I.II.I FIRST DAY My first rotation had come and gone. On my last day, it felt almost surreal leaving the ward. The surgical department had truly become my home. I’d spent the better part of three months wandering those halls, making idle chit-chat with the staff, working my ass off. I’d built a life there, and now I had to […]
Turbulence
I.I.IV TURBULENCE Okay, I’m gonna start this off with a little disclaimer. This part’s gonna be about toxic professional relationships. You might feel as though someone else is writing this – a spiteful, evil little Grinch spewing all kinds of negativity. But it’s part of my story. And as one-sided and biased as this might sound, I do realise everyone […]
Trial By Fire
I.I.III TRIAL BY FIRE I was one of the lucky few to have my first on-call shift at the end of the week. This way, I had a glimpse of what I could expect from fellow colleagues who recounted their tales. Judging from what I had heard, I should’ve been scared crapless before my first one. Some had to deal […]
Head Start
I.I.II HEAD START As I figured, my classmates-now-colleagues were pretty much in the same boat. We definitely weren’t in Kansas anymore. Some got off on the wrong foot with their firms, some couldn’t quite find their footing, and some would put their foot in their mouth at every given chance. Basically, feet weren’t on our side when we started off. […]
Emergency Surgery – First Day
I.I.I FIRST DAY Emergency surgery… my first rotation ever. Ah, what a time that was. One of the best and worst periods of my life, I gotta say. After two weeks of shadowing the other house officers and trying to learn as much as possible about how the hospital works, it was finally time for them to move on and […]