it’s really happening

June 6, 2007

i finally got my schedule for next year, and so intern year has officially become Reality. on june the 28th, i now have a place that i am supposed to be, and a role that i am supposed to be filling. and (drumroll, please) . . . that place, of course, happens to be the place i most fear of all places in the hospital: the NICU.

ack.

however, this is not as bad as it sounds. for one, i’m not assigned to the main NICU (or as some refer to it, the “real” NICU). i will actually be at our community hospital, and the NICU there is actually really just an ‘acute care nursery’, and the sickest, smallest most alien-like babies do not reside there. i actually think it will be a decent chance to learn some NICU-related skills without the stress of babies dangling over the edges of the balcony of life, and — get this — there is no call or work on weekends on this rotation! i can ease my way into intern year this way, right? less shock to the system.

the minus side is that i’ve never worked in this community hospital and so i am going to be as disoriented as everyone else my first month, despite having spent the past 5 years at this place. oh well.

other recent developments:

• i have had some recent shopping success! i am now the proud owner of 4 very pretty new shirts and one new uberfeminine/stylish short-sleeved jacket. i am still on the lookout for more work-friendly shirts, one pair of wear-everywhere jeans, and some comfortable yet professional shoes with heels. i am finally ready to not dress like a 16 year old! so exciting.

• the rest of my schedule actually made me very happy. only 6 months of true q4 (every 4th night call) — definitely on the nicer side as intern years go. in sum total, i have 5 ward months (2 general, 2 hem/onc, and one cardiology), 1 “real” NICU month, 1 “fake” NICU month (ie, what i start on), 2 elective months (one in ID and another in rheumatology), 2 same-day clinic months (where i am guaranteed to get sick as parents bring in their kids with the sniffles) and 1 month in the full-term nursery. i also get 3 weeks of vacation (in sync with josh!) plus 6 days off around january 1st. really, it could be much, much worse.

• i got an NC driver’s license! all the answers to the test were on this website. thanks to jay (whoever you are), i even got 100%.

• i’m headed on a road trip to williamstown (via charlottesville) tomorrow for my college reunion. i really can’t believe it’s been 5 years.

3 Comments

  • Reply doctorsquared March 10, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    I&#039m so jealous that you&#039re a real doctor and you get to start internship! Three more years…Oh, and for jeans, I am a huge fan of the Kasil brand. I like my sevens and my citizens and all, but Kasil is my absolute favorite, they fit my sister and me both so well, and you are super little, so they would probably look good on you, too! 🙂

  • Reply Sarah Hart-Unger March 10, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    running42k: sick kids can definitely be emotionally draining, but the great part is that SO many of them do very, very well — much more so than adults. so there is a lot of happiness/success in pediatrics as well as some heart-wrenching sadness. and ok, i have to defend myself here — in my opinion, googling "NC driver&#039s license" and finding a website with helpful hints is NOT cheating. if NC didn&#039t want the site up, I&#039m sure they could easily get rid of it! d2: i will have to check out kasil! i know there is a chapel hill store that carries that line. i tried on some true religions yesterday and that did NOT work out — i do not need any flap/button pockets to further emphasize that area!

  • Reply Rebecca March 10, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    Well this doesn&#039t have to do with this particular entry, (see "Currently…"), but it&#039s Brandi "Carlile," not "Carlisle." You wouldn&#039t want anyone thinking you were actually listening to Belinda Carlisle, would you? Well you might =) OOOOH baby, do you know what that&#039s worth?

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