My First Real Day as a Doctor

So today was my first real day of work....and I just realized this might be a very short post since I'm tired in general, and I'm tired of looking at a computer!

I got to work at 3:45 this morning. I went around and visited all my patients, checked all their vitals, and wrote most of the notes before 6am rounds. That was stressful! Luckily I had already looked up most of the info about the patients. Then we rounded briefly, then the upper level residents and students went to the OR and I was left to hang out on the floor, pack wounds, check drain output, put in orders, and finish up the notes.

I was actually able to eat lunch in the cafeteria, which I was excited about, but it kept getting delayed as I ran into different nurses and residents who wanted things from me. But I enjoyed a delicious chicken caeser salad with only 1 page interrupting.

After lunch I checked up on more labs, called all over the hospital trying to get my patients to their procedures as early as possible, then kept popping down to the OR to update the residents and attendings.

More rounding, an admission, some more small procedures, and more orders rounded out my afternoon and evening.

All in all, I felt pretty good about my performance on my first day. I had one small error in one of my notes, but I was able to order everything and call everyone that I was asked to. The two attendings that I met today and my junior resident told me I did a great job on my first day--they said that there is one intern this year who didn't know how to put in orders!

It was a long day, but I actually really enjoyed it, and it went fast. I left at 6:15pm, making for a 14.5 hour day. It was sooo nice to actually have "power." And I don't mean that in a horrible, arrogant way, but just that now when a nurse tells me a lab result or has a question about a med, I can actually DO something about it, instead of say "uhh...I'll have to ask my resident." We also got a bunch of students on our service, which is really fun. They are finding their way around, so it's fun to show them the ropes!

Ok, I'm pooped. Time for bed. Pathetic. :(