July 1st, 0900: I still remember how perfect a day it was. The blue skies, the cool breeze, even the diesel fumes blasted in my face as the hospital transit bus drove by didn't seem to bother me that much. I looked across the street to see the empty helipads. They must be out bringing us business I thought.
I had spent three months working in various emergency rooms during medical school. So I knew what to expect when I walked in the door. I was used to the EMS busting through the doors with people vomiting, the nurses running from room to room collecting blood and giving medicines all while being yelled at by ungrateful patients, and the doctors trying their damnedest to not forget to review that x-ray, check that lab result, reevaluate the patient, etc...
So I wasn't shocked when that is exactly what I saw on day one. I walked back to the physician's room, hung my coat and signed in at a computer. Not two seconds had passed when the attending approached me.
"Good morning" I said.
"Have you eaten?"
"No. I'm not a big breakfast eater," I replied. Which is the truth by the way.
"Well, go grab some. There was an explosion at a plant in ---town two hours ago. The choppers are bringing in six crispies. They'll be here in about 20 minutes."
So that I wasn't expecting. Medical school taught me the genetic defect that causes sickle cell disease, the seriousness of a cough in someone who has AIDS, how to manage a patient with Chrone's disease, but it didn't even begin to teach me how to handle a situation like this.
That's where residency comes in, and that is what this blog will be all about. The lessons of residency. For anonymity the names and locations will be changed, but everything, like the multiple burn victims as my first patients, will be true.
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