It's the Whip It thing.
Girls come through tryouts thinking they're going to be the great new hope for the team. Eye of the Tiger playing over their training montage, Face on the poster, Vets lift you on their shoulders for a victory lap, you're a Big Damn Deal.
There's a certain phenomenon I've witnessed time and time again in residency.
It's the intern thing.
You watched scrubs, you passed your step exams with flying colours and you are Ready To Save Some Lives. Heart-warming moments at the bedside as you hold grandma's hand, after which you run the perfect Code Blue and bring the guy down the hall back to life and ultimately finish the day by proving your attending wrong about an obscure and tricky diagnosis.
...Ellen Page and Doogie Howser make you want to have those same cinematic moments.
Now don't get me wrong, every established institution needs regular infusions of new blood (or fresh meat, depending on the nomenclature) - people who bring energy and new ideas to the experienced members for the group. Those of us who have come through the new period and have the priviledge of teaching those behind us find it deeply fufilling and inspire us to work harder.
But they need to know their (expletive redacted) place.
Residency is at least structured, with finite years and levels to separate each young Doc. Cower before your upper levels, puny intern! You must collect 200 hours ICU experience before passing go!
Derby, not so much. You come up through boot camps or rec nights, tryouts and then have your traditional fresh meat period - but after that's it's all fair game. The very nature of the sport (and injuries, and women in the 20's and 30's with the "9 month injury") means your team is comprised of all different skill levels, some coming back to the track after years of skating. To add even more confusion, you can have equally skilled players who fill very different positions on the track.
The best advice I've been given so far about Derby is that you have to work hard and set goals to earn your spot. "Find someone who skates better than you, and make her your rabbit." Make the roster selection committee pay attention to you - not by dramatic behavior or trash talking, but leave everything you've got on the track every time until they have no choice but to list you. Up until that point, don't expect to be given anything, just because you show up.
My point to all of this is to show some respect to your elders and realize what your place is in the wider scope of things. You may be faster off the jammer line or in the ER, but there's people all around you who have been doing your job for awhile now - and it's best to heed their advice. You should also be a little grateful when they take the time to give you said advice - after all, it's their spot you're gunning for someday.
man, this works for teaching too. I'm in my first year, and it's rough. I wish we had something more structured, like residency, than the "oh, hey, student teach for a bit and then, BAM, in the classroom with you." But I am still finding that I occasionally get smacked down, either by my elders or by my own grandiose planning. Working on taking baby steps and not think that my first year will find me being God's gift to under-motivated students.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I blame Hollywood for both the new teacher and new doc delusions of grandeur.