It was the first week of July and I was excited to meet a new patient at the Duke Family Medicine Center. Luckily, this first patient encounter would be alongside a senior attending physician from the practice so that I could learn the logistical ropes of the clinic before taking care of my own patients.
The elderly woman was there for follow-up of her hypertension, for which she was just previously hospitalized. As any good medical student knows, shadowing often includes just observing quietly from the sidelines. After being introduced by the attending, I simply listened to the patient and observed the patient-doctor exchange. However, not soon after the visit began the patient asked, “Can you tell me your name again?”
“Um … Alexa,” I replied and stumbled to find the right words.
“Oh, uh …OK,” the patient said, looking slightly perplexed. At that moment it hit me: I’m not a med student anymore. I am a doctor.
When the visit was over, I apologized to the attending physician for the awkward exchange with the patient but he didn’t really notice (phew). “Yes, that was the first time I have been asked my name since starting in this new role.”
“Did you just recently change your last name?” the attending joked.
“Nope. That was the first time I’ve been asked to introduce myself since graduating from medical school and I forgot to say ‘Dr. Mieses’.”
Fast forward to today, just one month later, and it has already become second nature for me to introduce myself as Dr. Mieses. Yet that first awkward, clunky, embarrassing introduction is just one example of all the things to which I must adjust in my new role as doctor.
This week I started my first inpatient rotation of the year: surgery. While it first felt totally surreal to be able to sign an order for an insulin regimen for one of our diabetic patients without having to get approval from someone else, the clinical medicine has not been the most challenging. I know how to prescribe insulin to help control a patient’s blood sugar.
Instead, wrestling with the electronic medical record system used to place the order was the most challenging part. But again, by the end of the week, I felt much more comfortable, got into a groove, and placed orders without a problem.
Intern year will undoubtedly be filled with awkward exchanges, mistakes and frustration. However, I also suspect the year will be filled with triumphs (both big and small), and a lot of personal and professional growth.
My first day of medical school felt as though it were yesterday. Having to memorize the developmental stages from zygote to newborn baby or branches of the cranial nerves, felt impossible at one point. I remember when it once took an hour to take a proper history on a patient. More than four years later, look at me know. I’m Dr. Mieses. I am sure residency training will be no different and I could not be any more excited.
Alexa Mieses is a first-year resident at Duke Family Medicine. Email alexa.mieses@duke.edu or follow her on Twitter at @DrAlexaMieses.