Baby Docs

Well we're into September now and the new doctors have been here a month and are settling in a bit. Because of the new training for doctors it is strange having a mixture of people who are very experienced and some who are inexperienced. Because all the doctors are new, we don't know who is who and can have an occasional mix up. One doctor was sitting in the department the first week not doing anything so one of the nurses gave him a patients card and pointed him in the direction of the patient. Rabbits and headlights immediately sprang to mind, with a whimper of fear he was out of his seat and in a quavering voice stammered that he was just the junior doctor and with that he ran off up the corridor. Poor guy was just qualified and had never seen a patient before as a doctor, we brought him back and reassured him and he seems to have settled in to the department and is doing jobs more in keeping with his experience. One thing that I have noticed with this bunch, and keeping the grumpy bit of my name going, is if I tell a doctor not to do something because it is not departmental procedure or protocol or because the consultants won't like it, why do they argue with me? Also some are self assured, some are a bit diffident and others are way overconfident and need very careful watching. I'm sure this is the same all over when new doctors start and as we get to know each other everything will settle down and we will work as a team again.