ortho internship

ortho internship has started!
and it's not quite like medicine internship.
it's another month of pretending to be a doctor and trying to learn how to be a proper intern.

on the bright side, it's been fun :) i've gotten to do backslabs and casts! i'm learning post-op reviews and what drugs to order.

on the dark side - it's really quite boring. there is NOTHING TO DO because i'm handling overflow patients (those not in the ortho wards) and they're all long-stayers and very stable. so my intern and i will see them every morning on our rounds (no attendings or residents, just us both. horrifying) and chart up whatever we think. i'm learning just how different ortho charting is from medicine (think very very short and to the point), and i guess that's the attraction of it to some people.

i've already found a patient i adore :) she's smiley, never refuses my blood taking skills, always has a cheerful word for me despite my pathetic-ness about knowning, um, nothing. she really really brightens up my day every morning on rounds!
sadly, she also has an iatrogenic epidural abscess (from a lumbar laminectomy) that's been evacuated, but her wound isn't taking well. when i did the wound inspection today, the edges weren't apposed or granulating, the only thing holding both sides together was the stitches. :( v sad. my intern said to leave it for a few more days, we'd check again on monday and pray for the best over the weekend. i hope so too!

so far calls have been a farce - i've gotten to go home at 830 pm the night i was on take :) in part, this is due to there not being any rooms for us to sleep in, as well as having no new cases come in.
however, i stayed back to wait for my friend to travel back together one night this week, and ended up helping her with her ward call (meaning that you see all cases in the ward - such as low/high hypocounts, giving 1st dose antibiotics, doing procedures etc) which was SO BUSY. omg. thankfully between us both we managed to help the intern out a fair bit and we left at 11 pm, utterly shagged out. whew.

still, i'm thankful for being free as compared to being horrendously busy (like some of my classmates on the colorectal team) where they go home at 10 pm on a daily basis. NO THANKS.
i would like to work hard, but this is also my final year and i want to rest and study as well - i'll work hard when i need to (like on call) and when i should (as an intern). but for now, i'll enjoy my time off and use this time to study for the fast approaching finals! :)