8:05am- walk in (late) to huddle in clinic where i catch the tail end of a discussion about a recent article documenting anemia due to blood draws in the hospital.
8:15am- am told by my MA that a mien interpreter is not available until noon (while my mien-speaking patient has just been roomed). luckily, i grab another MA to serve as my interpreter to avoid yet another appointment carried out largely with awkward gestures (e.g. how does one ask about hemorrhoids?) and slow, loud talking in an attempt to somehow make myself more understood (which reminds me of an appointment i had with a deaf patient and his sister, who claimed to be an interpreter and whose claims i gradually started to doubt as she basically used the same rudimentary/universal body language/signs that i might have used while again talking loudly and slowly)
9:00am- get an inbox message saying that my nursing home patient, whom i saw last week after she was discharged from the hospital, has been readmitted with a stroke. she's now nonverbal and on comfort care. i'm never going to have a conversation with this lady again.
9:10am- carry out extensive discussion about contraceptive options with a new patient, whom i'll follow for all of 10 months before passing her off to a colleague as i leave. she seems nice, i'm sad that we probably won't see each other very much before i graduate.
9:30am- go out to mollify a patient of mine in the waiting room because she's been waiting 30+ minutes while her insurance status gets sorted out, and at this point i need to reschedule her. she says, "I need meds!" and i oblige.
... and so on, and so forth- i use my breaks in between patients to check emails, send yet another reminder email to my combined residents to RSVP to some event, switch a call, drop off a triplicate, call patients back, write notes, etc... though before lunch one highlight was that i did get to freeze an actinic keratosis off an attending.
12:15pm- i rush out to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich and travel over to the county psych clinic where i'm finishing up a 2 month stint. along the way, i tweak my ankle while navigating a tricky patch of soggy grass in my wedge heels.
12:30pm- utter panic. my computer has been replaced with a shiny new one. which would be otherwise very good news as my old computer operated at the speed of dial-up, however this is NOT good news because i had not backed up my patient files that are sitting in a folder on the desktop of said old computer. a flurry of desperate phone calls to IT ensues. meanwhile, i listen to several messages on my phone from this morning- a typical example: "uh, dr park, i really need to talk to you about my depakote, ok? because i think i might have a seizure and i'm almost out of the medication and the pharmacist told me not to take the medication that you gave me, so i don't know what to do! call me back, ok? please call me back!!?" (note, i am not practicing neurology).
1pm- time to see a new patient!
2pm- new patient out the door, and i'm frantically limping as i haul (haulping?) computer towers that look like the one that was in my office back and forth from where they sit in anticipation of exile to my office. dangit, the new monitor doesn't work with the old towers! i bring back another monitor as well... dangit, it doesn't have the power cord attached! i bring back yet another monitor... and try a tower... and another one... and another one... [life lesson learned- BACK UP FILES]
2:45pm- sweaty, covered in dust, but triumphant. i think i might survive the last few days here in this clinic. next few hours until 5:30pm spent seeing a few patients, writing notes, printing notes, sticking patient labels on notes, fielding telephone calls, faxing refill requests, reviewing labs, punching holes in all papers to put into paper charts, checking my OTHER inbox to make sure it's clear, etc.
... and now, here i sit at midnight, unable to sleep because like an insane person, i never learn that caffeine post-5pm results in insomnia, and the aforementioned gimpy ankle is protesting with the slightest positional change. and that, is another day.
