Organization method for an intern

[blahwhatever]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I have seen other interns do this where they make photocopies of their progress note. Then do their to-do list on the margin of their photocopies and just carry the photocopies of the progress note all day. This seemed to me like a pretty efficient method of doing everything, and you also have all of the patients labs/issues listed on your progress note, so you don't need to spend time making a separate list. You can just go back to the photocopied progress note and check things off as you get through the list. What do you all think about this?

I've seen people suggest writing things on index cards, but anytime you have to re-write information on to another piece of paper, that sounds so time consuming to me.

Also do most interns write the skeleton for their note the day before? Just copy things that are likely not going to change in their plan, and leave a blank space for active issues to just fill in the next day? This seems like a good way to save time too.

 

[reventon2]

you might have seen these before, these can be helpful in the beginning:
http://www.medfools.com/downloads.html
Depends if you're still using papercharts though. with EMR, they are ways where all the patient info/recent lab data/meds are aggregated into one sheet
If you're using paperchart, making a skeleton is a great idea.

 

[gutonc]

I have seen other interns do this where they make photocopies of their progress note. Then do their to-do list on the margin of their photocopies and just carry the photocopies of the progress note all day. This seemed to me like a pretty efficient method of doing everything, and you also have all of the patients labs/issues listed on your progress note, so you don't need to spend time making a separate list. You can just go back to the photocopied progress note and check things off as you get through the list. What do you all think about this?

I've seen people suggest writing things on index cards, but anytime you have to re-write information on to another piece of paper, that sounds so time consuming to me.

Also do most interns write the skeleton for their note the day before? Just copy things that are likely not going to change in their plan, and leave a blank space for active issues to just fill in the next day? This seems like a good way to save time too.

What are the chances you're going to wind up at a place without an EMR?

FWIW, even though I've had an EMR since halfway through intern year, I still make a written worksheet every day with labs and my "To Do" list simply because I find that if I don't write it down (even if I look at it 3 or 4 different times), it doesn't stick in my head.

I used index cards (briefly) and the Medfools pages (mostly) during intern year. Since then (and it's been 5 years since then) I've gotten much more efficient and can fit what I need to know and do about most patients in about 1 line on half a piece of paper with the patient list on it.

 

[DrVanNostran]

I'm coming from a NON-emr school, and hopefully headed to an Epic institution in regards to EMR and the looks of the nursing staff.

I used to photocopy my old notes and write down my to-do lists on each. How does this note-card method work? I have heard everybody talk about how Epic basically gives you your morning info in a single sheet and you are ready to work.

 

[choirboy]

I'm coming from a NON-emr school, and hopefully headed to an Epic institution in regards to EMR and the looks of the nursing staff.

I used to photocopy my old notes and write down my to-do lists on each. How does this note-card method work? I have heard everybody talk about how Epic basically gives you your morning info in a single sheet and you are ready to work.

You have a note card for every patient, and just keep adding labs/tests to it - that way you don't have to flip through a bunch of old notes to trend data. Grab a ring and a hole-punch, and all your patients fit in your pocket neatly. I like photocopying notes myself, but I've been told by attendings that it "looks sloppy", so I've been trying to get used to the switch.

 

[gutonc]

I used to photocopy my old notes and write down my to-do lists on each. How does this note-card method work? I have heard everybody talk about how Epic basically gives you your morning info in a single sheet and you are ready to work.

This is more or less true (although the way ours is set up, if you have more than 4 patients, it won't be a single sheet), but I guarantee you that, unless you have a photographic memory, just printing it out and reading it won't be enough to get you to remember it...and then you'll just be flipping through the pages again.

Write down daily labs/vitals/issues (somewhere, anywhere, it doesn't really matter where) and focus on what you're trending (admitted for AKI, trend the Cr, admitted for GIB, trend the Hct, admitted for AF/RVR, trend the pulse and BP, etc) and you'll be fine.

But think ahead...imagine what you'd pimp your med student on if they were looking at the same labs/vitals/imaging you're looking at, and commit that to memory.

 

[adagio]

good post. subscribing for updates