New Kids on the Block

After a glorious two months off, Kelvin and I officially started our new jobs on September first (yesterday). The evening before we started was, for me, filled with quite a bit of dread and anxiety (sadness that our nice "break" had come to an end and nervousness about starting over at a new, unfamiliar place); K, on the other hand, was super excited to "get back into it," and probably to escape the responsibilities of full-time home maintenance and my rantings about dishwasher use... :)

Our first day was filled with orientation-type activities-- watching safety videos and completing HR paperwork and then getting acquainted with our workspaces at our respective clinics. It was an odd day at my site-- I walked into a potluck at my clinic to learn that a pediatrician from next door had been hit by a car and taken to the hospital with a broken arm. Subsequently, one of the MAs (ironically, the one who was the guest of honor at the goodbye potluck) had a anaphylactic reaction with shock to something in the food that was served, and had to be given epinephrine and taken by ambulance to the ER... which left me wondering, "Do I really want to be on staff here?"! It was a very freaky day.

In any case, I had my first real patients today (which was calmer, in some respects). They started me at about half-speed... and it wasn't too bad! I thankfully and luckily have the advantage of being familiar with the electronic medical system (Epic) that they use here (we used the same one in residency), although there are some system differences and all my saved "smartphrases" don't work exactly the same. All the staff at my small clinic, including the providers (3 other docs, who alternate weekdays off, and one NP), site administrator, and all of the medical assistants, have been incredibly helpful at orienting me and showing me the ropes. Nevertheless, it is naturally still incredibly painful to learn how to "get things done" in a new practicing environment and it is frustrating to feel "slow" again; it will definitely take some time to get up to full speed. What is nice this time around (in contrast to starting med school rotations or residency), however, is that the medical knowledge is there and solid-- the easiest part of starting this new job (my first "real" job!) is that I know what I am doing when it comes to the "medicine" part and (most of) the treatment plans, which makes me feel a tad more confident.

A few more blessings to count:
- the patients seem really nice; all the patients I had today seemed very excited to meet their "new doc" (my clinic site has been closed to new patients for quite some time) and were very respectful and encouraging
- the clinic uses Microsoft Outlook, and not the horrible Lotus Notes e-mail that we had at UCD which I was more than thrilled to abandon
- a "plan" is firming up for my OB responsibilities, which should include sharing back-up (c-section) call with one FP/OB veteran, along with high risk OB duties in the outpatient and inpatient settings, although this may not start till later this month or October
- our "benefits" with our employment became effective immediately on 9/1 (and not 10/1 as we thought would be our health insurance start date), which means that we each effectively get a refund of the $90 we were paying for monthly interim/temporary health insurance through Blue Shield which we didn't use anyway...
- WE PASSED THE FAMILY MEDICINE BOARDS... which means that, after plodding through the MCAT in college, steps 1,2, and 3 of the US Medical Licensing Exam, various national medical examiner tests, and this recent Family Medicine Board Exam, we are board-certified family physicians and don't have to take another obnoxious standardized test for about 10 years (yeah!!!!!)
- we fortuitously (well, incidentally-- I don't think we had looked at a calendar) started work on the Thursday before a three-day weekend... and I have Tuesdays off, which means... yes, four more days off (for me, but only three for K)!!

We hope to do some exploring of Humboldt County, including some hiking... we are excited!