So, I have started House Job

So, I have started House Job

Nothing really prepared me for my first week as a House Officer. I had honestly dreaded this period. I wasn’t really looking forward to it based on the stories I had heard and the way I saw my senior colleagues looking tired and miserable at the job. There is a really stark difference between being a student and being a House Officer and I experienced it firsthand.

After I got my letter of posting to my current place of work, I delayed resuming because I really wanted to enjoy the Christmas holiday before I resumed; the calm before the storm as I called it. My first week was a storm. On my first day I was really anxious. I didn’t know basic things like where the building I was supposed to resume was. No orientation at all. It would have helped a little. I also didn’t even know what was expected of me. What do I carry along? Stethoscope? Tape Measure? Tuning Fork? Somebody help me! My medical school sort of made us carry a lot of instruments around. So, I just opted to carrying my stethoscope, a small jotter and Synopsis.

One thing that helped me scale the first week was people. Socializing quickly was a very huge asset. Ask, Ask, Ask. There is really no foolish question.

When I got to the building, I quickly mingled with the other house officers. I didn’t want to portray a bad impression. I trained in ABUAD and we all know how private university students are perceived. I wasn’t there to prove anything to anyone, but I wasn’t going to validate their opinions about me either. However, my predecessors had done a good job. They had done their due diligence such that once I said where I trained, it was “oh, I know HOs from ABUAD, they are very hardworking”. It made me elated and scared.

I started getting the hang of the department and I had said to myself, if this is all there is to house job then it is soft work. My first casualty call was smooth. The patients were not malignant. I stayed till the last hour which surprised the MO and HO that piloted me. People always leave by 8pm when on Pilot calls. Nice… Nice… No problem. I had my first unit pilot call the following day and I went with that vibe. I was not the primary HO on call, so the stress wasn’t primarily mine. How do you spell leemao again?

That call got me crying for my Mama. I had gone to sleep at 8pm and had left word that they should call me when an interesting case comes up. A few minutes to 12am I got a call that the SR on call was looking for me. I practically ran to the labor ward. I didn’t want issues in my first week. There were about three patients already in labor. Ah! Nobody called me? Preeclampsia, Rhesus incompatibility…Orisirisi. What is going on? What can I do? Somebody, tell me what to do. I got in with the program sha. I would just hear “Idowu!” and jerk off of what I was doing to answer the call. This went on all night. I was in the theatre about 2 hours later. Tension, left and right. My name was called consistently. Do this, do that. Eh! At 2am in the morning? Is this how it is? My mummy! Ahhh… Have I not chosen the wrong profession like this?

When I finally got to sit at 6 am, another emergency came in. Ah! What is happening? There was also another woman in labor. That’s was how that call went till it was time for the normal day’s work. I worked till about 3pm that day. When I slept, I dreamt of that call. I couldn’t sleep well. The call still haunts me sometimes.

My anxiety levels in the first month was through the roof. Once I got calls from work or people I work with, wahala. I didn’t even want to know the reason for the call, I would just start sweating and praying to God. I am wary of picking calls from strange numbers, because it is mostly “Hello, this is Mrs XX from gynae ward, your patient’s line has tissued” or “your patient is restless”. Something has sha happened to your patient. These calls would come at odd hours. When there is an emergency or when you are just about to take a quick nap, and if you are not there on time, our sister colleagues would document that the doctor was called and did not respond.

The Nigerian Health Sector also added its own stress. Basic amenities are missing from a ward/unit that is supposed to cater to emergencies. I have learnt how to borrow materials from other patients and nurses and some of these materials are not readily available. It made the job about ten times harder. Even stationeries like continuation sheets and investigation forms are a luxury. Every house officer has a bag with stationeries in them. Some are walking pharmacists, with emergency drugs, glucometer, sample bottles and even sutures.

I have also learnt to calmly correct patients and their relatives when they call me Sister, Aunty or Nurse. It is Doctor Idowu to you. It isn’t pride, I have worked to earn that title. After the correction, whoever calls me otherwise doesn’t get my attention. I assume it is someone else they are calling until I hear Doctor.

So here are a few lessons from my first month:

· Making valuable friendships with other and senior house officers was very helpful because I was very clueless. It is better to ask for help than to endanger the lives of your patients.

· Fake it till you make it. You are the only one who knows that you can’t do it. You are now a doctor and that comes with a perception of ability. Be confident when trying things for the first time. Your patients need it.

· You can do it too. The difference between you and your ‘seniors’ is time. Apply yourself and you will fill in the time gap.

· Eat and sleep when you can. I have had problems with both in the past, but HJ stress has taught me the importance of eating well and sleeping.

· Having someone to talk to or stress relieving activities also matter.

Summarily, I don’t know if it is Stockholm Syndrome, but I am enjoying my work (a little bit).

If you want to know more about my house job experience, leave a comment and share.