IM blues

 

mismatched limb leads of the ecg

    
       I suppose it's true what a co-intern says.  It's almost like I've been demoted.  My exhilarating ER days were over 2 weeks ago.  Last week I was stuck rounding at the ward, where when I go on duty I seem to be doing both the writing of orders in the chart and the actual carrying out of the orders.  [Where are the good and efficient nurses when you need them?  They've all gone away abroad to seek greener pastures leaving behind arrogant half-wits who think that charting is the priority above giving of meds and actual taking care of patients].  These days I'm stuck at the ICU staring through glass doors at patients who don't seem to be getting any better.  On weekends and when I go on duty I become the ICU Medical Intern/ ECG Technician-on-duty for the WHOLE hospital.  If I would get paid even a fraction of the cost for each ECG I take per duty I'd have enough money to celebrate on weekends and feed me on the weekdays.  Alas, I'm still not getting anything from all the hard work.  Even the learning I'm supposed to be getting is not commensurate with the number of hours I spend in the hospital.

       These days I'm trying to get that bounce back in my steps -- a literal bounce I seemed to have lost after I left the ER.  Truth be told, I'm tired and feeling bummed out about my low productivity.  I have a week's worth of one-disease-per-day reading to catch up on. At the same time I need a weekend off to just chill. 

       I go on duty again this Sunday.  I still think I should go into Internal Medicine for my residency training but lately I've been really worried.  If the total lack of interest I am showing is any indication of what my outlook in residency will be I doubt that IM would be the best fit for me.

Comments

[antifaust]

You'll be surprised where you eventually land. I too had doubts about IM when I was an intern. I was considering going into ophtha or emergency medicine, but I still ended up taking IM. Residency in IM was a very rewarding experience.

[lefthand]

Thanks antifaust.  I'm actually down to four options now: IM, Pedia, emergency medicine or ophtha.  When I do decide which program I'm getting into there's still the matter of which hospital to apply to.