A Week in the Life of a Minion
I hate feeling like a minion, which is why being a medicine intern sucks. Or one of the reasons anyway. No one likes to feel incompetent on a regular basis, but in medicine, I guess it’s just the norm until YOU’RE the one who’s been in practice long enough to think everyone else is just dumb for not knowing the answers all the time.
So my first few days were rough, the 1st day especially. I came onto a service full of very sick patients, picked up 7 my first day, then had new admissions that day on top (each team admits everyday in my program, and then we admit for ALL teams on our call nights – every 4th night). It was beyond overwhelming and I got home ~7pm, missing my kids, missing Trav, and absolutely sobbing. I could not pull it together that night. I literally didn’t think I was going to be able to open my eyes the next morning I cried so damn hard.
Let me back up. Travis left on a red eye flight Tuesday night to Boston – sort of a last minute business trip. There was no way to pass it up; it was the opportunity of a lifetime for him and one of those now or never offers. Of course he went, but that left me alone the night before starting my first day of intern year. I was terrified and an emotional wreck – not pretty.
Thank GOD I wasn’t really all alone. My Yiayia to the rescue. I am blessed with an amazing family. I was joking with Yiayia the other day about how ironic it is that of all our family members, the one who has been there for us, doing all the “heavy lifting” in our greatest time of need is her - my 80 year old grandmother. She is one hell of an Yiayia. She cooks for us, cleans for us, takes care of our kids when we can’t, etc. While Travis was gone, she’d get up when I’d leave for the hospital to assume care for the kids until Jen, our nanny, arrived. The new nanny has been here too, obviously, but Yiayia has filled in on numerous occasions. She has been wonderful and I don’t know what we would have done without her. I’ve always known and been made to feel that we, as her grandkids, are her world, and I am so lucky to have that kind of love. I know my parents would do it for me in a heartbeat too if Yiayia couldn’t, but they have a LOT on their plates as is with their own young kids whose needs are still very high.
I get 1 day off a week, and that was yesterday for me. I had that feeling of “Sunday night dread” all day and did my best to let go of it, but it was tough. Unfortunately, Fin was up all night last night barfing too. Thankfully Travis is home now and slept on the rocking chair by her bed, hauling her to and from the bathroom. It killed me that I had to leave so early when she was still sick. That didn’t feel very motherly to me; I really hate leaving my kids. I’m on-call tomorrow, which means I said goodnight to my kids tonight and won’t see them now until I get home from work on Tuesday evening. Sorry to be so negative, but medicine is a tough life. Thank God for derm. Still, getting through this year is going to be really freakin hard for me. Here’s what my upcoming week looks like and what they’ll all look like, for those crazy enough to be contemplating a career in medicine or are just interested in what it takes to be a doctor (mind you, this is after 4 years of college which included required years in biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, calculus - yes, I passed calc Jena;) – plus 4 years of painful hours as a medical student and a whole ton of abuse during that time).
A day in the Life of a Minion
5:45am start pre-rounding; figuring out what happened to my patients since I last saw them, cehcking labs, etc.
7am get signout from the overnight team to find out what patients were admitted to my service overnight;
7:15-9:30 scrambling to see new & old patients, write orders, & follow up on labs before attending rounds;
9:30-10:30 rounds with the attending and team; answer questions about the patients’ disease processes and management (in medicine, we call this getting “pimped” – you’re in the hot seat getting grilled and trying not to look dumb)
10:30-11:30 morning report (mandatory; we present cases to other residents and attendings); “pimping” is also very much a part of this
11:30-12 finish writing notes and touching base with attendings;
12-1pm noon conference (mandatory education time);
1-4pm check in with specialists and consultants, discharge patients, follow-up on studies, and continue admitting new patients that come in. One day a week we have rounds in the late afternoon with the chair of our program for 1hr (another session in which we get “pimped”). This means less time to get work done for patients, which means I leave even later those days.
4pm – in theory, could signout to the on-call team…in reality, this doesn’t happen until ~6:30pm for me each day;
—-every 4th night——
4pm-7pm – on-call, admitting new patients for all the ward teams; since we take admissions until until 7, if one comes in at 6:55, it means I’m stuck there until the patient is stable and the admission process is done (which still takes me HOURS).
—–when the 4th night falls on a Friday or Saturday, it’s an overnight call—–
4pm – get signout from all the other teams. This means ALL their patients become my responsibility overnight. So I all of the sudden have all my patients, my new admissions, and the other interns’ patients (~20-40 patients) who I get a few sentences about from my fellow interns as they signout to me – that’s called “cross cover". My first overnight call is this Friday, and I’m terrified of cross cover. Bad stuff always happens overnight, and when you only know a 1 liner about a patient and you get called by a nurse saying they’re crashing and wanting to know right then what to do about it, it’s freakin scary.
We had a talk last week by a girl who just finished her intern year and told us about the tragic death of a cross cover patient who fell through the cracks. The intern on-call didn’t realize how sick that person was, didn’t know that patient (we never really know the cross cover patients), and it ended up resulting in her dying. It was a mistake anyone could have made, which makes it even scarier. Intern year is just stressful all around so far.
This poor baby in my belly is going to come out with no fingernails, gnawing on its own arm or something.
