What I did wrong (today)...

I have just completed my first week of intern medicine.

I can't really differentiate one day from another, as there was a great deal of panic (is this a heart attack or gas?) and terror (so much bleeding!) and moments of utter elation (drip in! catheter in!). But so far, I've survived.

On this, my first day off, I woke up really early. In fact, I rose from my bed in half-sleeping panic, reaching for my phone, the words pouring from my mouth; "I didn't give him any antibiotics!!!"

Yesterday I saw a nice young man who works as a stone cutter. He was using an angle-grinder to hew some marble, and some of the dust flew up into his eyes. He used one hand to wipe his eyes and the grinder got away from him.

Into his thigh. Very, very deep into his thigh. Luckily, the grinder was hot and cauterized the wound, otherwise he could have bled to death. As it was, I could see deep into his leg and admire the many layers of muscle, fat and...is that a tendon?

He needed a surgeon. I called the surgeon. He said, "I'll be there soon, give him some morphine, call the registrar, set up A, B and C. And give him some cephazolin IV."

No worries, right? But I got called to look at my other patient's ECG which was showing changes that could have been a heart attack and...

Long story short, I forgot to give the antis.

In the end, after several heart-wrenching phone calls (your fellow interns are your greatest resource) I figured out that the surgeon had picked this up when he'd done the stitching and given the ceph. But for a good hour I was convinced that I'd killed a man with my stupidity.

That's why days off are better.