There's something very satisfying about making a decision, whether that's right or wrong. When I was on ICU call, we were getting killed one night, and my senior sent me to evaluate a patient while he tried to save some other guy's life. I saw the patient and this patient was not as stable as I'd been led to believe. So, I nearly wet myself. Here I am, 2 months into being a doc, and I'm presented with a crumping patient. I tried to do little things first, but it eventually boiled down to a serious intervention. And my senior was getting worked over, so he couldn't help me. So I made my call, stabilized the patient, and gave him a ring. And he was fine with it, and it was such a... relief to know that I could make that decision on my own.
