First impressions, Take 2

• As I approach the end of my Emergency rotation, I'm once again noticing how different the impressions are that I can leave with different preceptors based on just a few hours - especially the first few hours I spend with them. I spent a couple of shifts with one preceptor where he asked me repeatedly some questions about how to identify certain diseases from an ECG (rhythm tracing of your heart) and also seemed to skillfully find all the holes in my what I thought were "complete" histories of the patients' presenting complaints - needless to say I felt like a boob. The funny thing is that the other preceptor I have has asked me different questions that I seemed to know more answers for and has gotten a completely different impression of me. So I guess that means that both impressions are correct. I still have LOTS (so much!!) to learn about medicine, the different options of diseases that have similar presentations and exactly how you treat everything (esp infectious disease which I seem to have a mental block on memorizing which antibiotics treat what). When a nurse asked me if I was a doctor last night and I told her my level of training, I realized that next year this time (if all goes according to plan) I WILL be a doctor. A junior resident albeit, but a "dr." nonetheless. wow.
• One other tidbit about emerg, we've had a couple of young teenage girls come in on separate occasions that have been seen by my preceptor who were drugged at parties and woke up naked or to an in-progress assault. Ugh. How heartbreaking. Sadly both elected to not report it to the police. In talking about it with my preceptor he said, "Make no bones about it, Victoria is not the sleepy little town that everyone thinks it is."
• Anyway, only 2 shifts left in Emergency and a call shift for which I (kinda) volunteered to come in with my preceptor for any traumas (stabbings, motor vehicle accidents) that come in so I can see how that he manages those. Hopefully there won't be any that day, both for the sake of any potential patients and because I could use the time to study prior to my final midnight-8am shift that follows.