My first day as a doctor...

...went remarkably well. As a med student, I had a white cloud over me and, at least for last night, it's carried over. I only had to complete two admissions, so that gave me plenty of time to get to know the patients and the computer system.

Some people mention it's a little difficult transitioning from introducing yourself as the med student to the doctor, but oddly, it almost seemed like second nature. I introduced myself primarily as Dr. Amanda, so it was less formal, but still let the parents know I was the doctor taking care of their child. The white coat, however, I can't stand. Firstly, I ordered my white coat entirely too big. For my short white coat from med school, I ordered a tall and once I had loaded my pockets, it was just a little too tight to button, but the sleeves were perfect. With that in mind, I ordered the next size up and a tall again for my long white coat. Oh my goodness, I'm floating in it! I truly feel like I'm wearing a cape as I walk down the halls. It's so big, the sleeves are too long, and I feel like it's a little unprofessional. I can pay for a new one, so after I try on some of my fellow classmates, I'm ordering another. In general, I'm not a fan of the white coat. Sometimes I feel the white coats scream, "look at me, I'm a doctor." I don't need everyone in the hospital knowing I'm a doctor, just my patients and the nurses helping the team care for our patient. So why don't I stop wearing my white coat? Simple--I need the pockets. Right now I still need to carry around a fair number of crib sheets, patient information, etc. One day I'll be able to ditch the white coat.

Other than dealing with my cape of a white coat, the most difficult part of last night was determining how much autonomy I have. As a med student, I had to run every decision past my supervising resident. So last night when a patient asked to disconnect her child from continuous oxygen monitoring so she could carry her around the unit and I saw no reason to keep her on continuous oxygen monitoring clinically, I didn't know if I had the authority to change it on my own. Yes, I felt a little crazy running that order by my supervising resident when I didn't see any clinical reason for continuous oxygen monitoring, but I still did. I never did any rotations at this hospital before and haven't met the attendings, so I really don't have a good feel for what I can and can't do yet. It'll come with time. With kids' lives in my hands, I'd rather run a menial order past my supervising resident than cause harm. It's still odd that I can actually write orders and they mean something. It's also humbling that I feel comfortable answering some of the nurses questions confidently on my first night--I guess I did learn more than I thought in med school.

So, if you made it this far, thanks for reading and I'm off to be a doctor again tonight =)