work is for jerks

There are some days when I think I made a good decision leaving my old job for this new one. The hours are regular and consistent. My commute is an 8 block stroll. I am learning a lot.

Then, there are other days like today when I long for poking sharp things into veins. As often as it was frustrating (and it was often enough) it wasn't literally crazy as some of my callers are. I have answers when asked about GI upset or knee pain. I can gather information that is somewhat useful even when I don't have answers frequently. But, occasionally, I don't even know what to ask. A mother (who I truly do feel badly for) called for her son (who is 37) who was having GI upset of a sort (I will save the detail as they matter little). She could not wake said son because he was 'sleeping.' Normal if we are talking of an infant, less so when we are speaking of a man nearing middle age. I offered an office visit today with a provider, but she couldn't get him in because of his 'emotional problems' that would necessitate hours of prep time, so she scheduled for tomorrow. When I talked to the doc in question, he was not willing to see the patient and wanted the pt to see his former doctor. I called the woman back and informed her of this (a shitty job since the doc put me in an awkward position), she admitted that it was her other son, also severely emotionally disturbed, who the apt was actually for. Her 39 yr old son whose emotional problems were so severe he didn't even want his mom to mention his name for the apt. The thought was that they would 'reveal' this swap at intake during the apt. What the (insert expletive here)!?!?!? I then had to relay this to the doctor as well. Suffice to say, it was not the most lovely way to spend an hour. The rest of the day was just heavy call volumes and finished with me trying to find out why an elderly dementia pt was 'afraid to stay in her apt' by herself (I was unable to discern this of course). I spend better than a 1/4 of my call volume dealing with a handful of nutters, drug seeker, and the demented.

So, what life lesson can we pull from this? Well, in essence, primary care will likely not be where you find me embarking on further matriculation. I definitely see my focus moving more into research or education instead. If I am going to spend the time, effort, and capital, I shouldn't do it to be miserable.

Off to bed so I can try to forget today and hope that tomorrow is more sane. Or at least that I am.