first day "on service"

Yesterday was the first day of the summer that my attending physician has been on service in the NICU. I was excited about this because I knew I'd have the opportunity to be more involved - and boy was that an understatement!

We started rounding yesterday morning and I got to do a few exams... there's just nothing like putting your hands on a tiny patient <3. Yesterday afternoon, we had a new admission - and I got to help do lots of things handed down directly from the attending - for a few hours, I totally felt like a doctor. And helpful. Which is an interesting feeling that doesn't happen a lot... sometimes I feel more in the way than helpful, especially in crisis situations. There's just so much activity in the NICU and so many people involved when things go wrong. But yesterday, I was involved. Helpful. Useful.

And I can't wait for the next day. And the next.

In other news, M has started her ER rotation - and seems almost as madly in love as I am with NICU. Yay for the rest of our lives! I'm glad to have friends who want to do different things - that way the next time I make a stupid decision or trip over some flat surface, I have somebody I can call personally... before I have to show up and explain it in the local emergency room.