Good Doctor (3)

• When oncall, eat when you can, sleep when you can. Never think it’s too early for bed, just because it’s 8 pm. You never know when that pager will go off, and if you’ll get to see the callroom again for the rest of the night
• You’re human. You’ll screw up (I still do). Learn from it. Forgive yourself for it
• If you have to, use the Hide-In-The-Bathroom-To-Cry trick. I’ve had to employ that several times in my internship. Remember, even the worst day ever will eventually end
• You’re going to be (almost) perpetually tired for the entire year. Life goes on outside the hospital, so have a balance. Have a social life, even if you don’t feel like it
• Never piss off the nurses. If you do you’ll never get a good night’s sleep. There is never an excuse to be rude or obnoxious
• Nurses may not have had the training you have, but they’ve had the experience. If they ask you to come to the floor because a patient doesn’t look well, come stat!
• The learning never stops. Having said that you’ll have way too many journals to read, and soon they’ll stack up and will only make you guilty. If you have a 3-month old medical journal you haven’t already read, you probably never will. Get rid of it. Pick and choose the type of journal and article you’ll read, get rid of the rest
• Lastly, never say no when a consultant offers free food or coffee (no, seriously)