Saturday . April 20 . 2002 . 8:41 |
graveyard shifts So it turns out that this Peds ER rotation that I signed up for is not exactly what I had anticipated. Not so much the nature of the work--which, according to a fourth-year I spoke to, is great--rather the hours. You see, the shifts for fourth year students in the Peds ER are not "morning" and "evening" shifts as I had anticipated. Instead, the shifts are "night" and "overnight," the former running from 5pm to 2am and the latter from 11pm to 8am each day. Meaning that for the month of July, I will basically never be in work when the sun is up. So you see what I mean when I say that it's not quite what I was expecting (not that you'd know what those expectations were to begin with). Still, I think I'm going to stick with it. It sounds like the Peds ER is pretty much dead during the day, and since there are no third year students poking around during the hours that I'll be working, I'll hopefully get to handle a lot more patients. And the patients should be more interesting too--actual emergencies, I hope, rather than the sore throats and earaches that come in during the day. If some kid is coming in at 3am to the ER, chances are more likely that things couldn't wait for a pediatrician's appointment in the morning. Also, reportedly it's a four day work week, with only one weekend shift a month. I can do that. Last night there was a brief but dramatic rainfall that cooled the city down from an outrageous 95 degrees to a manageable and pleasant mid-60's. Still not enough rain to make a dent in this drought, but at least I'm not sweating it out in my room anymore. My Ophtho rotation ended this Friday. Otolaryngology (a.k.a. ENT, as in Ear, Nose, Throat) starting next week, with Neurosurgery the week after that. It's a deluxe tour of the head. xo Michelle |
