My very first patient

I finally got to start seeing patients a week after starting my new job!  I was thrilled!  It's crazy how much you miss something when you haven't done it in a while.  I guess the old saying is true...

courtesy of www.littlelawsprints.com

I love seeing kids.  I love talking with them.  I love interacting with them.  I love educating them.  And I love cuddling with the little babies.  But there is something very scary about seeing my very own patient for the very first time.  I'm it!  I am THE doctor.  THE only doctor.  There is no one else that will follow in behind me or look over this chart.  Will I remember what to do? 

My very first patient was an adolescent kid with a foot injury...Yikes.  Foot injury, what do I do with that?  I can't ask my attending...I am THE attending.  I can't call up the ortho residents and ask their opinion.  I can't call my ER friends and ask them, they would think I am crazy.  And I can't call up the radiology residents and have them view the xray right away.  Oh the blessings of residency...It DOES have its pros!  It's funny how all the pros of residency come out AFTER its over ;)

As I take a deep breath and talk myself into getting up out of my chair and going into the room, it all comes back to me.  I know what to do!  And I did, thanks in part to the amazing people that trained me, not just my pediatric attendings and fellow residents, but also the ER attendings and residents, the radiology residents, etc. and the nurses that helped mold me into the kind of pediatrician I am today. 

It's a funny thing, residency that is.  When I was going through my intern year, I am sure the thought crossed my mind as to why I had to rotate through the different specialities when all I wanted to do was become a pediatrician.  But it is times like now, when I appreciate that training so very much.  I was truly trained by some of the very best doctors (& nurses) around!  I talk about how great my pediatric attendings are all the time, but the same goes for all the other specialities that make up OSU.  The ER doctors are the very best and I catch myself remembering the knowledge that some of the ER attendings and residents instilled upon me time and time again.  The radiology residents...fantastic!  I just can't say enough about some of the doctors that I was so very fortunate to come in contact with and allow them to teach me.  What I would give to spend a day with a few of them now! 

My first day of seeing patients went very smoothly, minus the EMR system hating me of course.  I found that once I relaxed and did what I was trained to do for all these years, it all came back to me.  It sure is a great feeling to know that all that training is paying off.  I know I say this all the time, but I am so very very blessed to be where I am and I will never take for granted the amazing people who helped get me to this very moment. 

And in case you are wondering, my first patient is fine.  Just a sprained ankle :)  And I know I will never forget his name.