All of your advice is great. But I want to know is about that first month or two. Coming off of no work for 2 months, I am scared. Yeah, I'll admit it. I DON'T want to be incompetent. I DON'T want to kill anyone. I DON'T want to feel alone.
ANY reading or pertinent things to know for THIS part. Or were you all scared?
thanx
Hey, I hope you are scared, that means that you are thinking. I was scared my first week of hospitalist service, 34 hours strait, and the only doc in the hospital. My first night, I got a page about a patient, and was asked what I wanted to do.......do.....call someone else (not an option) well I stalled, I said that I would be right down to see the patient, when in fact I was thumbing my Internal med pocket book and my PDA for a better answer than "take two asprin and call someone else in the morning" while I was walking to the nurses station. After doing this a couple of times, you start to see patterns, and you start developing a rhythm.
A couple of, what I thought were no brainers, but one of the interns did this (not me)
1. DO NOT Change orders of the attending, unless it is life or limb
2. DO NOT change orders of consultants, unless it is life or limb
3. Value nurse input, and opinion, but do your own research on patients, nurses know a great deal, but it is your butt, and they are not thinking about the same issues as you are, they are thinking about patient comfort and overall well being, you have to look at the long term and risk benifit issues
4. Trust your gut, if you think things are not right, keep looking for the cause of your gut feeling. As you get more experience your gut will kick in the minute you see a patient.
5. Be an adult, admit when you are wrong, and admit when you need help
6. You are being watched, this may sound paranoid, but act like an adult, from the minute you turn into the parking lot til you leave the parking lot to go home. You never know who your patient knows, or who is walking around the corner, as sad as this sounds, impressions can make or break you. If you get a reputation as a jerk, it will be an uphill fight to change that, and if you get a reputation as a caring, dedicated doc, you will get more slack (not fair, but true)
I hope this helped, if not it at least helped me hone my typing skills. It is ok to be nervous....I suggest anyone who goes into PG-1 year should read "House of God" before you start. Fiction, but has some real universal truths, and will help you get some perspective (it is easy reading and funny)