APMA News - October 2011 - (Page 38)

Young Voices By Erin Klein, DPM Fourteen Days The first day of fellowship is similar to the first day in any other new position. Someone introduces you to many people whose names you’ll forget and need repeated. You meet the people who make the business aspect of the office/practice/hospital run smoothly. Two of these individuals clearly stand out in your mind—the one who controls the paychecks and the one who can fix your computer problems. Their names, e-mail addresses, and extensions are committed to memory. You get your IDs and tour a facility where you will definitely get lost (likely multiple times) over the course of the next week. The last meeting of the day is with your fellowship director, who instructs you to review conference submission deadlines and think about Voice 1: “Manuscripts?!” Voice 2: “Breathe, Klein, your brain works better when oxygenated.” Voice 1: “Look at the bright side—the deadline isn’t tomorrow.” With the words “manuscripts” and “due in 14 days” ringing loudly in my ears, I decided to have a chat with my fellowship director to see if he had any words of wisdom. I was unbelievably happy when he told me there were already several projects in the works targeted for this conference. My job? Collaborating with the previous fellow to complete and polish these projects. Over the next 14 days, there was still surgery. Patients were still seen in clinic. I had more students participating in active educational activities than ever before, and I’m not sure I actually slept. I’m also pretty positive my research assistant and research students didn’t sleep either. Our team worked hard, dedicated to a single goal: to exceed expectations under pressure by submitting solid scientific research. Fourteen days after starting fellowship, deadline day arrived and all manuscripts were completed eight minutes prior to the midnight deadline. I think the lessons I learned during my first 14 days of fellowship may be important life lessons. Lesson 1: When the task at hand and/or goal seem impossible, humongous, or otherwise completely unattainable, plan your work and then work your plan. Lesson 2: Ask for assistance when needed and be willing to work longer and harder than anyone assisting you. Lesson 3: Exceeding expectations under the pressure of deadlines is more enjoyable when done as a team. Lesson 4: Don’t forget the importance of starting every day with a “Good morning!” and ending every day with a “Thank you!” I’m sure there are many more lessons to come, and I am looking forward to sharing them with you. n Fourteen days after starting fellowship, deadline day arrived and all manuscripts were completed eight minutes prior to the midnight deadline. which projects should be submitted to which conference ... and then you go home for a good dinner with your family and a solid night’s sleep because there is no primary call tonight. The next morning, however, everything changes. The day starts early in surgery with eight cases that are challenging, complex, and unlike anything you have ever done in residency. For example, I started the day confident I knew a fair amount about surgery, and by the end of those cases, I was fairly confident I still had a lot to learn. Although I was angry with myself for not knowing everything, I had to take a deep breath and remind myself that if I were perfect and knew it all, I would not be smart enough to seek higher levels of education and training. Sometime later that day, I got around to the task of deadlines and conferences. Confident I would have a good month to get rolling on creative and innovative projects, I looked up the first conference on the list. I had 14 days. The dialogue in my head went something like this: Voice 1: “Fourteen days?! You have got to be kidding me.” Voice 2: “How am I going to create, thoroughly research, design, implement, and measure data for completed projects in 14 days?” 38 APMA News October 2011 Contact Dr. Klein at eek@weil4feet.com.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of APMA News - October 2011

APMA News - October 2011
President’s Message
Contents
ICD-10 in Practice: Coding for Fifth Metatarsal Injury
ICD-10 Benchmarks and Timeline
Team APMA Runs Away with the Show
Medical Mission to Costa Rica: Identifying Fungal Infections of the Foot
Federal Advocacy Forum
Resolutions Submissions
IT Consultant
Can They Really Do That?
Reimbursement
Members Who Know Media
Technofile
Young Voices
Small Business 101
APMAPAC Chair Report
APMA All Stars
In Short
Worthy of Note
Affiliates Corner
List of Affiliated Organizations
Insurance Advisor
New Members
Death Notices
Annual Scientific Meeting Registration Form
Annual Scientific Meeting Sponsors
APMAPAC Update
Development Update
Classified Advertising
Dates to Remember
Advertising Index
10 Questions

APMA News - October 2011