To be a good intern

Because of the issues with social media, i won't be able to write much about my work in the hospital. I will only write about the good and interesting stuff, stuff that i think will benefit the readers. So if a patient from the hospital or my head of department happen to chance upon this blog, i won't get into trouble. :D

1) I have started working three weeks ago in Caboolture Hospital as an intern/houseman.

2) Being an intern is a steep learning curve. Everyday there are new things to learn, new protocol to follow, new forms to fill, new faces to meet, new names to remember (make sure you remember the names of the staff in the ward, esp if you need to ask them for help!), and it is about the only time when you can be excused for making mistakes. It could be really stressful and rewarding at the same time, depending on which angle you look at it.

3) Thankfully in Australia, the job as an intern is much simpler, and less tiring than our counterparts in Malaysia. (For this reason, i really admire our friends in Malaysia who are sticking to their job through thick and thin, through mean consultants and nasty nurses.)

4) That said, we are still required to be efficient, fast in learning, and have really good time-management and task-management skill. Essentially the task of an intern is to make the job of our registrars easier.  We are like personal assistants to our registrar.

5) Everyday there are a thousand and one things happening in the wards. The consultants only appear in ward round, operating theatre and crisis moments so registrars run most of the show in the hospital. They have to be in the know for the conditions of all the patients under their care so they can report to the consultants.

6) For example, if Ms Jones in bed 6 suddenly develops shortness of breath and pleuritic chest pain after being in hospital for 4 days, they have to find out whether Ms Jones is having a pulmonary embolism or hospital-acquired pneunomia. The job of an intern then, is to organise for radiology and blood test for the patient, chase those results after they are done and inform the registrar about the findings. Most of the times, the registrar is busy. For us, it is important to tie up the loose ends in our registrar's overloaded work.

7) A good intern knows how to look for those loose ends and missing gaps to fill in for our registrar. A not-so-good intern would have his or her own numerous loose ends for the registrar to tie.

8) To me, it's enjoyable and rewarding to be on the think and find out those gaps. When you manage to make your registrar's life easier, you improve the patient's care tremendously. Coz then as a team, all of you can accomplish more things for the patient.

9) As intern, we only make small decisions, such as deciding if patient's line needs to be changed or a urinary catheter needs to be taken out. Occasionally, we are asked to start a new medication for patient, such as antibiotic, diuretics or anti-coagulation therapy for everyday conditions. If in doubt, ask. If you start something new, always inform your registrar about it. Hence, knowledge is not the most important thing as an intern. (though if you have it, it's really useful and you can impress others!). It's about being organised, motivated, accountable to your team and colleagues and being efficient in your work so you don't hold people back.

10) There will be times when you feel overwhelmed.There will be times when you can't seem to get on top of the ward work (like for me right now. I still have a hundred discharge summaries to complete and the ward clerk kept pestering me to finish them). In those times, remember that you are only an intern. You have your limitations. Take a deep breath, think of the most important thing you have to do at that point in time (rather than the seemingly urgent thing e.g. Ms Smith who is concerned about the mild pain in her abdomen can wait if Mr George in bed 9 is having a potassium of 2mmol/L). and don't forget to seek help!

11) Finally, to quote my good friend Yinn Cher 'if you have accountability, you will read up on your patients, make sure you have the knowledge to take care of them. You will make sure you look at the big picture and not just focus on one detail at a time, which is very easy trap to fall into doing. Be organised, be passionate and always keep a smile on, and you will be just fine.'

12) He sums it up by saying: 'If you are a doctor for God, you will never be a crappy doctor'.

That's all for now. All the best for all my intern friends, in Malaysia, Australia, UK, US, South Africa and Singapore. :)

Caboolture Hospital