OD, FD and OC...

Ayan, ito ang second part ng medical schooling na laging tinatanong saken and sadyang hindi maintindihan ng nanay ko, among others. Hehe..

4th year in our Medical College is Internship/Clerkship year. This is the year before graduation, where we get to be the fleas in the hospital. We are the lowest creatures in the planet of Health Providing and we do the paper work and scut work needed like getting the xrays, filling up discharge forms, monitoring a patient every hour pag toxic sya and all the menial stuff that Residents don't do. We get to hold the retractors for hours during an operation, and if the Surgeon finds you capable, he may even let you put in a stitch or two. And that is a big IF. Hahaha. As Dr. de los Reyes reminded us last Saturday, we don't have the right yet to practice medicine. Everything we order in the charts stems from the authority given to us by the Residents.

Ang buhay namin as Clerks/Junior Interns ay umiikot lang sa tatlong status: OD, FD at OC.

ON DUTY (OD) - and duty hours mo ay 24 hours. We sign in at 730am of, say, Monday, and we sign out at 730am of Tuesday. You don't really get a lunch break. Or designated sleeping time. IF nothing is happening at the ER or anywhere ka posted, then one of you can take turns eating pero you shouldn't take too long kase nga you're supposed to be always at your post for the entirety of that 24 hours. You can't leave hospital premises for the entire day. Masaya kami pag walang "toxic" na patient (meaning hindi pa sya likely to die in the next 24hours) kase mejo nakakatulog kami sa gabi.

FROM DUTY (FD) - also known as Post Duty. This is the day where you function mainly on auto-pilot. You are officially bangag and you should not get near anything more complicated than a light switch. Hahahaha. Perks: 8 hours na lang ang duty mo. From 730am of one day to 5pm na lang of that same day. And you are the last call in anything. Pero, ito yung day after you were On Duty. So continuing the example kanina na kunyari Monday ka OD, so Tuesday ka na FD. You sign out at 730am diba pero you sign in again immediately at 730am again as FD. So in effect... 32hours kang nasa hospital.... (Gets ba yon?) Pero pag FD ka, you get 12noon to 130pm off. So you get a lunch break where you can get off hospital premises and go home to your dorm and take a much needed bath. Mag-ingat ka lang at wag lumapit muna sa kama dahil instant ang tulog na aabutin mo pag humiga ka at usually di ka makakagising before 130pm. Ang responsibility mo as FD is mostly paperworks (except sa Dept of Surgery kung saan walang kaibahan ang mga status, harhar) kase nga bangag ka na by this time, at pwede kang magtulog-tulog sa wards... Pag nagkataon na may Rounds sa araw na yon... gudlak na lang sayo. Smile and wave ka na lang sa Consultant.

ON CALL (OC) - as the status indicates, you are on call from 730am to 5pm of that same day. So kung Monday ka OD, Tuesday ka FD, then Wednesday ka OC. Supposedly, well rested ka before you came in kase FD ka naman the previous day. On this day, dakila kang alalay ng mga On Duty and everybody else in the hospital. (Although lahat ng interns ay dakilang alalay ng lahat ng tao everyday, pinaka-dakila ka sa lahat sa araw na ito... hahahaha.) Ikaw ang taga-hatid and sundo sa mga patients sa Xray at CT scan or ultrasound. Ikaw taga-hanap ng mga films, taga sulat ng mga IV fluids to follow sa mga charts sa mga floors, taga-sunod ng kahit anong iutos ng mga taong mas malakas ang boses sayo. hehe. After 5pm, uwi ka na at matulog dahil kinabukasan.... On Duty ka na ulit.

So if you can still remember, OD ka ng Monday, FD ka Tuesday, OC ka Wednesday... OD ka nanaman ulit ng Thursday, then FD on Friday, OC on Saturday and so on for the entire 365 days of duty.. Paikot-ikot lang yon, pabalik balik. Walang day off. Pero, pag FD or OC ka on a Sunday or Holiday, ang hours of duty mo ay from 8am to 10am lang. Iiwan nyo na lahat ng On Duty sa hospital after that. So kawawa ka pag Sunday or Holiday ka On Duty.

May mga Departments na hindi OD, FD, OC ang status. Sa NICU, Anesth, and Ortho ay OD, FD lang ang mga status. So ibig sabihin, you go on 32hours straight duty days. For your entire rotation there, every other day ka lang makakauwi ng bahay para maligo... Eeeewww.... Hahaha.... Monday OD then Tuesday FD ka na. Tapos OD ka ulit sa Wednesday, then FD sa Thursday. Ganon lang until matapos ang rotation na yon.

Sa ER naman... OD, FD lang din ang status pero pag FD ka, you're not expected to report at the hospital. It's like a day off. It's the only department with a day off. Pero buong araw ka rin naman tulog on that day. Dito ako from october 1 to 15. I think i already wrote about that previously....

In effect, we go on 32hours straight na duty, then 8hours. Daig pa namin ang call center people sa duty-han. Pero daig nila kami kase may bayad sila, at malaki pa. Haha. Kami, wala. Ang 'privilege' na lang of taking care of a life ang bayad namin. Naks naman! :)

Any other questions? :)