well actually it was about two weeks ago. but those weeks were boring with a capital OMG shoot me please. book learnin’ stuff that i forgot already. that’s why i took some notes. but it’s hard to stay coherent when they give you a hard copy of the powerpoint that they’re reading word for word. you’ve been there. fo’ sho’.

9/8/08 – Super Big Catholic Hospital, first day of Internship rotation(s)
so i thought i was starting my food service rotation, actually found out it was clinical rotation. our interim clinical/foodservice preceptor gave us a more detailed schedule for our Super Big Catholic Hopsital’s rotations; we found out that our schedules don’t match at all with the one our main preceptor gave to us a week prior. a fellow intern and I were to start food service, but it turns out we were doing some clinical assignments today. we all (there’s four of us interns total) brought it up and Interim Preceptor figured that her Supervisor wants us to stick with the Super Big Catholic Hospital’s schedule. i’m not very impressed with the apparent lack of communication btw my main preceptor and the hospital preceptor, as today we found out that the schedules they gave to us didn’t match at all. i don’t mind readjusting and being flexible, that’s a given of course, but i expect a slightly better level of professionalism here; as a clueless intern i need things to be persistent. after a conference with the other interns, we all confirmed that we feel a little neglected – granted, our preceptors are busy health care pros with many patients to see, but we need some guidance. throw us a bone, people. you can’t expect interns who have have little to nil professional/clinical training to run around the hospital floor and know what the devil they’re doing.

after watching a short video about proper hygiene and handwashing, we went over our competency sheets/evaluations (all of the assignments and everything we are required to somehow do in a somewhat professional manner in a few short weeks) until around lunch time. after lunch in the cafeteria, Interim Preceptor and another dietitian gave us a very brisk tour of the hospital and the doctors’ offices in the adjoining building, as well as where the cafeteria and bistro were located (very important to know where teh food is, naturally). i didn’t really catch much of it since they were telling us randomly where things were located and what floor we were on and in between there talking about their personal life and things that didn’t really pertain to us at all. now i know they’re busy ladies with people to see things to do and meetings to attend but when you’re with me i expect you to talk to ME and tell me things i’ll need to know ESPECIALLY when it’s my first day in the hospital. now i consider myself pretty self-sufficient and able to generally figure things out. i don’t expect my hand to be held, but if you’re with me for only five minutes i expect you to make me feel WELCOME and not neglected for that whole five minutes. don’t get me wrong – they were friendly enough…but i’m not all that impressed. we found out from them that they get a good circulation of dietetic interns in the hospital often, except in the summer where things slow down a little. maybe that’s why. i made a mental note today that if i ever end up a clinical dietitian (i’m betting all my money on that i WON’T because of this very reason) and am asked to be a preceptor i will pay a whole lot more attention to any interns that wander my way – i won’t smother them but i’ll give them a clue and not leaving them standing in the hallway looking stupid.

in the “thinking you’re gonna die but not really” category, i took an elevator with one of my other preceptors  to see a patient about their diet. while we’re in there we’re making small talk when there occurs this HIDEOUSLY LOUD, TEETH-CHATTERING DRILLING SOUND – it did not sound like one of those whiny drills, mind you, but more like a drill designed to plow through stone and to the bowels of hell itself. so while we’re standing there with huge bug eyes as it gets louder and LOUDER while we near our destined floor, i confirmed that i was going to die in an elevator without giving my parents any grandbabies. the door opens and of course we scurry out of there, and we find out that two elevator repairmen are working on the elevator shaft right next to the elevator we had used. they stood there with big goofy grins on their faces. yeah – hilarious, chief. *blankety blank blank…*

at least i:
get to wear a spiffy lab coat

am furthering my career (gotta keep telling myself that)

am not as afraid of rush hour traffic

am staying with very generous, friendly people

have a doggie to play with (he likes to nip though)

HAVE MY OWN BATHROOM YAY

am very, very blessed

but i still have to get up at 5:30 AM. what.