Our First Day

We have not moved to Pennsylvania yet. However, Paige had her first day of school and I had my first day of work.

For Paige, she visited her new school for the first time. They actually required it, to make sure she could cooperate with the social and structural aspects of the classroom. This school was a little selective too, so Megan and I viewed this visit with some nervous anticipation. Megan took her there, and after explaining to Paige that Mommy had to go away, Paige remained in class without protest.

It was the what occurred at the end of the visit that impressed her new teachers the most. While Megan was getting feedback from the staff, Paige, as per her usual behavior, started singing. As usual, Paige made up her own words and melody as she sang and the teachers praised this as being unusually creative. Paige, without prompting, then pointed to photographs displayed in the hallways and correctly named many of the teachers and students she had just met that day. The staff commented that her memory was very advanced as well.

Megan and I were relieved. It seemed liked she would fit in and do well there.

As for myself, I've been at my new job for about two weeks now. I went up for a few days at a time, staying with either my sister's or my in-law's. The first three days were classroom orientation and that was quite an ordeal. It had been a long time since I sat in a classroom for that many hours at a time. Actually, day #3 of that orientation was quite nice. That day was a specific emergency department physician orientation, and since I was the only new ER doc starting around this time, those meetings were very personalized. Instead of a series of presentations and generic team building exercises, those meetings developed into conversations which were fun and valuable. I certainly had all my questions answered.

Then came clinical orientation. Previously, in Delaware, my hospital used paper charts. This new job in Pennsylvania used computerized charting. That came with a significant learning curve. It was nothing like I've ever used before.

I like the way they oriented me, though. It felt more like they were nurturing me. They continued to fully staff the emergency department and simply added me on the schedule as an extra doctor. There was no pressure on me to move patients quickly. Needless to say, on my first shift, with the time it took me to chart on the newfangled system, I saw patients at a very slow rate. Each night, I picked up more responsibility. The next night, the regularly scheduled doctor and I divided the ER in half, so he only had to do half the work. Then, by the last night, I told the regular doctor to do as little as possible, so I could see how well I did on my own. I think I let two patients slip through. One had a toothache, and with the other one, there was miscommunication regarding whether the resident was telling me or the other doctor about the patient. When I asked the residents for feedback, they commented that working with me felt like working with any of their other attendings, which I implied to mean that I provided good education and guidance.

Anyway, there are two more weeks of this Delaware to Pennsylvania commute for myself. After that, our big move will happen, and I hope our little family will do well there. From these early experiences, things certainly appear promising.