Today was my very first day as a third-year medical student. My very first rotation is a 3-month rotation in internal medicine. Today was interesting. We didn’t start until 10 AM, though for the rest of the rotation, I expect to be at the hospital well before 7 AM from Monday to Friday, and by 8 AM on Saturdays. Yes, there is a half-day of work (at least) on Saturdays. It’s still better than studying for the Boards, don’t get me wrong.
Anyway, today was the first day, and I got lost in the hospital only twice. Great success! In addition, I went to take the blood pressure of a patient, and needed to get a reading with the patient lying down and with him sitting upright. When I asked him to sit up, he said he was a little dizzy, and asked if he could have extra time sitting up. I said sure, put down my pen and paper, and exited the room to give him a few minutes. When I came back, the patient had vomited all over my pen, paper, and his bedside table. Oh, man. There is only one thing I fear, going into third year, and that is vomit. I’d said as much during our orientation week, and it’s as though the universe was saying, “GET OVER IT” in as obvious a way as possible, on the very first day.
Lesson learned: never ever put things down and walk away from them, if you want them back. Also, apparently, some patients will say they feel dizzy when they in fact feel nauseated. Potato, potahto.
Grace and Claire will be happy to know that I wore my new beige cotton blouse from BCBG that they peer pressured me into buying when we went outlet shopping and I said I needed new work clothes. The shirt did not get vomited upon. Success!
