I had forgotten just how difficult it could be to sit trough a dayof lectures in darkened rooms, even when those lectures were as interesting a the ones today.

In one day we were admonished not to be too territorial and single-minded (Union Shop Stewards?), we got a glimpse at what the future of medicine could look like, with us with our hands on the wheel, I got to hear a great refresher on ventilator management, and I was able to follow through Root Cause Analyses and learn a bit about practice finances.

I found myself one of about fifteen docs in the Rural Hospitalists special interest group, where we discussed the fact that not all rural hospitals are small (and not all small hospitals are rural). We discussed the unique challenges that face hospitalists in small, out of the way institutions – I’m not sure we actually solved any of those challenges, but sometimes it just helps to know that you’re not the only one facing those problems.

I found Happy’s comments on the exhibit hall to be very accurate. Nearly half the exhibitors are recruiters or head hunters or locums agencies. I’m afraid to talk to any of them, because I’m afraid they’ll convince me I need to move. And my kids would kill me.

Tomorrow’s agenda for me incluces the Emerging Diseases lecture, the Diagnosis and Management of the Stroke Patient (I so wish we had a neurologist at my hospital) and then the Pediatric Diseases all grown up (to feed the med-peds appetite).

See you all there again in the morning.

Randy Ferrance Uncategorized