Estoy despierta.

Five minutes in the morning is incredibly precious time for a surgery resident. As an intern they have to develop an efficiency that can be primarily based on observation with seemingly minimal objective input. If not caught in conversation, those five minutes is enough to have a full assessment on multiple patients. Armed with an expected picture based on vital signs, In's/Out's and labs, in addition to the sign out report obtained from the night resident, a surgery resident can enter a room, wake up their patient, saw two lines, push on their belly and make a quick exit. On to the next. And the next. And the next.

It's not exactly something that comes naturally. It's learned. I remember in my case specifically one particular month as a brand-new intern when my chief would leave a patient's room, turn to me, and ask if the patient had a foley catheter. ???   or what were the intravenous fluids the patient had running. ??? And after enough times you start to automatically notice IVs, tubes, drains, wounds, drainage on the bed, patient's position in the bed and level of comfort, ease of breathing, feel of their skin.

The faster a surgery resident learns efficiency the better. And with an increase in efficiency, the more they get to sleep.

My co-intern on the trauma service this month is actually a Urology prelim resident. Two days ago was an excellent discharge day, during which we emptied the floor quite a bit. Super nice to not be so incredibly rushed in the mornings. And yet for some random reason, both my co-intern and I woke super early and made it to the hospital to be on the floor by 5am. Why on the one morning when we could have at least a good 15 extra minutes of sleep, we woke way earlier than necessary, I have no explanation. Those 15 minutes, so precious in the mornings. Life is just full of surprises sometimes.

When I woke up extra early this morning, I was terrified that I had actually overslept. The adrenaline rush that causes, and then the subsequent relief felt when realization comes, there's no going back to sleep after that anyways.

Much Love.