Public Holidays

Okay, so I know its been awhile since I've made a post, and yes, its because I've been busy; and all I want to do when I come home is to crash in bed and wait till I have to go to work again. I'm not bitter, I promise. I've had two whole weeks now as a surgical intern and my experiences so far can be summarised in two words: Utter Chaos! Its been fun, but a lot of the time it feels like you're flying solo without proper backup. I can understand why. The registrar's job is to be in theatre learning their trade, while its our job to keep things running smoothly. That's fine, but it seems like sometimes (well, a lot of the time), I end up in situations where I'm dealing with things that I probably shouldn't be. I won't give any specific examples, it's not fair and all the non medical people reading this will freak when they realise that when they go into have surgery, the majority of their medical needs are met by people with as little experience as myself. Let's just say I do the best possible job I can with the time and resources that are available to me. Feeling nice and safe are we?

But to come to the real crux of the post - Public Holidays. Whatever you do, if you can in anyway avoid it - try not to get sick on a public holiday. For 14.5 hours, I was the sole doctor responsible for all 3 surgical wards, or about 100 patients. 'Busy' just doesn't quite cut it when describing my day. The pager was singing all day long, and in the end I still had three pages of jobs that I didn't quite get to before it was handover time. So please, please, please don't come to my hospital on a public hospital when I'm on cover. It's best for both of us - my sanity and your health.