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White Coat Diary: Giulia Lane, MD

Op-Med is a collection of original articles contributed by Doximity members.

White Coat Diary asks Doximity members to share how they spend their days or nights inside and outside of the hospital, clinic, or office.

Giulia Ippolito Lane graduated from Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine (’13) and is a current urology resident at the University of Minnesota (‘18). She is matriculating into a Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery fellowship in July 2018. She is also a 2018 Doximity Scholar. Follow her on twitter @GiuliaILane.

Name: Giulia Lane

Specialty: Urology

Institution: University of Minnesota

Age: 31

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Morning

5am: Alarm goes off at 4:45, but I wake up at 5:20.

6am: Leave for the hospital. I lead inpatient rounds at 6:20; our team consists of three junior residents in their PGY-2 and 3 years and a medical student.

7am: Tumor board conference — as chief resident I organize the conference, present the patients and follow-up on the consensus of the multidisciplinary team.

8am: OR starts. Today we have 4 endourology cases. The first patient has a large renal pelvis stone so my attending and I are going to perform ureteroscopy with holmium laser lithotripsy. We are also teaching an intern and 3rd year student about ureteroscopy today.

9am: It’s a big stone, so I am in the OR, but we have broken the stone up and are now removing the small fragments with an endoscopic basket.

10am: First case is complete and while the room is turning over for the next surgery, I write orders and dictate. I return phone calls to patients and follow-up on the inpatients. By 10:30, our second surgery — a diagnostic ureteroscopy and transurethral resection of bladder tumor in a patient with bladder cancer starts.

11am: We find recurrent bladder cancer and ureteral cancer, we resect the bladder cancer endoscopically.

Afternoon

12pm: After the surgery, again I arrange follow-up, dictate, check on the first patient, return patient phone calls, follow-up on the inpatients, and field questions from junior residents.

1pm: Third surgery: a patient with a kidney stone. We perform ureteroscopy and break up the stone with the holmium laser and remove the pieces.

2pm: We are able to get all the stones out! While the room is turning over, I eat lunch and check in with the junior residents.

3pm: 3 PM is shift change for nursing and usually there is a little bit of a gap between surgeries at this time. I try to do some practice board questions while we wait.

4pm: The Last surgery of the day is a patient with bladder cancer that requires endoscopic resection of the tumor. We are able to resect the tumors.

5pm: We are finished right around 5 in the operating room. The resident team has rounded on all the inpatients in the afternoon. I wrap up my post operative orders and dictation and chart check the inpatients. I sign out to the chief resident on call for the night.

5:30pm: I run home from the hospital; it’s only a couple of miles. I’ll run back in the morning and drive my car in home tomorrow evening. I try to think through a big surgery I have tomorrow and go over what I did today as I run. It distracts me from running and also helps me solidify my knowledge.

Evening

6pm: I make it home to have dinner with my husband and toddler! My wonderful, supportive husband has some dinner ready for us.

7pm: Bedtime routine — bath then stories and playtime. I try to put my phone away and unplug. While my toddler plays I sneak in 5 minutes of stretching, I’m working on Ashtanga Yoga.

8pm: Lights out for baby. My husband and I alternate nights putting him to sleep. It’s my husband’s turn so, I head to shower and prep for the morning.

10pm: Bed time. I’ll need to be up by 5 in order to jog in and shower at the hospital in time for rounds.

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