I'll be back....

My apologies to my two (!) faithful followers, my assorted lurkers, and those whose email I promised to answer in the form of a new post. I have exactly six days left to "cram" for my first assist certification test, and for the last month or so, I have been procrastinating on other events in my life. You know, like paying bills, exercising, cleaning house, creating posts, etc.
All I have left to do is review anatomy by drawing structures I am unsure of, reviewing the 200-300 index flash cards I have created, and retaking the practice test one last time. I've had a pretty lax call schedule of late but I have been crazy busy with scheduled cases. This coming week is just the opposite, six call days but a light surgery schedule. Barnes and Nobles has reserved a seat for me to study in.
I love taking tests, I just hate being unprepared!

Customer Loyalty Program

Quite a while ago, I posted about my Trauma Hopes and Dreams . Almost a full year later, and nothing has come about as far as a position with Trauma Services. There is constant discussion among them as to how to change the way things are currently done , but no solution has been reached. There was talk of reducing the trauma shift from 24 hrs to 12, but that just means twice as many call days. The latest suggestion was to hire someone to handle the critical care of patients in the ICU. This made sense to me until one of the docs explained it as if the trauma surgeons would be the ones taking critical care call. ? I'm sure I don't understand any of it. All I know is that my FTS recently threatened to give up trauma next spring if something didn't change. Say it ain't so!! I practically pleaded with him not to give it up for purely selfish reasons which, of course he understood, but it seemed his mind was made up.

As I mentioned in my post last year, my FTS has come to depend on me. The bond has strengthened throughout the year. He's thankful when I am there for trauma because he says, "You calm me down." He jokes with me that I cannot desert him when he is on call. I plan my "life" (as if I really have one!) around his call schedule. There are two other trauma surgeons who have remained loyal to me (my group of five down to three) but on rare occasions, I have been known to tell those two that I am not available.
A few weeks ago I jokingly, or not so jokingly, told FTS that they should just give me a trauma pager and I would stay in-house when he is on call. Subconsciously I guess I was hoping that if I could make his call nights just a little but easier, maybe he wouldn't give them up. He really liked that idea. I really like the idea. In fact, I'm excited to implement the plan but he is gone for two weeks. It will be near the end of the month before it happens. Of course, while he is gone, I can see how it goes with the other two surgeons. Schedule permitting, I can stay in-house on week nights. Friday and Saturday nights will be easiest, and in fact may be all I need to commit to because those are historically the busiest trauma nights. With winter coming on soon, being in-house is a lot safer than me trying to get to the hospital in a hurry from home. Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I like it!
Friday, while assisting FTS on a right hemi-colectomy (he also uses me when he is on ER call and for scheduled cases during the week), he mentioned that due to some new financial obligations, he would NOT be giving up trauma call anytime soon. I made him repeat it twice. I'd like to think it had something to do with me, but I know better. No matter, I am just psyched that he will be remaining on the call schedule!
All three of these trauma surgeons still promote me to the chief. I know they are trying to find a way to compensate me when assisting on indigent and sum dood trauma patients. And while I may never have a paid position with Trauma Services, I know that I will always have a job with at least one of the trauma surgeons.