greener pastures
I type with one dog on my lap and another curled on the couch above my head. I'm house-sitting for one of the TFM docs the next few days - two dogs two cats. This evening we went for a long walk and encountered a deer. I was pretty sure she was initially more interested in us than scared. She ultimately ran back in the woods but not after taking a few curious steps in our direction. It was a quite a moment.
I miss Spike. He was such a good dog. He would have scared the crap out of that deer though, that's for sure - I can hear his "wuh! wuh!" now.
So I finished my last medicine call of intern year. This rotation was a blast, and true to form, I went out with a bang. The stats for the night:
7 admissions: 2 peds, 3 medicine, 2 TFM (okay)
2 ICU patients (okay)
Handful of cross-cover calls (good)
1 incredibly MEAN consulting physician (bad)
1 2 AM crying jag (thanks to mean consult) (bad)
30 minutes of sleep (from 3:30-4 am) (bad)
three cups of coffee (good)
A few words on the mean consultant: I came the the realization that if we were in any other profession and an employee treated another employee like I was treated, and did this on a regular basis, that person would be fired. No doubt. Abuse like that is NOT tolerated in the workplace. In addition, I am mad at myself for letting him get to me. I take pride on my resilience in the hospital. Yes, sometime I come home and am a heap of goo, sometimes out of the hospital I can only communicate in monotone and vacant stares. But at work, I believe attitude is everything. I know his anger wasn't personal, I know he hates his job. And he hates anyone who makes him do it even more. And I know that isn't my problem, it's his. Typically, when I get shit, on I try to be the bigger person. I wipe it off and do my job. But, at 2 AM, (to continue this metaphor) sometimes shit is a little stickier.
After my memorable encounter with this consultant the nurses informed me that this guy is always a jerk. "One time his patient was crashing, I tried to tell him, and he told me that I was 'not to speak unless spoken to.'"
The nurses were great. One even went all out and made me a cup of coffee with vanilla cream to cheer me up. I hadn't actually cried at this point. I felt the lump but had managed to just have a shaky voice now and then - something I might have been able to chalk up to fatigue. But their kindness did me in. I thanked them for the coffee and on my way out of the unit I stopped in the chapel and had a good crying jag. It lasted about 3-5 minutes, I wiped my face on my sleeve (what kind of hospital chapel doesn't have tissue?) and left for the ER for yet another admission.
Now I start Derm/Gyn/Family med - mostly regular-ish hours, M-F with some exceptions. What I look forward to most, however, is the visit I will have from my Dad and Julie in the middle of the month. How nice to see family!
Hopefully I can update more this coming month. Until then, two moves to tide you over. The first one is dedicated to Chuck!
And CLICK HERE for a song all about medications from the same folks.
I miss Spike. He was such a good dog. He would have scared the crap out of that deer though, that's for sure - I can hear his "wuh! wuh!" now.
So I finished my last medicine call of intern year. This rotation was a blast, and true to form, I went out with a bang. The stats for the night:
7 admissions: 2 peds, 3 medicine, 2 TFM (okay)
2 ICU patients (okay)
Handful of cross-cover calls (good)
1 incredibly MEAN consulting physician (bad)
1 2 AM crying jag (thanks to mean consult) (bad)
30 minutes of sleep (from 3:30-4 am) (bad)
three cups of coffee (good)
A few words on the mean consultant: I came the the realization that if we were in any other profession and an employee treated another employee like I was treated, and did this on a regular basis, that person would be fired. No doubt. Abuse like that is NOT tolerated in the workplace. In addition, I am mad at myself for letting him get to me. I take pride on my resilience in the hospital. Yes, sometime I come home and am a heap of goo, sometimes out of the hospital I can only communicate in monotone and vacant stares. But at work, I believe attitude is everything. I know his anger wasn't personal, I know he hates his job. And he hates anyone who makes him do it even more. And I know that isn't my problem, it's his. Typically, when I get shit, on I try to be the bigger person. I wipe it off and do my job. But, at 2 AM, (to continue this metaphor) sometimes shit is a little stickier.
After my memorable encounter with this consultant the nurses informed me that this guy is always a jerk. "One time his patient was crashing, I tried to tell him, and he told me that I was 'not to speak unless spoken to.'"
The nurses were great. One even went all out and made me a cup of coffee with vanilla cream to cheer me up. I hadn't actually cried at this point. I felt the lump but had managed to just have a shaky voice now and then - something I might have been able to chalk up to fatigue. But their kindness did me in. I thanked them for the coffee and on my way out of the unit I stopped in the chapel and had a good crying jag. It lasted about 3-5 minutes, I wiped my face on my sleeve (what kind of hospital chapel doesn't have tissue?) and left for the ER for yet another admission.
Now I start Derm/Gyn/Family med - mostly regular-ish hours, M-F with some exceptions. What I look forward to most, however, is the visit I will have from my Dad and Julie in the middle of the month. How nice to see family!
Hopefully I can update more this coming month. Until then, two moves to tide you over. The first one is dedicated to Chuck!
And CLICK HERE for a song all about medications from the same folks.
posted by Beta at 8:54 AM
1 Comments:
liz - your resilience and strength never cease to amaze me! i think that's one reason we're such great friends. i am super proud of you for surviving medicine, mean peoples, and moving away from home. i know you take great care of your patients. rock on!!
ps thanks for your comment :)
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