Independence Day

This is day three of internship and each day I learn about more responsibilities that I'll have. There has been a snafu with getting our licenses from the state medical board, so most of the residents and interns are not able to write orders, and we're being so careful as to not even have our names on any of the notes. This means our attending must write all notes and orders, which takes some responsibility off me. I have been looking ahead to the day I actually get my license with trepidation as it will be accompanied with not only some freedom, but also a lot of responsibility in writing notes, admitting patients, discharging them, fielding questions and requests from nurses throughout the day, etc. What I am trying to do is see this license snafu as a blessing, since it allows me to more ease into all the things I have to do. Maybe "ease" isn't the right word, but this process could be a lot harder and I am working with a good group of people, which helps a lot.

Scott

Medicine Becomes Real

I'm a few hours out of my second day of internship, and medicine is finally starting to become real. It's no longer an abstract concept that I can never grasp; it's surmountable and I may be able to get enough of a handle on it to get through internship. I'll try to post more this weekend.

Scott

New to Florida

My mom and I spent the past week driving everything I own from Colorado, where I've lived for the last 25 years, to Southern Florida. I unpacked the truck Friday and my horizons have already started broadening. When you open yogurt cups, they don't pop open and spurt that little bit of yogurt like they do at high altitude. Mildew is going to be a constant threat. A load of laundry takes at LEAST 60 minutes to dry fully. Not all homes have central heat - hopefully they don't all need it. There are a lot of new plants, animals, and bugs for me to get used to. Condensation on cold drinks needs active management to avoid damage to documents. A squeegee is going to be of more use than an ice scraper and brush to clear off my windows in the morning.

I have only a few days to get things situated in my new apartment and at my internship program before flying to Scotland for a family vacation. Thankfully, I will have a bit over two weeks after the Scotland trip before starting orientation. After my med school rotation experiences, I hope this orientation will cover hospital layout, computer program use, paper chart layout, and common pre-printed forms. At most of my rotations, I had to figure all this out in the fly, and it greatly hampered productivity.

Scott

PS: I wasn't able to set up internet yet, so I'm using my iPhone to post this, and my pictures of some local flora and fauna are yet to come.

First!

The first week of April has just ended and I realized I will need to switch to this blog from my other one before too long, since I'll soon be done with med school and on to internship! This post is more of a place-holder than anything else, but I will graduate on May 19th, then start internship June 27th, so look for a more meaningful post in that time frame.

Scott