off security royally and had one if not multiple formal complaints before going to bed. Beware a group of drunken, pent up physicians. But all in all, no one was hurt (minus hangovers and the guy who took the spill on the stairs) and all had fun.

Saturday morning was painful. I had forced myself to drink water to the point of vomiting before going to bed Friday night, which I’m thankful for. It helped prevent full pain, but I was still hurting the next day. I went to bed at 4:30 am and was up at 9 am. I showered and packed and we went to breakfast. There my program director taught me the secret of tomato juice and I’m never going back. That stuff is a golden compliment to the essential water one needs. (My new hangover trifecta is water, tomato juice, and coffee; the water is the mainstay, the coffee prevents further headache (from caffeine withdrawal), and the tomato juice it the vitamin punch that seals the deal).

Following breakfast Pete and I stared earnestly at each other and decided we had better go finish the Holocaust museum. This may have not been the world’s best decision. Picture me, bleary-eyed and tired as hell and with a slight headache, standing in a crowded somewhat stuffy museum and checking out videos of bulldozers and dead, emaciated bodies depicting the full depths of the depravity of humanity. Whoa. Again, the museum exhibit is fantastic but incredibly sobering. I was surprised at how much footage there was from the time period. Tons of photos and film. The US response to everything was interesting, as well. I can’t believe some people still deny that it happened with that overwhelming evidence. At least that’s a small percentage.

The museum has lots of stuff. Actual train cars used to transport people to Auschwitz which you walk through. A replica of the gate over the camp which reads (In German) “Work and be free”. This is the ultimate insult. Full models of gas chambers and creamatoriums. Actual poison gas canisters. And ALL sorts of other stuff. The most horrific stuff involves pictures and videos of prisoners and the medical experiments (such as seeing how long it takes someone to die in freezing cold water or air pressure expirments). Also, there are shots and films of empty-eyed, staring, emaciated children which are nearly unbearable. And they have actual art work from the children, done mostly in the “ghettos” where they were forced prior to transfer to the actual camps. I was pretty much holding back tears at that point. Ah well, everyone should see it. I would just recommend avoiding it with a hangover.

Pete and I walked out and sort of nodded. Yeah. The Holocaust. Go humanity.

After that we headed back to the hotel and headed for the airport. The flight back involved a lot of sleeping at first. Then, a friend and I played a marathon game of chess (lasting 3.5 hours). We didn’t even finish because we had to land. One of the best games I’ve ever played. A total grudge match. It was dead even for the longest time and then a mistake by me gave him the edge. Then he made a mistake and we evened up again. Then I went up. Then even again. I’m kind of bummed we couldn’t finish the game. We vowed to play more at work, though with timers and time limits.

We arrived and Gwen picked me up. It was great to see her. We hung out and a had a quite Saturday night (I was exhausted). Yesterday I watched football again. I think I’m taking next weekend off of football. I can’t handle the Giants anymore. More stress than fun. It’s time for a break, methinks.

Last night Gwen and I watched “The Last Detail”. It’s a 1973 film starring Jack Nicholson and a very young Randy Quaid. The film was solid, if not fantastic. Sort of a character driven piece about some guys in the Navy. Good old Jack delivers as always.

And that’s my weekend.


THE CONSULTANT AND MY FUTURE

“The Consultant” is a high ranking internal medicine physician with the final say on where every graduating internist goes after this year. It’s kind of funny, because at this meeting he literally sits on a couch while a bunch of residents line up and wait their turn to speak with him. You walk up, introduce yourself, kiss his hand (well, not really) and start telling him what you would like. You suggest a region, he tells you the odds, you make an informal list. You ask some questions, he answers them. He was a nice guy.

And so here’s the deal. Right now it looks like I’ll most likely be headed to Germany after graduation. Nothing is set in stone, yet, but I was told there are several openings over there and I have always wanted to see Europe more extensively. I would most likely (and this could be changed) be stationed near Lahndstuhl medical center, which is in the western central part of Germany. (This is the hospital where all the casualties from Iraq are currently being flown to.) Here’s a map (the red star - you will need to zoom in and out).

The bad side is this: Its most likely a THREE year commitment, meaning I’m out of the US for a full three years. I would prefer a two year deal, but there it is. (This doesn’t count leave of course, so I could come back to the US once or twice a year on vacation during those years). The other problem is that Germany is an Iraq funnel. Everyone stationed in Germany is on cycle for Iraq. However, this latter notion is now tempered by the fact that nearly everyone, at EVERY station (including the continental US) is more or less on cycle for Iraq as well. Since there’s no getting out of it, it’s actually best to just ignore it and accept that I’m going to go and pick a location based on where and what IT is, rather than worrying about potential deployment. That’s it.

The good side: Germany and the Army locations there are a HELL of a lot better than the areas I would be looking at if I stayed stateside. Compare beautiful Europe to rural Georgia, rural Kansas, north Louisiana, rural texas, and the like. Those places SUCK with a capital “S” and the highlight of many areas where the army has Podunk bases is the local wal-mart. Damn. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible for me to get to a major US Army medical center right out of residency because these spots are most sought after and I am lowest on the totem pole (right out of residency). The other good side is this. When not in Iraq, I will have a mostly mild lifestyle. Most weekends off. A month of leave per year. Many long weekends. And I will be able to see all of Europe and go anywhere and everywhere on weekend trips.

The bottom line is that I always wanted to travel more. I always wished I had gone abroad in college and here is my chance to do Europe while making good money. (They give some ridiculous bonuses for living outside of the US). I’m still single and can do all this. And even if things with Gwen and I escalate, she can be stationed in the same area too.

So there it is. By this time next year, I will most likely be in Germany (or Iraq FROM Germany). I’ll keep everyone posted with more details as they arise.


OK, that’s enough for now. I will add that I had to take my car in earlier today for some repair work to a local mechanic. What ensued was a series of hilarious encounters with my dad eventually being involved by phone. Good stories. But I’m tired of typing. More to come.