Needles

Today I had my first experience at ECHO, the Einstein Community Health Outreach free clinic. It was a long "morning" -- 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for me -- but an incredible experience that I hope to repeat many more times this year. Today, I was the labs assistant. It might not sound all that glamorous, but I actually had one of the most interesting jobs available to first-years, in my opinion. I was responsible for obtaining the samples needed for patients' tests, which meant that I had to learn how to draw blood.

It was absolutely crazy. Before this morning, I had never drawn blood in my life. One of the third-years gave me a quick tutorial and let me try drawing from him once. Since it went well, apparently I was then qualified to draw from patients. Luckily, there was one nurse there who supervised me (in addition to administering vaccinations), but by the end of the morning I had drawn blood from seven patients! Amazing. It's incredible the amount of respect the white coat gains for the wearer. No one even questioned my place; they all seemed to assume I knew what I was doing. By the end I did. I'm liking this whole medicine thing...