Dear Dr. Q,
I wanted to get your opinion about something that is bothering me at work. I am currently an intern at a large New York City hospital. I am working on the cardiology service and I have this resident that keeps making me draw blood continuously. As an example, when we are dosing heparin, and the PTT is stable, she makes me draw blood every four hours even if it is 4am and it could safely be checked with the AM blood draw at 6 or 7am. Please help me deal with this difficult situation.
-Sincerely, Mark J. MD

Dear Mark,
You are lucky. I have piles of letters from interns whose lives have been ruined because of a resident's action that started as a "harmless instruction." The best thing to do is be true to your self. Do what you think is best and what is truly in your heart. