It's been more than a month, but I'm still adjusting. It's not really as demanding as the residency training programs for other specialties, but I'm beginning to see the responsibilities can be quite daunting, and stressful .... And like in my internship/ senior clerkship and post-graduate internship years, I have had my "moments".

February 1 was the day I was officially left to my own devices by the chief resident, although he would sometimes pop in to see me through some of the trickier procedures. Really, the fluoroscopy machine is not for the faint hearted, and the one in this particular hospital happens to have a mind of its own (read: would move even if I have already pushed all the buttons to lock it in place). It's a little heavy, and I'm this dainty female... well, you get the picture.

My first patient on Feb 1 was this patient who was practically uncooperative the whole time. I don't think I got a decent spot view at all. Was glad the second year resident was around to give some direction...but I still had to do all the positioning of the patient, cajoling, doing everything to get her to cooperate, mostly to no avail. The procedure took about 4 times longer than it normally would. Also, my tech happened to still be a probee.... It was stressful, but we all had a good laugh about it afterwards.

Maybe, the reason why I got her as a first patient was to prepare me for all the sorts of people I would be performing different procedures on.

Yesterday, on duty in the CT-scan, we had a patient from a well-known old-rich family who was quite gracious and undemanding... the type of patient you wish you had everyday. The first time we injected contrast, the dye extravasated through her vein. I was completely mortified, as it was also the first time it ever happened on my watch, and I was the one who inserted the IV catheter in the first place. Nevertheless, she was the one who simply pointed out to me that it wasn't the first time it had happened to her, and her pain threshold was high anyway, so I didn't have to worry about having offending her or caused her much pain ...The procedure went on without anymore incident as I found another vein (this time, flushing was done twice to make sure that it was patent and injection flow rate was slowed down) tha was patent. She even thanked me after the procedure. Now I know the real meaning of the word breeding.

Last Thursday, I performed a special procedure on a patient. He came back on Friday to get his result and bring food: roasted chicken and puso (cooked rice wrapped in coconut leaves, diamond-shaped). I reminded him of course that it was a Friday, and I was abstaining from eating meat. I accepted the food though, and the rest of the staff (including my seniors) ate the food. If I'm not mistaken, all of them were catholic like me and were supposed to be abstaining from meat as well.... The prevailing misconceptions are:

1. If you have not had the Ash Wednesday mark on your forehead yet, you are exempted from abstinence and fasting.-> All Catholics 14-59 years are bounded to abstain from meat, all aged 18-59 are bound to fast, irregardless of whether you already had your forehead marked. Fasting means one full meal in a day, two half meals and no morning or afternoon snack.
2. Chicken is not meat since it's a bird -> We have to abstain from pork, beef and bird meat as well. Fish, Seafood, Eggs, Fruits and Vegetables are acceptable.

So, I ended up not enjoying the treat given by the patient. I later learned that his nephew worked at the hospital... and their business it... selling roasted chickens!

I wonder what else may be in store for me in the coming weeks, months and years of my residency....