Tuesday, February 5, 2008

A New Day

So I am finally surfacing from my new job to give you an update on my life. Everything is going pretty well, but like any job its frustrating getting the hang of how everything works and where everything is. It doesn’t help that Parkland is an enormous hospital so being my directionally challenged self, its frustrating just trying to find the bathroom. All in all, my new job is MUCH different that my old job. There are, of course, plusses and minuses to this. Everyone in the OB/GYN field has heard the phrase “the Parkland way.” When I was interviewing here for residency I kept hearing the faculty say that everything is done “the Parkland way” and I noticed how protective they are of it. This program is so huge that it works best for everyone to practice the same way so that we can easily change shifts and not too much needs to be discussed. I understand this, but “the Parkland way” is weird and not how obstetrics and gynecology is practiced anywhere else in the world. It’s kinda like - this is the way we do it here and it has been done like this for years and years and we are not sure why we do it but you better do it too. Soo....to anyone reading this at my old program all I have to say is the grass is always greener. So far, this is what I have found to be the pros and cons:

PROS:

1. The hours. This is a big one. The hours are way better at Parkland. There are so many residents that we all work in shifts and the longest shift I have worked and probably will ever work is 17 hours. This is crazy seeing as how I used to pull 24-30 hour shifts every weekend at home. Oh, and if my shift is over at 7:00, I am out the door at 7:01. At home if your day was over at 5:00, that actually meant you would leave anywhere between the hours of 5:00 and 8:00.

2. No clinic. Well, very minimal clinic. We have approximately 4 half days a month in contract to the 4 half days a week at home. And along this same line, another pro is no Logician. Logician is the computer program we used to document notes from clinic. Much to my dismay, we could get Logician on our computers at home so we were expected to see all our patients and then go home and spend an hour or two writing our notes. At Parkland, you just handwrite a quick note in the chart after you see the patient so you never have to take your work home. Thank God.

3. No attendings (these are the old docs who are scary and yell at us). Seriously, I never see them. This pro is kind of a tricky one because it is sort of a plus and minus. At home the attendings were lurking around all the time. We had to check out every patient to an attending and they always knew when we did something wrong and were ready to rip us a new one. Here, they are never around which means that our 3rd and 4th year residents act like the attendings. Which basically means I am scared of all the 3rd and 4th year residents.

4. No dictation. Need I say more??

That’s a pretty good list. But of course with all those pros comes some cons.

CONS:

1. More paperwork. I actually thought it would be impossible to have more paperwork than we had at home, but it is. To discharge a patient I have to fill out at least 10 forms. Just to order a pregnancy test I have to fill out and put stickers on 3 forms. It's ridiculous.

2. The nurses. Well, not that they aren’t nice people because they are, but they don’t help you do anything. They don’t even go in the room with me for an exam so I have to get out all my supplies myself and fill out all the paperwork myself. Which means my patient is sitting spread eagle with a metal thingy in her crotch for four times as long while I bumble around getting all my crap together.

3. Delivery in the operating room. At Parkland we do it old school style where the lady labors in one room and then when the baby’s head starts coming out I have to push her bed out of the labor room and wheel her back into the operating room and get her to scootch herself over to another bed all the while with a baby’s head hanging between her legs. Oh, and when I say “I wheel her back” I literally mean I have to do it, referring back to con #2. No jobs for medical techs here.

4. Vertical skin incisions for c-sections. What?? Ladies, how pissed would you be if you had a big ass scar from your belly button to your whoo-ha?? Especially when all your other girlfriends are looking fine in their bikinis on the beach.

5. And you guessed it.....the number 1 con of all. MEXICANS. I’ve never seen so many in my life. Not even when I was drunk in Mexico when I was 14. And if I don’t learn to speak Spanish pretty darn fast, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna get the ax.

So there they are, my preliminary likes and dislikes. I’m not sure which list weighs heavier, even though the con list is a little longer. The pro list has some pretty important points on it.

Cheers!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hold up, let's take a look at Con #4. A laboring woman would seriously be denied a bikini-cut, even if she specifically requested it??? Hells to the no on that one, chiquita. No one wants to walk around for the rest of their life looking like a cracked egg.

I'm glad that you finally managed a little blog time. Your e-fans have been wondering what's been going on with you. Nice to see that you're doing well!

Anonymous said...

YAY for the blog update!!! :)
So, it sounds like things are chugging along alright. Such an adjustment! On the up side, I think as you get used to things, the cons will begin to weigh less and less-I hope so at least!
Anyway, I think I hate the Parkland way and I pray I'm never forced to deliver there. I realize it's one of the top programs in the nation for good reason, but just damn!

Anonymous said...

And excuse me, have you read Lynne Spears' sworn court statement about her night at Britney's last week? If not, go to Perez immediately...oh, Brit Brit!

Anna said...

Ok, not into the rolling back to the OR thing. I don't even like taking c/s back there, hahaha. And what you wouldn't give for our smiling faces to be passing along a spec, a GCC, wet prep, holding a slide...tsk tsk.

Anonymous said...

Well of all the cons, I think I could possibly help you out with #5... learning a little Spanish, that is. Just to be clear, I am not offering to whack any Mexicans, unless it is Manuel Backpack who felt me up at that bar we went to in Cozumel. He could go.

Other than that, I can't really relate to the medical stuff, but I am definitely glad that you're on your feet and sounding more like the "tough, cool, independent-type chick" we all know and love.

Miss you!

Melissa said...

YAY! You updated! Jodie and I were actually talking this weekend about your adventures with Ashley in Mexico when you were 14 :-) And yes, I mentioned that to make you jealous that I got to see your HLM this weekend. She updated me on much about your life (um, the left-handed thing. I'd rather have you delivering a baby from me in an emergency with right-handed tools but using your left hand. You're a lefty. Duh).

I miss you! Tell Doc I say hi and to behave.

Susan J, I miss you too. And Jo-Jo, well, I saw you three days ago. Hang in there - call me whenever. And work still has to get back to me about next Wednesday.

-jessie said...

so I came up with one more con and one more pro to add to the list. i'll start with con as to not end on a negative note.

CON: switching between days and nights. two days on then two nights on, my sleep schedule is all f'ed up and my body can't figure out when to eat and when not eat. therefore, i eat all the time.

PRO: the people. my fellow interns are awesome. i mean just this morning after work we all went out and had french toast and pomegranate martinis. sounds nice huh?