Attending day #9

Attending is like a death of a thousand cuts. There is no one thing that kills you, but all the little things start adding up. Our offices are across the street from the hospital and I ended up walking back and forth 4 times today: once to see the inpatinets on my service, once to teach for an hour, and 2 more times to see allergy consults. Plus I still see patients in clinic, so I'm running around like crazy

I'm also starting to run out of things to teach about. I've exhausted all my already prepared talks and am starting to have to take significant time to prepare.

We also had a site visit for our fellowship program which was very stressful for everyone, particularly my boss. I think it went as well as could be expected under somewhat difficult circumstances, which I won't go into here.

That said, attending on the inpatient service stops any self-pity pretty quickly.

The interns and residents have a busy, crappy life all year round, not just for two weeks. They have to get in at 6:30 every morning and are constantly getting harrassed by pages while trying to get things done.

Beyond that, of course, are the patients and parents. When you see a previously healthy kid with a new diagnosis of cancer or a near-drowning you stop feeling sorry for yourself pretty quick.

Well, for better or worse, 6 more days and I'm done, 8 more days and I'm off for a well deserved vacation.