-
Before introducing yourself to the team, make sure you ask for your
days off. In fact, it is best to inform your resident of the days you
must have off rather than asking which days are best for the team.
-
Don’t worry about punctuality, as medicine is not the type of
profession in which we worry about “punching a time clock”.
-
Wear
scrubs as much as possible as it will make you look more like a doctor.
Also, try to look disheveled so people will think you are working so
hard that you don’t have time to sleep, much less shower.
-
Don’t
seem too enthusiastic, as Medicine is a very serious specialty.
-
Don’t
worry about actually seeing your patients during prerounds. It is better
to make sure you have all the lab data and dispo paperwork filled out.
-
Don’t spend too much time examining the patients as this is a busy
rotation and it is more efficient to wait for the ECHO and radiology
reports.
-
When rounding, try to question your resident’s judgment and
scoop your interns by withholding data from them. This is called “roundsmanship”
and it is very impressive to the attendings. In fact, if done well, they
may think that you are actually running the team.
-
Don’t spend time
talking with your patients about nonmedical things. Sick people dislike
visitors and you could really spend the time more efficiently in the
library reading about patients.
-
Make sure you only learn about your
assigned patients. In fact, it is a good idea to break away from rounds
to order tests and do paperwork when the team is not rounding on your
patients.
-
Wait to do the bulk of your reading the three days before the exam.
This way, all the information will be fresh in your brain.
-
Try to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible. It is safe to assume
that if something really interesting comes up your resident will have
plenty of time to track you down.
-
If you do decide to read during the rotation and you find an
interesting article, don’t trouble yourself to share it with the team
since they probably know it all already. If in doubt, just quietly leave
it in the mess of papers in the team room. If they are really
interested, they will find it and realize that it must have come from
you.
-
If problems arise during the rotation, make sure you suck it up
and don’t tell anyone (particularly Dr. Harrell as she has the
reputation of being an ogre). People will see the suffering in your
eyes, sense your hidden pain, and appreciate your noble martyrdom.
