Glorfindel of Gondolin

I've spent the last few days at the hospital getting processed by the hospital bureaucracy. They need to transform me from an ordinary civilian into a first-year resident so I can start seeing patients on July 1.

It's been boring and exciting both. The boring part: hours of talks and PowerPoint presentations about the computer system, the benefits packages, the infection-control programs, etc. All accompanied by an avalanche of handouts: flyers, brochures, booklets, pamphlets, and laminated cards. Where I'll put them all I don't know yet. The amazing thing is how much of this orientation material is mandated by various federal laws or agency regulations. I was handed an evaluation form and told that my opinions were really important, but I don't see how that can be true when the hospital doesn't have the option of getting rid of the HIPAA compliance presentations or the OSHA-mandated demonstrations of how to use a fire extinguisher.

But I'm glad I sat through all of that, because some parts of the hospital orientation have been pretty damned exciting. It's cool to get my hospital name badge : University of Chicago Hospitals, baby. Then there's my printed prescription pads. Carey Cuprisin, MD. Yep, I guess if I'm gonna be a resident, people are gonna start calling me a doc and expecting me to write them some scripts for generic Zocor. I'd better start getting used to it.