Blog # 12: Dude that was an awesome CDOW

When I heard that I had to job shadow a doctor by myself, I was a little apprehensive. The thought of being alone with somebody I didn’t know was overwhelming. I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to be a doctor. When I got to the hospital a lady greeted my group at the front door, and told each individual which doctor they would be job shadowing. I was told I was going to be job shadowing a pediatrician. I went upstairs with three other girls to find a girl named Connie. We went to the wrong reception desk, and had to go back down the elevator downstairs to find Connie. When we arrived to the downstairs reception desk, we found Connie, and she told us to wait in the break room. The break room was tiny, and had two tables. On the tables were pens that advertised different medicines. We talked about the possibilities of what would happen. How the doctors would look, act, and treat us. Sitting in the room was really nerve racking. Connie walked into the room and named off the doctors, and asked who wanted to be with whom. Two of the girls picked the pediatricians that were on that floor we were on. The other girl was placed with the pediatrician on the second floor. I was stuck with a doctor for adult medicines. That consisted of sitting at the nurses’ desk, waiting while the nurse was finishing up with the patients who didn’t want me to be in the room with them. One out of five of the patients didn’t want me in the room because I was too young. That’s all I did for the first hour and a half of Career Day on Wheels. It was so boring. Finally the nurse that I was job shadowing took me to the pediatric unit. When I got there the whole atmosphere had changed. Little kids walking with their parents, a few babies screaming as they got their shots. That’s when I realized I wanted to be a pediatrician or a nurse in a pediatrician office. I got to see x-rays of a little boy’s leg that had a cist on it. I also saw a baby get a shot in each leg. I remember seeing him cry and look at me, and making me feel guilty because I couldn’t help him. One of the doctors took us to the maternity ward where the new babies were. There was five of them, and they were all boys. He checked them to give them ok that they could go home. Some of them cried, others sneezed and coughed. They were adorable. The day that I thought was going to be awful ended up being a day I’ll never forget.