First Day of Residency

July 1, 2010, 6:33 pmDoctor Psychobabble3 comments

God bless America

Yes, I did it, and lived to tell the tale. It wasn’t *quite* as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it was still a little mind boggling. The most difficult part is that my hospital has a VERY complex electronic medical records system. I was asked to write notes on 9 patients, whom I’d never met, and was expected to write comprehensive notes on all of them, using the computer system. Long story short, I only ended up writing one (crappy) note, and had to stay late to do even that. I couldn’t figure out how to get into the bathroom. I have no idea who anyone is. I have NO idea how to navigate the complex systems. I’m totally lost.

But, on the plus side, I did not get yelled at or humiliated. So, this day was still much better than my worst day as a medical student. And I guess that’s something to be grateful for. I’ve also realized that I really need to re-learn a lot of things in psychiatry. It’s been about two years since I was in a psych hospital, and my mind is still in “medical” mode.

The other good thing is that I’ve been texting my fellow interns. It turns out that I’m not alone. None of us has a clue what’s going on, or how to do what we are supposed to do. Also, I know that there are thousands of interns in the United States feeling EXACTLY the same way as I do at this exact moment in time. I find comfort in that!

Photo: Taken outside of the hospital.

  • http://www.runningwithhemostats.com Cat

    I just went through an entire week of orientation for the third year of med school, and I still have no clue what’s going on. The frustrating part is that I rotate through five different hospitals and every hospital has a different EMR system. I worry that I’m going to be the med student that writes down her login information and then loses it in the parking lot. Eek!

  • http://www.jonpinoy.com Jon

    Wow, your post makes me wonder what it’s going to be like once I start my first day of residency after veterinary school. I’m sure getting used to the different computer systems will be something… in every hospital I’ve worked at it was always somewhat different. But I guess that’s what comes with the territory.

    My girlfriend is in human med school and she’s also complaining about her 3rd year clinic orientations. Seems like she’s having similar problems with things like you!

    Keep on going though. I’m sure things will get better as time passes.

  • http://theexaminingroom.com drcharles

    congratulations!
    getting that first day/week/month/year under your belt deserves celebration – and before you know it you’ll be done. I do think it is a challenging experience doing a residency outside of “internal” medicine, in which you really have to learn an entire new discipline from what you spent the majority of your time studying in medical school.