Knights victorious

The New York Knights upset the Boston Blitz in the U.S. Chess League quarterfinals last week by a score of 2.5-1.5. Grandmasters Giorgi Kacheishvili and Pascal Charbonneau defeated Boston GMs Larry Christiansen and Eugene Perelshteyn, respectively, while Yaacov Norowitz drew with Ilya Krasik and Matt Herman (whom I defeated in the 2005 World Open) was the lone Knight to fall, losing a endgame against Vadim Matirosov. The Knights face an even bigger hurdle this week in the form of the top-seeded New Jersey Knockouts. I hope they wear their upset caps on Wednesday, because the championship game is just one victory away!

I had my first Emergency Department rotation on Saturday, and it was a terrific experience. My preceptor was extremely friendly, and I spent the bulk of my eight-hour rotation following her around as she moved from patient to patient. She was great about letting me perform procedures; I spoke to a paramedic student from the night class who said his preceptor didn't let him do anything until almost halfway through the shift. For me, though, all of the nurses got in on the act: Whenever there was blood to draw, medicine to give or an IV to start, someone would always come looking for me (they liked having someone so eager to do their work for them!).

One of the highlights of my ED rotation was the patient who somehow came under the impression that I was a physician (my clinical uniform says STUDENT in two different locations). Every time I talked to him, he would answer with, "Yes, doc" or "No, doc." I thought little of it--"Doc" is a fairly generic moniker, after all--until he was discharged near the end of my shift. He made a point of coming over to me, shaking my hand and somberly intoning, "Thank you again for everything, Doctor." As I shook his hand and watched him walk away, too surprised to reply, I heard a soft thud behind me as my preceptor hit the floor, rolling with laughter.

In other news, the college basketball season is starting to get underway. Go Big Green!