ER Day 1: Lets Play Doctor

Welp. First day was pretty nuts. Not sure if it was in the good way. At least I kinda looked the part:

The subway ride to the hospital wasn't terrible, once you get out of Manhattan the subway goes above ground and you get some pretty views of the water during the trip. Once we got to the hospital and up to the administration floor for orientation, it was crazy. Me and the other girl were told to go to the Medical Library to watch a video on how to work the computer system, but it turns out they were supposed to send us to the ER confrence room for an ER specific orientation. We showed up to the ER after getting our badges to meet our very pissed off attending because we missed his orientation. We were abruptly given our schedules (4 12 hour shifts per week with at least 4 overnight shifts this month) and were sent out on the floor.

Now this is an infamous day in the medical world. The first monday in July is the first day for medical students and new residents. So it was pretty crazy. The ER at my hospital is tiny. Only 12 or so exam areas. There were 4 new residents, 2 4th year med students, and 2 3rd year medical students (myself included). For the first few hours we basically stood around like:

Eventually the new residents figured out the swing of things and us newbie medical students started following them around like lost little puppies. The 4th year med students had a ton of great advice for me and the other 3rd year uber noob, so hopefully things will go better tomorrow.

On a brighter note, I stopped by school after I got out of work and my loan check came in. This is exactly how I felt carrying a check for a huge sum of money through Harlem back to the UWS:

(Marshall running down the street shouting "Im carrying a lot of money"- How I Met Your Mother)

Cool things I saw today:
-Sickle cell anemia patient in a sickle crisis (aka super jaundice)
-Stab wound (which was pretty much immediatly sent to OR)