Surgery Reflections: Week 3 of 6

I'm currently at the VA. On this morning's pre-dawn walk I was greeted by a dark misty gloom, which kind of describes the VA in a way. My team consists of three male residents and a fellow M3 (E) and myself. E was on trauma call overnight, and after getting less than 1 hour of sleep, was tearful when our VA logins didn't work (surprise surprise!). I was ambivalent about it. I gave her a hug and we went to round on patients.  

Everyone runs up and down the stairs, and will hold the door juust long enough that you have to run also.

E and I didn't speak as we rounded. We knew nothing about the patients, and there was no way we could find any information aside from asking our residents. My resident, an R2 who looks exactly like Ed Sheeran when masked, frequently abandons me ("Wait here"), but after a while I get impatient and proceed directly to the OR--and there he is already. Thanks, buddy. Good looking out.

Patient are the VA are characters. Some of the problems that exist here don't exist in the main hospital. For example, we have a bed occupied by a veteran whose family doesn't want him. He is fully recovered from his operation and has no reason to stay, but is here anyways. "The food's good," he said.

I introduced myself to the plastic surgeon today. He said, "Are you a real M3?" I said, "Yep." The M2s just started on clerkships and apparently cause the entire hospital staff to be annoyed with their lack of knowledge and general unfamiliarity with The Way Things Work. Well, obviously. They've only been in school for 1.5 years. 

The surgeon then turns to Ed Sheeran and says, "Are you also an M3?" I laughed into my mask.

I assisted with B, an R4, who is very calm and nice and thanks me for blotting and cutting sutures, which no one ever does. She didn't recognize me at first under my hat and mask, but then her eyes widened and she said, "Are you the student with me on Breast? I told so many people about your carbon monoxide poisoning!" I chuckled at that too, because I guess I'm gaining notoriety. It follows me. All I can do is handle things gracefully.

Theme for the next month: walk gracefully.