That’s how I roll, yo (klunk, klunk, klunk…)

July 3, 2007 at 8:27 pm | Posted in internship | Leave a comment

Alright, so I didn’t suck quite as much today. Or at least, I got more accomplished. Whether or not I sucked any less is up for debate. Two admits, three signoffs, wound rounds, and two of the three ICU daily notes, one transfer from ICU to the floor, a teaching conference, some heavy duty list maintenance, and whole host of random calls about patients with various issues. I could get more done if checked fewer things with my seniors, but I’m still seeing a lot of new things and it wouldn’t be a good idea to fly solo on very much of it.

Also I need to get better and faster with dictating. I keep hoping that the transcription people will take pity on me and organize my disjointed reports into something less idiotic-sounding. But I know that’s not their job. I dictated one H&P today, and when I got the transcript, I ended up rewriting half of it anyway. So I might as well have just typed it to begin with. Thank God we can at least correct things on the computer now, instead of having to stick with the original document and make corrections in pen.

There’s sooooo much inertia in the system, and with any given patient it can either grind to a halt or run out of control so easily. It’s tough to figure out just how much effort is needed to keep each admission rolling smoothly through the hospital and out the door at the appropriate time, while still maintaining enough control to stop and change course if necessary.

My goal right now is just to be a little better each day. If I can keep that up, then surely by the end I’ll be competent at all these intern-level tasks. Or at least, I’ll have built a passable facade over the Vast Knowledge Vacuum.