The medical registrar called me at midday on my day off.
Did they need my superb discharge summary-writing skills so badly I had to forsake my leisure time and return to work?
No.
The medical students had brought cake and I was invited to join the team for tea break.
When I arrived, they had already made me a cup of tea and we all sat down to enjoy the cake. It felt so great to be part of such a tight-knit team ... and then we realised that nobody had invited the SMO who was busy taking bloods on the ward. Oops.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Disappointment
Disappointment: giving up part of the afternoon to attend a stroke management session, then finding out it's a drug rep giving a half-hour spiel about Alteplase.
A drug rep who didn't bring sandwiches.
A drug rep who didn't bring sandwiches.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
The Wisdom of Admin
Friday was a big day on medical ward. Dr K's team had 12 new overnight admissions, in addition to the 20-ish patients already on the ward. He'd been up all night taking calls and required frequent caffeination. We had to break the news of cancer diagnosis to three different patients. Nobody was well enough to go home, everybody needed new medication charts / cannulae / blood transfusion consents / imaging done and it was all urgent. But we got there in the end.
Then mid-afternoon we realised that Dr K wouldn't be there over the weekend, and the SMO on weekend duty wouldn't know any of the patients either, because he'd had Friday off.
Dr H, the locum who was covering the weekend, asked if I'd stay on if required. Sure. I had other plans but it made sense - I was the only one who knew the patients, and some of them were in a bad way. I'd work the weekend.
But admin looked at their computers, coughed, and said no.
Dr K, the permanent and eminent physician, marched off to request the same.
Admin looked at their computers and offered a wonderful compromise: no, they wouldn't roster the intern who knew all the patients. They dragged a surgical intern, kicking and screaming, to medical ward where he spent all of Saturday begrudging his luck. Then on Sunday they replaced him with a different unwilling victim.
I hope my patients are ok.
Then mid-afternoon we realised that Dr K wouldn't be there over the weekend, and the SMO on weekend duty wouldn't know any of the patients either, because he'd had Friday off.
Dr H, the locum who was covering the weekend, asked if I'd stay on if required. Sure. I had other plans but it made sense - I was the only one who knew the patients, and some of them were in a bad way. I'd work the weekend.
But admin looked at their computers, coughed, and said no.
Dr K, the permanent and eminent physician, marched off to request the same.
Admin looked at their computers and offered a wonderful compromise: no, they wouldn't roster the intern who knew all the patients. They dragged a surgical intern, kicking and screaming, to medical ward where he spent all of Saturday begrudging his luck. Then on Sunday they replaced him with a different unwilling victim.
I hope my patients are ok.
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