Learning The Hard Way

Salam..

Indeed, it has been quite some long time since my last entry.. As a matter of fact, my last entry was from our day-2 journey in Paris.. Even that is still not finished yet.. I still have another four days to complete that series.. Oh, dear! I am very lazy, am I not?

New Phase Of Learning

I am pleased to tell you that since the start of July, I am no longer the in-house officer for medicine, but now working in the Emergency Department (ED, or A&E).. To be honest, I was terrified at the start, and in fact still am.. The thought of seeing a patient face on with pretty much nothing but their words was a horrifying one.. But, I was eager to take the step.. In fact, I had once said to a colleague that I would want to spend some time in ED to know the feeling of not knowing and making the best guess for what was happening..

My wish came through.. I am now posted to be an ED officer for the next six months..

I knew it would be hard, but I was (half-) ready to make the leap, run the course.. Alhamdulillah, as of now, I have made it through the first month.. The learning curve for this job is magnificent - from the straight forward unstable angina and pneumonia to the 'I'm not sure what's going on' stuff and multiple-problem cases.. And also, I am learning loads about the surgical stuff that I would never thought of doing as a medical SHO - suturing, dislocations and fractures..

As the days go, I become more confident with my decisions and making judgment calls - stabilising patients before I refer them to the appropriate services or sending them home if I feel they would be safe to be discharged.. To my own benefit, I made a presentation on one of the teaching days pointing out the difficulties I faced to make the appropriate referral.. My boss was present and, in fact, he thought it was a good! I was pleased with myself but also feel relieved that my SHO colleagues were also facing the same and similar challenges..

As of today, I have done few suturings, staplings, reducing dislocations and casts.. I am proud of myself, but also realise that there is still much to be learned.. I don't want to rush myself, so I am taking cases as they come to me.. Hopefully, I will be alright..

I am starting my night duty shift tonight and, to be truthfully honest, I am terrified! There will be only one SHO (me!) from 2am to 8am tomorrow.. I am up to my 90's at this moment and really freaking out.. I hope it would be okay..

Salam..