Required Reading

Friday, August 27, 2010

Rapid Reflection After A Rant: On Second Thought. . . .




. . . .Okay. As Zachary would say, "I 'pologize."

::sigh::

To those (medical students and interns) who read the original version of my Generation Y rant (8/25/2010). . . . .sigh. . . .forgive me for coming across a bit harsh. My mom always says to me, "Write it, read it through, and then sit on it for a day," but for some reason I just can't ever bring myself to do that. (Now mostly she is talking about typos and grammatical errors, but still, it's a good point.)

I think I might've been a little too honest in that post. . . . . .

The version that's up now is slightly different. . . .I removed the part about "what we are really thinking" because upon further reflection. . .I think it just might have been too much information. (I'd prefer for y'all to think forever more that all of the thoughts that we attendings have in our heads are ultra polite and ultra understanding.)

The point of it all was to get people thinking about the people who dedicate themselves to teaching you--not to make you feel bad. Oh yeah, now I will also add that quite possibly, I'm the only one who thinks that someone might have felt bad . . . .but that's enough for me. This thing is called "Reflections of a Grady Doctor" after all. . .and that epiphany came after just that.

If you did not read the version of that post that I had up for approximately 12 hours (and according to my hit-counter, 93 of you did in fact see it), then good. If you read it and you weren't anything more than amused, then double good. If you opened the page that day, and realized it was an error and that you don't care about this blog, in this instance, I'd say that's good, too (although I'd be wondering now what you're doing reading this now. . .)

Take home point? It's simple:

Be nice. Be considerate. Be reasonable. Be mature. (And I will make every effort to do the same.)

***

"Is that a good 'pology?" ~ Zachary, Age 3

7 comments:

  1. Generation Y is totally out of control and they need to know the truth. Your rant was geared towards ADULTS, not children and they need to learn how to handle real feedback.

    Continue to remind them, "You signed up for this!!!"
    Rant On...

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  2. I read it and thought you drove your point home. I'm not a medical student. I'm always a patient. =(

    AND.... here's something I don't quite understand.

    Why does medical care slow down so much on weekends? I mean everyone is OFF on the weekend but patients don't take a holiday. Is that real life?

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  3. I saw it. And I celebrated! Many of the issues you addressed are not unique to "baby doctors" alone, but to employees of that age throughout the workplace.

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  4. Myelin, the truth is that a lot of us aren't off on the weekend, but you are right--things do slow down. It's much harder to get nonemergent tests, etc. on weekends, which stinks for patients since that's when many of them are available. Being on the other side of it, though (a doctor with a family) I can't say that I'm not a little relieved sometimes when things slow down on weekends for me. Thinking of my patients and their families (like you) is often what makes me get my clothes on and hightail it in on Saturdays and Sundays when I don't want to.

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  5. Mixed emotions: as i read this my mind wandered... I thought about child rearing in general. Rearing children and teaching doctors or anyone else is sort of the same thing. My son called me once and asked the question " Dad, did you feel bad when you spanked us?" Well, I replied, " I didn't enjoy it but I justed took it as part of my job as a parent. Like smacking your hand when teaching you not to touch a hot stove" He shared that he had just disciplined one of his children and he was feeling terrible!!!
    Being an effective parent is being an effective teacher. It's not easy. But our nature is to want our charges to be happy and like us or not be mad at us. That's human nature. Again, it's a tough job but you signed up for it.
    I was a bit sadden by the "pology" because some will discount some of the excellent points as just "ranting".
    News flash: the children and the future doctors will still love you anyway because they know that you really love and care about them.

    As one of they earlier readers said: RANT ON!,,,,,

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  6. "I was a bit sadden by the "pology" because some will discount some of the excellent points as just "ranting".
    News flash: the children and the future doctors will still love you anyway because they know that you really love and care about them."

    I agree with Mr. Draper.

    But the "pology" shows a lot about you and your heart. As they say, "parenting is not for the weak." And as Mr. Draper said, "it's a tough job but you signed up for it."

    BTW, your boy is delicious. I just want to eat him. :-)

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  7. MLD,

    He is so very delicious--but oh yeah, I already told you how ridiculously cute your little ones are! Thanks for the comment, and yes, you and my dad are so right--this is not for the weak!

    ReplyDelete

"Tell me something good. . . tell me that you like it, yeah." ~ Chaka Khan