Choose your own ending

I was just told by an attending he didn't see me as a Rehab doctor.......so I replied "alright, well what do I look like to you?" to which he replied "I would like to see you turn into a bitchy ER doctor".....haha, I hope that never happens.

I just finished an 8 hour ER shift, although I didn't actually leave until an hour afterwards as there was an nice abscess to I&D on an HIV patient I had been working up on my shift. Although we should technically view each patient we see as though they may have HIV, when I know a person does, it makes me a lot more consciously aware of the precautions I'm taking to protect myself.

The attending I worked with tonight teaches by letting people doing. It was nice to feel like I was actually competent instead of my useless med-student self. By giving me responsibility, and allowing me to make and rationalize my decisions made me really feel like I was contributing rather than spectator-ing to patient care.

I really would not want to be an ER doctor - sure it's exciting in that you can see so many different cases in one shift. But I like continuity of care, and I like being able to see how my patients will do in the long term. Being an ER doctor is like reading a "choose your own ending" book, without being able to read any of the endings. I'm the type of person that will peek at the book endings if I can't help myself.