The Best of Times

I was prepared for the worst when I started my inpatient medicine rotation at Riverside County Regional Medical Center. Here is what I had heard:

1. The medical teams average between 25 and 35 patients with no definite cap (could be more and is usually not much less). Rounding with the medical team can last 5-6 hours...and then you split up and begin to work.
2. The commute to and from Loma Linda is a 30 minute drive along a 2-lane backroad littered with potholes and train crossings.
3. The hospital uses a paper-based charting system (as opposed to the VA hospital where everything is on computer).
4. You are on-call every fourth day and must stay at the hospital overnight when on-call.
5. You will be in the hospital rounding on patients instead of in church on Sabbaths.

Sounds pretty fun, huh? However, while all these things are true, no one told me about the following:

1. Very few patients will turn down a request to pray with their doctor.
2. I would need to buy Steps to Christ in bulk and in at least two languages.
3. Patients would want to study the Bible in the hospital (up to two hours with one of my patients).
4. I would have a precious half-hour of protected prayer time with the Lord at the beginning and end of each day (during my commute).
5. Inpatient medicine would enhance my walk with the Lord and my commitment to serve Him.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16