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17 comments
Laurie,
I understand the Sunday night anxiety thing, but at least you know what you are facing now, and there is some relief in that. Hope Travis’ trip went well and that Fin is better.
Ruby
It all sounds too tough to do, but I really think you will do just fine. You really love your family and really care for your patients, so everything will be allright. This will be a time on which you will look back one day and think: How can I have done that without going crazy and you won’t know it. Hope that time comes soon!!
Hopefully you’ll be surprised by how quickly you get faster at doing things. It can only get easier from here right? Fingers crossed for you!
I seriously do not believe you passed calc…. although it does explain why you thought we should be able to do simple math without me having to go, “Shel, Shel can you help us do this math?” makes me giggle just to think of it.
Everything Else:
Total Suckage.
I have thusly named this year, The Good Year of Suckage.
Thank GOD for YiaYia.
that’s all I got.
Thank God for YiaYia. I think I broke out in hives reading about your typical schedule. Seriously that is so scary! Do you get to eat?!?! Yikes!
You will be fine. Look at all the combat training you have picked up since med school. After so many sleep deprived years with getting up with babies all night long this will be a piece of cake. You may end up sleeping more.
The first few weeks of so many things you do seem overwhelming but then you learn to do things faster and better. You can figure out what is important and what is not, whi si a friend and who is not, it all begins to click and come together.
I’m speechless…really, and that rarely happens to me. How in the world??!! My goodness…you must really love what you do. That’s pretty dang awesome! I have a hard time peeling my eyes open at 7 when C wakes up. Now I feel like a total wimp! Seriously, hope the weeks improve as you go along. Don’t forget to eat & try to get some sleep. I too say “Thank God For Grandmothers!”
I am studying to be a teacher, so I find tales from the life of an MD very fascinating, but I *feel* for you as a mother!
Can I borrow your YiaYia?
Yep, that settles it. No WAY could I be a doctor. But you? Can definitely do this. You rock at juggling a million things and making it look easy - you were made for this stuff. I believe in you! (How was that for a pep talk? I gave it my all. It was easy, because I absolutely know you’re going to kick tail as an intern!)
yikes, i knew about this and still can’t get over how stressful it must be. that’s why i’m an NP!
i know you can do it, laurs. get to know your nurses…especially the night ones. love you!
I am SO glad you posted about the crazy lives we lead. Seriously, when my non-doctor friends complain about their long workdays, or say how stressful their lives are, I am all like; “shaaaa, at least you get weekends off….try making (literally) life and death decisions for a 30 hr shift, then come home post-call to your kids who are dying to play with you, stay up for another 8 hours until you all crash b/c you can’t possibly nap when you’ve been away so long, only to be awoken 2 hrs later by a hungry infant who wants to nurse.” And all that for…..well, I guess we will just have to wait and see
” And you said YOU were tired?” But believe me, IT GETS BETTER (a little 
. Love ya, hi to YiaYia. You will survive (barely;)_Mel
1. i am soooo sooo glad i got to meet YiaYia. she is as wonderful and she seems on your blog and her Chocolate Eclair Cake totally ROCKS!
2. yeah, thatschedule pretty much sucks. big time. BUT….remember that right now you are pretty much the most inefficient you will ever be at anything. Pretty soon you will be a picture of efficiency, you will figure out how to work the system in your favor… i used to round in my heeley’s on the night shift…there is nothing better than a long, empty hospital hallway for getting some serious speed!
3. there was soooo much i wanted to do with you guys before this stupid crazy schedule started up for you!!!! ugggg….i hope we can still squeeze in some fun before i deploy in October!!!
I don’t think I have ever commented on your blog, but I have read it off and on for a while now. I’m an ICU nurse (in Milwaukee) and July is not anyone’s favorite month. My advice for getting through this next year is to get to know the nurses (especially the ICU). If you are kind to them, they will let you know if something isn’t quite right with a patient. One attending once told me that he always tried to be very friendly with nurses because they could make overnights awful if they didn’t like him. Let me know if you want any other tidbits. By the way, I bought your skinnykidz belts and love them. My son (also from VN) can wear any pants/shorts now. Good Luck, you will do fine.
If anyone can do it Laurie, It’s YOU!! I agree, soon you will be way more efficient and things won’t take as long….and then it will be all over and a thing of the past. Yay for Derm! Just keep telling yourself that! You amaze me everyday! Remember, to take care of you! Hope your nanny is working out, I was one many years ago for a family in Jersey for 4 years. Now, I’m a nurse, so yes, make nicey nice with your nurses…I know they will love you! It will make your overnight call time go so much more smoothly.
I agree with the being VERY nice to nurses advice. When I worked in the picu we’d always let those residents we liked sleep for at least a couple hours unless it was an absolute emergency. Also I want to tell you that I had a very stressful pregnancy for a number of reasons that I wont bore you with and my daughter came out calm and happy. So don’t add that to your lists of concerns!
ah, wow. i had no idea. i am kicking around the idea of med school (after a BS Ed + MS Ed), but not sure. not sure i want to work that hard in my mid-30’s. is that too old for a new career? i admire your grit + determination. hang in there. you can do it!
Just stay focused that you are living out your dreams–you have incredible kids and a kick ass career! Things will continue to get easier as you move closer to your goals. (Feel like I need pom poms to help me cheer!)
Seriously, this year will suck–but it is just that, a YEAR. You will laugh about it later.
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