The last few weeks post house job (medical internship) have been quite eventful with important lessons learnt. These lessons are:
1. Being worried about next steps is normal. Everyone passes through that ‘Pre-NYSC phase’. Learn to ask for and receive help where necessary.
2. House job (or internship) in LUTH (or anywhere else) taught me the art of “documenting”, which has proven quite useful. Also, training in a specialized teaching hospital is an advantage even if you don’t see it at the time.
3. Sometimes you may need to make healthy “compromise” on salary, to gain experience and that’s not such a bad thing as long as you are not setting up yourself to make a loss.
4. It is okay to” reject a job”. I rejected my first paying post internship job and it had a 6-figure salary.
5. Whenever recruiters say they want to have “a chat” with you, please dear, its an interview. Prepare hard (I didn’t know this initially).
Now to a more interesting part…
6. If you must stay in Nigeria as a Doctor, go into residency as fast as possible, otherwise, you may end up diagnosing “malaria and typhoid” for the rest of your career.
7. As a young doctor, fresh from university or house job, your confidence is your currency. If a patient asks about your age, tell him/her/them that you are “old enough” and qualified.
On to the personal lessons for me…
1. Driving in Lagos can be tedious and draining. At best, I’ll get a driver.
2. Public transportation is not for beginners. I had to take a crash course.
3. Have an idea of how much transportation is before you pay is important. Apparently, I had been paying the bus drivers extra and they didn’t tell me (So, ask the conductor or fellow passengers).
Lastly…
4. Have a registrar/Senior Resident/Consultant (or any senior colleague) friend(s) during your housejob rotations (or internship postings) that you can speed dial when you encounter difficult cases. It saves life; So be friendly.
5. Fear doesn’t solve anything. Never be afraid to try and ask.
About Author:
Tumininu Poluyi (Dr.), is a MBBS graduate of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, who recently completed her medical internship from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), is testing the waters of private practice and opened to endless progressive opportunities.
