Clinic

I woke up a little more rested. I tried to stay up to see the sunset and couldn't do it. I fell asleep at 2200. I asked a nurse what time the sun sets and she told me 2300. I was close. I'm curious what it looks like. The sunsets in Anchorage were blue. I'm used to pink and purple at home.

The nurses who work the floor are mostly travellers. One of them is from Lakeview, AR. She lives just a couple miles away from my parents but doesn't recognize the name. Not surprisingly, it pays pretty well to work here and there is loan forgiveness too. They get six weeks of vacation so they get a break.

The medical records folks couldn't pull my records. I have the nurse call them and they just can't get to it today. Seriously? So I just try to remember my patients to the best of my ability and assign codes. Some are easier to remember than others. Like the guy with MRSA abscesses who put caribou fat on the abscess to treat it. Others are gone from my memory.

The internet at the hospital is not accessible today. The desktops work but not the wifi. I'm disappointed because I typed up this wonderful blog last night before bed and I saved it to Word. I was so proud of myself for being efficient. Now I have no way to post it. By the time you see this I have made my way to the armory where there is working wifi.

I see a total of 17 patients today. It's frustrating that they don't show up until late afternoon so we are slow and then incredibly busy. The clinic just does walk ins so there are no appointments to space them out and help flow. Painful. I don't see how I will ever finish before 1800 on any given day. I have discovered there is a local museum. It's not open on the weekend so I have to find a time to go to it. It's open when they feel like it. Can't go too early.

I've got a guy who is still complaining loudly that he didn't get to go to a village. I try to find something neat for him to do. I get him assigned to watching the scopes. There is so much to see there. A couple of the Point Hope folks come by to help out. The doctor (colonel) doesn't seem very interested in being there. Think he was probably "invited" by the boss. He doesn't stay long. Two of the village teams get out today. Point Hope gets called to the airport and then is aborted at the last second.

My roommate noticed that her duffle bags were messed with one the first day. She hasn't bothered to check to see if anything is missing. When we returned on that day, we noticed that the door was not closed. I kept my luggage locked and it appears undisturbed. Another of mine says her glasses are missing. I report these to the LTC in charge of operations. They promise to look into it.

At the end of the day, I go to turn in my reports for this day. The chief doctor isn't around to receive them but the chief over everything is. She introduces herself because we haven't formally met. She mentions that she has heard nothing but good things about me. I'm not sure who she has been talking to but I'm glad I didn't make them mad.

My rheumatology captain and I have made a pact to go find the museum and the arts and crafts. I really need to find something cool to buy and I want to learn something about the culture. He's a good guy. A bit quiet but a hard worker. One of the patients today had a splinter in his finger for the last month. We dig it out and he is thrilled. He wants to take the Sgt and I on a jeep ride to the outskirts of town to let us see what the Arctic really looks like. The weekend would be the best time. I hope that he follows through.