S/P First Week of Intern Year

This week has flown by. Seriously. I had one amazing day off (July 4th) that I spent being kind of lazy actually. The rest were spent working my little butt off!

This week has been hectic. I've been carrying 9-12 patients on a daily basis, and our attending rounds began at 8:30 each morning. That means that my 9-12 patients must be seen prior to that, with notes complete, which also means I've been getting up way too freakin' early, man. In by 6, out by 7 most days. Yesterday, I took my first call, and I had the nephrology service's physician phone to address any of our 30+ patients' concerns all day, plus I had my own couple of discharges to do so I was quite busy. The first call I received made my heart skip a beat, but I've been handling the problems fairly well (with help when needed).

I feel like I'm not learning anything because I haven't had the energy to sit and read after work, so I haven't been classically "studying". My senior consoled me by reminding me that I'm passively learning how to care for quite sick nephrology patients by addressing their concerns on a daily basis. I suppose he's right. After one week, I definitely feel like I'm much more competent. There are millions of things I don't know (especially the advanced, more rarely seen stuff), but I'm picking it up. I'm already a lot smarter than I was one week ago...

I really enjoy spending time with my patients each day and being able to advise them on how to manage their chronic illnesses. It is so fulfilling to discharge a patient, happier and healthier than when they arrived!

The attending I've had this week is going off service and I'll be working with someone new tomorrow. I was happily surprised to have been thanked for such a great week and for managing such a large patient-load so effectively, efficiently, and without complications. And he said it with a smile. I'm pretty happy that all of the running around trying to keep from drowning in work has been worthwhile.

Week 1 and nobody died. I'd say we're off to a great start! ;)

Week 2 begins tomorrow with a new attending and our first batch of med students. I'm so excited to teach young, eager, brilliant minds!