A Backward Glance

it was the last day of grand ol' dame sip for me on friday. some frenzy when three out of five of my patients were discharged - discharge summaries, consultants to be called regarding tcu dates, tracing blood results...so much so that i forgot to tell one of them that he could go home! haha. fortunately the nurses told him soon enough, and he ended up having to wait for some time before his relatives came to pick him up.

no team breakfast because our a con had clinics but the junior doctors and us sips had a nice (and free) lunch seated around some table on level 9. friendly ribbing about our future/intended specialties, mostly between the mo and ho, and more gossip flew across the table, followed by more laughter. i love my team. what a blessing they have been! heh.

so...what did i enjoy about my sip?

1) consultants who are friendly and not impatient when a silly medical student makes a mistake or utters rubbish during rounds
2) seniors who encourage you and let you find your own footing in the ward
3) patients, in my case, cancer patients, who showed me how important it is to have the will to live, no matter the circumstances. patients who, even after being told that there's a recurrence, can still crack jokes. you think that they need strength, but it is us who draw strength from them
4) taking "ownership" of patients - when i call about my patient, it really -is- my patient that i'm calling and responsible for. it's both exhilarating and scary at the same time. and talking to relatives too - it can be very nerve wrecking, especially with an anxious relative
5) learning about myself - having to deal with real, working medicine exposes your strong and weak points, ie things to look out for next time when i start work
6) my little distraction, dr darcy. never expected something of that sort (and magnitude!) to occur mind you, but i'm sure i'll laugh as hard about it years later as i did while recounting the whole story to a friend over lunch today

and as fate, or irony, would have it, dr darcy transferred a patient to my room late friday afternoon. yesh. of all days, it had to be my last day huh. it's a sign, i tell ya, it's a sign. i didn't know what to think when i turned the corner and saw him at the nurses station. lol. and since my ga-ga-ness has been revealed to my cg guys, i'm being teased non-stop. heh heh. anyway, like i mentioned in a previous post, this frivolity is now over, and it's time to focus on infectious diseases next.

bye bye haemato, hello microbiology.

-groan-

what were you trying to say?