An opportunity arose that I just couldn’t pass up. I’ve been offered a position with an internet startup company. The company is medicalrecords.com and is focused on providing a place for patients to store their own medical records.

Well, I’m gonna be here in Green Bay for a little while longer, probably until Thanksgiving. So far, I’ve been working mostly night shifts, bringing back vivid memories of ‘night float’ during residency. Overall, I’m really enjoying it. Everyone’s really nice and welcoming. It’s quite a change from residency when you’re the low man on the totem pole. The patient population is more primary care oriented. I’ve seen one transplant patient so far, wheras I used to see almost one-a-day in residency. I couldn’t think of a better way to transition from residency into real-life…

I found out recently that I’ll be spending 3 weeks (maybe longer) in Green Bay, WI. I’ll be working as a hospitalist at St. Vincent’s Hospital (Prevea HealthCare). It’s a 580 bed hospital with 40 ICU beds and I’ll be doing 12 hour shifts - mostly day shifts, but a couple nights. It should be fun! I’m looking forward to being back in Wisconsin, especially Green Bay, for football season. Go PACKERS!!

Still waiting to hear where my first assignment will be. Possibilities include a VA Hospital in Maine, a hospitalist practice in Green Bay, WI, a practice in Racine, WI, or an outpatient practice in Minnesota. Details to follow…

Well, I’ve finally finished my internal medicine residency at New England Medical Center. WooHoo! I guess it’s time to be a real doctor now… I’m planning to spend the next year as a locum tenens physician. I’ll be travelling throughout the country, working for 1-2 months at a time. Hopefully, I will get a broad exposure to different types of primary care medicine, so that I can make an informed decision down the road. I’m still considering doing a medical informatics fellowship - maybe next year…

I’ve signed up with two agencies - CompHealth and VISTA.

In November 1998, I travelled to India to visit family and work in an Infectious Disease Clinic. I visited the Trivandrum Medical College and the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institue For Medical Sciences & Technology. The experience at the Trivandrum Medical College was a little disappointing, but I was very impressed by the Sree Chitra Institute. I got a personal tour of the hospital and operating rooms from Dr. Krishnamanohar (a close friend of my brother-in-law). The standards were equal to U.S. Hospitals and I learned a lot about physical diagnosis in a very short time.

I recently got a letter from my niece, Devi, which broke my heart…

Dear Vinu Mamman,

I visited your page and you didn’t put a picture of me. I am really mad at you because you didn’t give me a picture. Why didn’t you put a picture of me? If you don’t have a picture of me, I could send you one. Everybody else have a picture of them. If you have a picture you can put it on your computer.

Love,

Devi

(typed by Amma, as dictated by Devi - age 5)

So, Devi, I have a very special picture from our birthday party together in August. Here it is!

In March ‘98, after a grueling month in the ICU, I went on a cruise with my cousins and their parents. I’m currently seriously considering working as a cruise physician! We went to Freeport and Nassau. The weather and scenery were beautiful, but my most enjoyable moments were spent discussing old (and new) times with my cousins at 3:00 AM looking across the unending ocean.

It’s an experience I hope to repeat soon…