April 21, 2008

• Epiphany

  It finally occurred to me why i like the floors more than clinic or nursery, which is what i am on now.

  I have time to think.

  In the clinics, due to the very nature of the clinic, patients come at you like some conveyor belt is pushing them down the production line. Insert patient into room, produce symptom description, make diagnosis, prescribe appropriate medicine or course of action, move onto next room and repeat. 15 minutes a pop.

  Now of course i have more time than that as a student, and some days clinic doesnt have enough patients to feel so rushed. But on the floor, i know the patients are there for at least 23 hours. I can go back in and ask things i may have forgotten. I can let ideas i didnt even know i had simmering in my head come to a boil, ideas that could change a patients diagnoses and management. I can research things i didnt know about, in enough time to effect how i approach my patient. And if the idea i had was wrong? well barring any horrendous mistakes, the patient is still there for me to go and correct it. And sure there are the moments during a code when rapid thought and action will be required, but the floors allow the learning process to proceed at a natural pace without feeling rushed

  And when did i finally come to this realization of what it is i like about the floors?

  When i was on call, hanging out on the floors. So there is that learning curve in action.

  …Just a thought.

  p.s. I shaved again. All but the goatee is gone. pics to follow…eventually

  • 10:15 pm
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