Brilliant

I was on "short call" tonight. That means getting to work at 6:30 am and staying until 8 pm. It's team call, but I don't really feel very involved with this particular team. They kind of overexert themselves and write orders on my patients while I sit back and wait for the staff to call me if there's a problem. I can check labs just fine from the safety of the resident lounge with CNN on in the background and my latte in my left hand. There's no reason to pace back and forth across the floor, asking poor nurses and secretaries why your orders haven't been carried out. That's just crazy. Besides, if the other intern in her desire to become a cardiologist and impress our attending wants to do every admission note and not only manage her patients but invade my space, who am I to stop her? I am quite content to breakfast, caffeinate, lunch, and recaffeinate all while compulsively checking my personal email over and over. I mean, one should pick their battles, right?

I'll always remember shedding many tears after receiving my first "C" ever during my first semester in college. It was in general chemistry. I should seriously thank that professor. Although at the time I was devastated, I think that was the beginning of the end of my perfectionism. The older I get, the more willing I am to let go.

So tonight, instead of leaving at 8, I asked to be excused at 7:15 to attend an interview with resident applicants at one of the pubs downtown. My "teammate" was almost gleeful to run the entire floor by herself for almost an hour. So rather than getting home by 8:30, I got home at almost 10 pm. Brilliant. Rounds tomorrow will come awfully early, and I have no one else to blame for my own tiredness, but I think getting out did improve my mood somewhat.