My First Day as a Doctor

July 1 - the first day of residency for most new medical school graduates. I've been looking forward to this day with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. What if I don't have a clue what to do for a patient? What if I make a mistake? What if I miss something important?

Well, the first day has come and gone. I'm still alive, and so are my patients. I am on ER this month - emergency medicine rotation. Arriving in the ER this morning at 7:30 AM, I introduced myself as a brand new doctor. One of the attending docs showed me the ropes, explained the paperwork, answered my questions, gave me some suggestions for managing my patients and was generally very supportive, encouraging and helpful. It was an awesome day!! I may not have done everything independently or in perfect order, but I felt like I sort of new what I was doing - or at least that I could have done it on my own. I only saw five patients today, but each one was completely different, so I got to think through a variety of conditions (extreme hypertension, pancreatitis, a sprained thumb, diabetes/kidney failure, and seizures) and how to diagnose and treat them. At the end of the day, I got to call one of my colleagues, who happened to be on pediatrics, and tell her about a patient we were admitting to her team. That was pretty cool. I know some day I will look back on this post and laugh at how ridiculously naive and it is. But for now, I am loving my job! Of course, tomorrow may be different. I know I shouldn't base my contentment on the circumstances - how people treat me or how much I think I know - those are very transient and extremely changeable factors. Still, I am thankful for a good first day. Thank you Lord!