A Week in the Life (Cameron Blount, MD)

A Typical Week for a Second-Year Psychiatry Resident

Sunday

  • Cameron Blount and her partner at the Duke-UNC football game
    Dr. Blount (left) and her partner at the Duke-UNC football game

    Day: I flew home from a wedding in upstate New York today. I feel lucky to be able to celebrate one of my closest friends on her special day! In preparation for my first night shift, I try to take an extended nap in the afternoon.  

  • Evening: Drove a short 10-minute commute over to Duke Regional Hospital in time to receive sign out from the team in the ER at 7pm. I met up with the senior resident who would be covering short call with me on our night shift. She works 7pm-12am seeing new consults in the ER.  I’m thankful that as a PGY2 functioning as a senior resident during the weeknights, I still have help from another resident on the weekend evenings. 

Monday

  • Dr. Blount and her partner at a friend's wedding
    Dr. Blount and her partner at a friend's wedding in upstate New York

    Day: Finished up in the ER and headed back home. Took my dog on a short walk around the block and worked on some basic meal prep for the week. Today it was salmon in the air fryer with some rice and veggies. Made it to sleep around 8:30am. 

  • Evening: Woke up around 4pm, relaxed a bit, and took care of my dog before heading in for night shift. Today I’m working with an intern and supervised her in seeing new consults. The interns currently work night shifts in two-week blocks from Monday to Friday. We discussed assessments and best disposition plans for patients before staffing new cases with the overnight attending. 

Tuesday

  • Day: Finished up with sign out and drove over to Ninth Street to take a Pilates class at PureBarre. I have access to lots of gyms and studios in the area, thanks to my ClassPass membership. Made it back home about 9am and went to sleep, aiming for about seven hours.

  • Evening: We were able to do some teaching with the medical student who was working with us in the evening! We reviewed the most common adverse effects of antipsychotics in a short chalk talk format. I set aside some time to study for the Psychiatry Resident In-Training Examination (PRITE) on this shift as well. 

Wednesday

  • Dessert display case at Guglhupf Bake Shop
    Dessert display case at Guglhupf Bake Shop

    Day: Slept about eight hours with the help of a sleep mask and a cold, dark room (thank you blackout curtains). Stopped by Guglhupf Bake Shop for discounted baked goods at the end of the day and then attended a yoga class at 5pm, also through ClassPass. 

  • Evening: Discussed safety planning with the intern and medical student, crucial for disposition planning for our patients in the ER. Received a few calls for issues on the inpatient unit and headed upstairs to assess the situations with patients, nursing staff, and support personnel/security staff if necessary.

Thursday

  • Day: Finished up with signout and headed straight home to sleep. It was a busy night in the ER with many new consults. I’m done with my night shifts for the week. I’ll have Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights off! 

  • Evening: Got tickets to see a movie at my favorite movie theater, Silverspot, in Chapel Hill. My partner knows I always order an Icee at the movies. Sometimes we will hit up Bartaco or Hawkers for Asian street food before the movie since they’re conveniently located next to one another. 

Friday

  • Day: More naps! Tried to flip my sleep schedule a bit to align with my partner’s sleep schedule. 

  • Blue Devil-themed light displays at Centennial event
    Blue Devil-themed light displays at Centennial event

    Evening: Got ready for Duke Homecoming events! The university celebrated its Centennial anniversary and put on a concert for the occasion. Retta hosted, NC native and hip-hop producer 9th Wonder played with his band, and Ed Sheeran played an electric set for an hour and a half!! Alumni and some staff were able to get free tickets! I know two of my co-residents were also in attendance. 

Saturday

  • Day: Drove to a favorite coffee shop nearby named Joe Van Gogh. We were early enough to snag two of their delicious breakfast biscuits before they sold out. 
     
  • Evening: Duke played UNC in its homecoming football game at Wallace Wade Stadium (see photo above). It was a nail-biter but Duke came up on top in the end, winning the game 21-20. Let’s Go Duke!! Celebrated after with my partner and some takeout from Sushi Love!

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