Clinical Year: Day 1

Today I started clinicals.  My first rotation is surgery here...

at the Pensacola Naval Hospital.

I'm pretty lucky that I don't have to do this one alone.  My buddy Kyle Williams is on the same service with we so, we carpooled to work today at 8 AM.

When we showed up, we went through a very short "orientation" and were introduced to our preceptors.  I'll be working with an awesome attending physician, Dr. Chad Edwards, and his 4th year resident Dr. Marc Northern.  Kyle and I are very lucky in that there are no other medical students with us.  Just 3 other residents.  We will get to spend much of our time one-on-one with the chief resident and the attending, which is pretty rare in a teaching hospital...especially for PA students.

We spent much of the morning talking with Dr. Edwards about how he wants to teach us and what he expects from us as students.  While sitting in his office, Dr. Northern came and asked if I would like to do an incision and drainage on a leg abscess.  I jumped at the opportunity!  And so, on my first day of clinical year, I got to slice open somebody's leg with a scalpel, squeeze pus out, and pack the wound with gauze.  It. Was. Awesome!

Lastly, we went on rounds with the residents and attending.  There were only 3 patients so it didn't take long.  Dr. Edwards refuses to take longer than 30 mins rounding on his patients...no matter how many patients he has.  He says surgeons have short attention spans.  This will be much different when I get to Internal Medicine where rounds take 2 hours!

Tomorrow, I get to start bright and early.  I need to be at the hospital by 5:30 to round with the residents, then with the chief resident, in time for 7:30 scrub in :-/  Oh well, such is the life!