Hurricane Jill

They should make a TV show about this…oh wait

Even though I’ve been preoccupied with other things outside of work, work itself is still pretty interesting.  And my focus is much better, despite the fact that my life just got significantly more complicated.  Somehow it’s much easier to handle the uncertainty of finding a solution to a problem, than the uncertainty of defining the problem that needs solving.  But then again, that’s why I’m a surgeon and not an internist.

So my program just fired a mid-level resident.  The resident in question had excellent surgical skills, but was pretty deficient in basic doctoring skills like establishing rapport with patients and team members, handling criticism (which admittedly is more of a challenge when the purpose is not constructive), making training-level-appropriate decisions, and self-education.  There was definite improvement over the year, so clearly this resident is trainable, but I think there comes a point where people have just made up their minds, and they’re better off leaving voluntarily and finding another program.

On the one hand, there’s a palpable sense of relief that the situation has finally been resolved.  Even though it means we all have to work that much harder, and take that much more call, we were all so tired of the drama that it almost doesn’t matter.  I say almost because q2 call does indeed suck, and the juniors take the brunt of it. And now one of the other juniors is having an extended family emergency and is out for an unknown duration of time. So we’re down two people right now. But I don’t mind the first situation, and we’re all sympathetic to the second, so everyone’s pitching in to cover as needed.

However, the program is now without a scapegoat, and there’s a fascinating dynamic at work these days.  Everyone is jockeying not to become the new scapegoat, and actively trying to ensure that the role falls on someone else.  As the most junior person here, I am of course in the running.  But it seems like everyone’s getting their turn in the hot seat, which is how it works in a generally functional group.  Or at least one that’s not totally dysfunctional.  Of course, the dysfunctional portion of this dynamic is the jockeying among the residents.  In my view, we should present a unified front  and contain the squabbling amongst ourselves.  But that’s got to come from the chief down, not the other way around.