Look. I can handle the pimping, the long hours, the belittling comments, the general craziness of it all... but can we please at least agree on what the heck I am supposed to be doing on this service?
Intern: Go pre-round now on these 8 patients.
Medical Student: (feigning interest) Okay!
Later...
Intern: Why did you do the physical exam? Only we do the physical exam. Just get numbers.
Medical student: (Hiding confusion) Okay!
Next day...
3rd year Resident: Go pre-round on these 8 patients.
Medical Student: (Feeling confident in his role) Okay!
Later...
3rd year Resident: Why didn't you do a physical exam on any of these patients? Did they teach you the proper way to write a soap note here? Don't forget that again.
Medical Student: (confidence shattered) Okay!
Next day...
Senior Resident: Go pre-round on these 8 patients.
Medical Student: (Hell No!) Okay!
Later...
Senior Resident: Please don't write your physical exam in the chart. It's not as reliable as ours. Just get the labs.
Medical Student: (Through clenched teeth) Okay!
Someone. Help me.
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OMG. your blog is HILARIOUS! I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Please update more. your stories are GOLD and the way you tell them is PLATINUM!
ReplyDeleteYesterday I got a lecture on how to correctly hold the interns papers..... apparently my way was wrinkling her invaluable H and P and that was completely unacceptable. I now know the correct way to hold a piece of paper. I am so glad the interns are there to teach me how to be a better doctor!!!
ReplyDeleteThankfully at our school, the residents pretty much are so competitive with each other, and want to shine so badly that it makes them look bad, that they completely ignore us and want us to leave them alone. So we basically round on our patients, write notes, present to the attendings, and then leave. The residents for darn sure don't want us slowing them down in the afternoons....no complaints from me :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's tough. Only thing to do is to ask each resident who sends you out, 'may I do the physical exam as well?' (note; don't say 'do you want me to do a PE as well, because that just sounds lazy, or so I've found).
ReplyDeleteAs a current resident, I can now say that the residents who I was interacting with at this time are idiots. Medical Students shouldn't have to guess what they are supposed to do. As residents, we should clearly define what they should and shouldn't do.
ReplyDelete