life as an intern (1 Viewer)

[vodkacrumble]

http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_health/Transcripts/s518845.htm

I looked up Nick Coatsworth, a doctor I happened to have worked with when he was a resident and a registrar in Sydney. he's very passionate about what he does, has worked overseas for MSF on quite a few occaisions and last time I worked with him he was working towards tropical medicine/diseases sort of thing.

I was just thinking about doctors I've worked with that have stood out as 'the good ones' and when I googled his name I found transcripts for something that was on ABC in 2002 profiling him through his intern year.

It might be a good insight for people who want to study med.
I especially love the comment about being a 'walking signature' for your first year out of uni, ha.


for the rest of the transcripts, click on the link below and search for "Young Intern":
http://abc.net.au/gnt/indexes/archive2002.htm

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

i cant wait for my intern year.. and its true.. ure a glorified secretary in medicine.. as an intern.. and if u cant handle that.

clinical medicine is not for u.. thanks for the link, VC =D

 

[watatank]

For an entirely accurate take on being an intern watch Scrubs

 

[vodkacrumble]

i cant wait for my intern year.. and its true.. ure a glorified secretary in medicine.. as an intern.. and if u cant handle that.

clinical medicine is not for u.. thanks for the link, VC =D

the way some of the interns are treated it makes me want to make them a cup of tea and give them a reassuring pat.
i'm the nurse paging you at 9pm who will always thank you profusely to come chart some meds or put in cannulas (cannulae?) i'm doing a plebotomy competency specifically so i don't have to do that!!

but it's nice to see that the intern year is still very much treated as a learning year, you're quizzed a lot not just to see what you know but to encourage you to study up on what you don't know.

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

hahhaha im on 50% for cannulaes ..

its very good skill to learn.. but i still mess them up ...

hahaha yeah.. but u still cant chart up the meds =( so they still gotz to wake up..

 

[vodkacrumble]

well i can chart a few bits and pieces (paracetamol, woo!) and phone orders are all good.

the only time i will get shitty with you is when i have to page 3 times to tell you i have a pt vomiting faecal matter and i can hear music in the background when you call and you rock up 2 hours later to tell me "the team can review her in the morning" without even walking in the pt's room...

it's so different in a country hospital though, i have to call the consultant if there's an issue which filled me with a little fear when i first started. i'm used to never speaking to consultants unless spoken to.
i called the SMO one night to tell her a pt's GCS had dropped from 14 to 7 (drunk, punched in head, had a seizure, agitated, given 25mg diazepam) and she literally ran from the ED to the ward.
then the bastard became more responsive the second she walked in the door.

 

[rozymisty]

Next year I'm going to be a grad nurse.

Hmm yeah im sure scrubs is a very accurate description of being an intern is like!

There are a number of experienced nurses now doing the nurse practitioner courses and that way, if there is an after hours emergency, they can order xrays and stuff like that, and medications. Doctors are worried they are taking over their jobs! As if-there arent enough doctors, so if you got experienced nurses who know their stuff, why not give them authority to do some stuff doctors can do.

VC-can i add you to my msn, as it would be great to chat with a nurse who's had experience for a few years.

 

[vodkacrumble]

no worries bro, but i'm rarely on msn (dial-up + shiftwork)
drop me a PM and i'll give you my email

but this is only my first year out of uni i've been working in the hospital system parttime as an AIN for the previous 2 years, but only 7 weeks as an RN.