I'm getting bored! I haven't been operating the last several days because I've been trying to give my wrist a break. I had a plastic surgeon look at it today. He told me to hold out another week and see how it's feeling after that. If it's still bad, he'll give me a cortisone shot. In the meantime, I can't operate, so I'm left managing the wards and going to clinics (which I was doing before on top of operating). I'm starting to grow stir-crazy and sometimes I really just want to go into the OR and have it all back to normal. Except that it wouldn't be normal, I'd be in pain, and I'd regret it in the long run, I'm sure. This too shall pass, and why am I complaining about being bored anyways, when before I was feeling run off my feet? I guess I'm meant to be a surgeon! It's a good sign, I suppose.
My oral exam was fine - very fair questions, which is somewhat unusual for these things, actually. I was told at the end that it's obvious I've taken out a lot of gallbladders, because I knew that operation down cold. I was also told that I really should have a better grasp of appendectomies by the end of first year. Fine. So it's over for another 6 months.
When I got back to the hospital yesterday after my exam, I was bombarded by the nurses on the surgical floor, almost all of whom had complaints and concerns about the other female resident on my team. I had to rewrite a lot of the orders she'd written that morning, fix a few mistakes, and appease people. Now I'm not just frustrated, but there's also a bit of a patient safety issue going on here - scary! So I did have a chat with the director of the rotation, and there are going to be a few more safeguards put in place for her, and people are going to be watching things closely for the next while. I'm trying to figure out how to work with her, and how to love her and support her, while also keeping patients safe and everyone happy. Tall order, and I definitely need some grace and wisdom here!
