So we've survived our first month of residency. And I say "only 83 more to go" somewhat jokingly. It will be a long road, but so far it hasn't been too bad so it's not like I am counting down because I am miserable. (Not that I don't expect to be miserable at times during this journey).
Month one of PGY-1 (Post Graduate Year -1/also known as Intern year) was Cardio Thoracic Surgery for the husband. CT is part of general surgery so it meant a larger call pool, so that Mr. Dawkter was only on call 5 nights the whole month of July. He also got 3 days off which wasn't too bad.
The first week was full of adjustments for the husband, but after that he seemed to do very well. There were however, a few administrative glitches or hiccups that were somewhat aggravating. For example for the first two weeks he didn't have access to one of the surgical hallways/floors. Seriously, how does a surgical resident not have access to one of the surgical floors? Luckily that only took about two weeks to clear up. None of the interns also had any money on the meal cards for the first few weeks (they get a small allowance to eat for the nights they are on call). We also struggled to get insurance figured out, but hopefully now, we have health, dental and eye insurance for both of us. And last but not least, Mr. Dawkter was not given a locker. And he still doesn't have one. Again, seriously, every intern needs a locker when they start, its been a month, how does he not have a locker yet? Which means that Dr. D doesn't have a place to put his stuff during the day, and he cannot bring any lunch or any snacks. The worst part is that the husband works from the early morning until well after 5:00 p.m. (or regular office hours) so he cannot even go and complain in person about any of these things or his lack of a locker. Every week we hope he gets a locker, but we're still waiting.
But I guess if not having a locker is the worst thing about month one of intern year, we really are pretty lucky.
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Dad.
2 years ago
That seems odd that they would have issues with access to the floor and a locker allocation. But I guess that's what happens with big organizations. I hope they get the locker thing worked out!
ReplyDeletestrange how those are the things he's having trouble with! You're right though, things could be worse! Hopefully he gets a locker soon! Russ has been really lucky with rotations so far- his 3rd month and he's worked basically 8:30-4 each month (except for the first month where he worked some 7-7s). So as soon as one comes up that is more time consuming...I'm going to be ridiculous haha
ReplyDeleteglad you survived month 1! Hope Mr. D gets a locker soon :)
ReplyDeleteI love reading these posts, it is such a unique insight into a life that is SO completely different from mine. I enjoy your perspective immensely.
ReplyDeleteOh the administrative issues... So annoying! My husband (and all other residents) has to pay for parking. So he gets a pass that's good for a month or so. One night, he was on call overnight from a Friday to a Saturday, and the pass was going to expire on the Saturday. But the parking office isn't open on Saturday, and it closes at 5:00 pm, so he couldn't get a new pass before his call day. So he got STUCK in the garage. So annoying.
ReplyDeleteAnyway... I am glad that the first month went well! Intern year goes by surprisingly quickly.
I'm glad to see that things are going good in your household even though the infamous residency has started.:)
ReplyDeleteJohn and I are getting married in less than 3 weeks and I haven't seen him in over a month because of his work schedule. He works 5pm-6am in the ER. Comes home, in bed by 7am. Wakes at 3:30pm. Eats, showers, leaves by 4:30 to work at 5. Plus he has 2 weeks of night float that just started. So, to avoid all this stress and to let him concentrate on work, I am living with my parents until the wedding. I feel so bad for him though. He's been so stressed and hasn't even had time to think about all the fun and exciting things that are happening in a few weeks! Poor guy. They basically gave him the hardest shift of the year right before the wedding.
I know how annoying it can be with not having a locker, etc. John still hasn't gotten his own white coat!! He has to wear some old one with the name covered up! so lame haha. He worked so hard the least they could do was give him his own coat lol!! Anyways, I'm still following even though I haven't updated my blog in a while! Glad to see you are both doing well:)