Amanda S. Xi, MD

Today’s inane image/video of the day:

Introduction

Inspired by all of the videos that delve into what’s in people’s purses or bags or backpacks, I thought I’d share with you what is in my daily backpack! I have a problem with wanting to have everything with me at all times [and yet, still find that I’m always missing something useful, e.g. I just figured out I don’t have acetaminophen readily available in my little medication bag], so I end up carrying a massive north face backpack [reminder to fellow healthcare workers – the 50% North Face coupon expires at the end of the calendar year; I’ve already used mine once and am considering buying this new backpack with the discount…] with me to work every day.

I had to do some digging to find the blog post, but I confirmed that I’ve had this backpack since 2012! Wow, it’s crazy to read an entry from so long ago…

Today’s inane image/video of the day:

Introduction

As a premedical and medical student, I always wondered what an attending’s schedule the really looked like. Individuals that embark on this journey to becoming a physician are often reminded at each stage that “it gets better.” When I was a medical student starting on rotations, I frequently wondered when I would have an opportunity to really influence patient care. As an intern, I felt like I was making a difference in patient care, but lacked the experience and knowledge base to feel confident in my decisions. There were numerous moments of self-doubt when I started the anesthesiology part of my residency; after all, most medical students do not get real exposure to the complexities surrounding anesthetic care of a surgical patient.

Anyway, I digress. Long story short, at every stage of training, I wondered what the next one would look like and feel like. Now that I’m finally an attending, I can share my schedule and overall experience as an intensivist with all of you! Look out for a separate video/blog post on the anesthesiologist part of my job.

Super-detailed schedule breakdown

If you’re curious about an hourly look at my schedule, here’s an overview [in military time]:

Today’s inane image/video of the day:

Introduction

I had an itch to scratch [I wanted to start editing videos!], which led to binging on YouTube videos about the new Macbook Air/Pro with the M1 chip, which led to purchasing the new Apple Macbook Air with the M1 chip [I was actually so impatient that I walked 2 miles to Best Buy to purchase my new Macbook Air rather than wait for shipping from Amazon]. This was an unnecessary purchase and one that was done after being inundated with ads about just how incredible this new M1 Apple chip is. Yes, I fell for the marketing. But in my defense, my trusty Lenovo Yoga [this is the most updated Yoga 740] was approaching its 3rd birthday and I was getting frustrated with the lack of free Windows software for video editing. I wanted to try out YouTube as a new medium to share tips, advice, thoughts, and ideas and there did not seem to be a good way to edit the footage. Nor were there tons of tutorials available for more complex software. So, here we are.

[/excuses]

Anyway, I go through my unboxing and review of the product in my video above. I also break it down in my blog post below.