My First Day of GP Training

It was important for me to share the experience of my first day of training because I felt overwhelmed by the help and support I received from my colleagues.

The Night Before

I felt nervous because I had never worked in A&E before. Luckily, I got in touch with someone who was working in the same department in the same hospital. She was kind enough to take time out to explain to me how things work in the department; she guided me about the smallest things. She also agreed to find a parking spot for me in the morning.

The Morning

I left home at 07:00 only to find that one of the tyres of my car was punctured. I was able to call AA to get the tyre changed. But I immediately felt the cons of leaving London where I did not have to drive a car.

At Work

Thanks to my wonderful colleague, I was able to park the car at the spot she had saved. She made me familiar with where I needed to go. She had woken up very early in the morning, even though she was working in the evening, just for me to be able to park my car safely.

Handover

I attended the handover in the morning. After the handover, I introduced myself to the team. The consultant advised me to shadow someone until I get my logins sorted out. I followed a junior doctor for a couple of hours to see how things work in A&E. 

Logins and Passwords

After that, I spent half of my day trying to get my logins and passwords. A very kind consultant saw that I was struggling so he decided to help me with this. He left everything that he was doing and walked with me to the HR all the way across to a different building to get things sorted for me. He then called and emailed multiple people to get things rolling for me. And he did all of this by going out of his way as he was not directly responsible for me today.

Seeing Patients

Once that was sorted, I saw my first few patients in A&E Minors. Surprisingly, I found it easy and my anxiety of seeing A&E patients went away very soon. This was only possible because my colleagues, including other SHOs, registrars and consultants were very helpful and supportive. I asked them countless questions and they answered all questions patiently and with complete concentration. I felt that understanding the computer systems was more challenging than seeing patients.

Handing Over

After I finished working, I handed over the leftover tasks from the patients I had seen to the same colleague. She was again kind enough to check on me to make sure I was adjusting well and she made sure I had not missed anything for the patients that I did see.

Tyre Repairing

After work, I went to a local shop to get the tyre repaired. This prolonged my day by more than an hour. But I wrote this article during that hour. So this hour was not wasted.

Home

The drive home was 40-minute long but it was not bad at all. I enjoyed listening to Vital Signs on my way home. At home, my dear wife had prepared hot food for me which was ready to eat. And this was my first day at work.

Highlights from My First Day

• My colleague took out time a day before to explain the system to me.
• The same colleague woke up very early to save a parking spot for me.
• A consultant went out of his way to help me with my logins.
• Other colleagues helped me with all of my other queries.
• My car’s tyre punctured on the first day. But it was not a lot of trouble.
• My dear wife had prepared hot food which was ready to eat when I reached home.