Clinical Rotations: Week 1

I’m knee-deep in the second week of my clinical rotations and I can’t tell you how good it feels to have week 1 of my rotations under my belt. I was so nervous for my first day that I could hardly sleep the night before. I feel a lot better now that a week has gone by and I’m getting into the flow of everything :) I thought it would be fun if I shared the high and low at the end of every week f my rotations, so for last week…

High of the week: learning so much! It is awesome to be able to put (or see other people put) into practice things I have only read about in books

Low of the week: Being exhausted. It has been hard for me to get used to a new routine, which includes going to bed 2 hours earlier than I’m used to. The good news is that I feel like I’m finally caught up on sleep and

One of the most difficult parts of last week was that I had no idea what to expect or bring. I wanted to be prepared but I didn’t want to bring too much stuff. I thought it would be helpful for any other clinical interns out there if I showed you what I bring in my bag each day. These are things that have I used daily, all of which is kept in my tote bag:

1. Clipboard
2. Legal Pad
3. Pocket Calculator
4. Pocket Notebook
5. Pens & Pencils (I also have a Highlighter)
6. Medication Interactions book
7. Paper planner
8. 3-Ring Binder*
9. Colored Pens

*We were given an internship binder at orientation but I took out the clinical section and made a new binder just for this rotation. I made the following tabs: syllabus/assignments, hospital policies, reference materials, miscellaneous.

I use these Staedtler triplus fineliner pens everyday and I love them. I actually have been using them since undergrad and got a new set prior to last week. They are felt tip so they don’t bleed through paper, they are colored so you can color code your notes, and they come in a slim case that neatly fits in my bag.