right?

so, i am a linguist deep down. always will be. was one before i was a doctor and don't plan to give it up...

linguistic tidbits of my first few weeks in milwaukee:

1. right? as a response, as a rhetorical end of sentence. i say 'yep' or 'hmmm' or nothing. i think this is used in the exact distribution of the ubiquitous canadian 'eh'

2. weed. in kentucky if you say 'weed' in reference to marijuana, i think you are over 50. here, i haven't heard anyone say 'pot', which is what i would say. well, that is, if i for some reason needed to.

3. vowels. i never want to hear anyone here refer to southerners and their vowels. they are just as f'd up here. oh, and i'm not a southerner, you just need to travel here.

4. barley soda. i blame peter for me knowing this one. i appreciate that he felt the need to define it. i got it but won't be adding this to my vocabulary.

5. i been doing that for a minute. in response to 'how long have you had this pain?'. ok, to be fair this isn't specific to milwaukee, or evn the midwest. but seriously. if it had been a minute, you wouldn't be in my er. do you want my help. then QUANTIFY!!

i will post more as i come across them!

my first complaint

yep. it took one day. my very first patient of my career complained. she told the clinic director that i didn't listen to her and i rolled my eyes at her. i suppose the second is entirely possible, but i know i didn't mean anything by it. but believe that i listened - and i remember. anyone who knows me well knows that!

what she actually didn't like was that i didn't treat her problem the way she wanted me to. i wanted to investigate her problem and she wanted a quick fix. a quick fix that i thought would be dangerous. my attending stood by me. and so did the clinic director. i acknowledged what i might have done wrong. i accepted criticism on day 2.

did i forget to mention i stayed late on my very first day to fill out paperwork for this lovely lady??

new beginning

today was the first official day of doctoring. i walked into a room, looked right at a patient and introduced myself as dr. m. without laughing. not a bad day overall.

it is a bit surreal to take over someone else's patient population. this led to unexpected and rather surprising paperwork and emails today that required answering. how on earth am i really supposed to know is mr. white should or should not have his benzo refilled. thank god for my marvelous nurse. who, in addition to knowing the computer system inside out, shows incredible guidance in helping stupid interns.

if the rest of this year is like today, even if far busier, i will be a happy happy dr. chica.

oh and i got to staple a head. :)