Humble beginnings…
I started working for the new doctor the following week. All I had to do was orientation for 1-2 days, then do training in clinic with the supervisor. It was exciting, everyone greeted me, seemed so friendly. The clinic was bustling with patients and doctors going up and down the halls. All the M.A.’s there were well trained with their doctors. Not one of them had been there less than 4 years. So, I met my back-office supervisor for the first time. I am not using real names in my blog stories to protect the privacy of all individuals. They all know who they are in this story anyhow. We will call her Monica.
I was introduced to Monica by our office manager. One thing I am very good at is noticing someone in their unnatural state. Monica smiled at me and nicely said nice to meet you. However genuine it was, well, probably worth 2 cents of genuine. Her smile was forced as if someone had taken their pointer finger and pushed each side of her cheeks up. Her eyes kept averting in other places, but, she remained with her fake smile. I honestly didn’t think it was me, but, I felt that she was stressed for sure. She showed me around quickly, asked me what I knew how to do. She already knew I would need to be trained as if I were fresh out of school. Because specialties, ladies and gentlemen, are a WHOLE world of their own. And you will learn something new every day no matter how long you have been around.
This clinic spoke to me, our physician’s took care of the uro oncology patients, the one’s that could still have surgery and be monitored. We only referred out if the cancer diagnosis was metastatic. Even then, there were many cases we could still treat them there so as long as we provided the right chemotherapy.
She introduced me to Kate, long sandy blonde hair, big pretty eyes, about early to mid 40’s. She was very inviting, smart, seemed very comfortable in her position. Her doc was tall, husky, talked loudly, talked fast, walked fast. Like, I could not keep up with his words when I first started. He was very intimidating to me. Mind you, when you are let go at a job, it does something to your confidence as a worker in that field. You doubt yourself, yet you are in this position where you have to prove yourself when you are not confident in yourself.
So, yea, intimidated was my first reaction to the doc of an enormous presence.
When he would come into the room, you knew he was there 100% Over the years as I got to know him, I learned to accept him as he was. I got to know what he meant when he would say certain things. When he did or did not like someone. Cause at that clinic, you work for all the doctors, not just one. Therefore, every patient is your responsibility. Which I felt that to be right on. There was a whole lot of teamwork when I started, which I love. You would not here that’s not my job. You need help, we help.
There was soo much information when I was training, it was overwhelming. I had a book that I wrote all my notes in. How to set up for procedures like vasectomies, cysto’s, intravesical therapy, catheter placement, pulls, replacements, testosterone injections, post op checks for surgical wounds. All types of surgeries my doctor would do, what they were for, recovery time, post op instructions all what to do if’s…..
Yes, if you try to remember even half of the information, you will find yourself very lost. Cause there is absolutely no possible way you would be able to remember that. There was a dozen of new people that would train without writing anything down and guess what…. They would continuously ask the very questions that were answered the day before. Which in turn would annoy the doctors, the m.a.’s , and whomever else may have told you anything, then asked where your notes were. That is not a way to prove how smart you are, trust me. When you take notes, it looks as if you want to learn something, you are serious about being there, you want to do the job right because you are treating cancer patients.
Just a thought…. I’m old school, but old school is still in style!
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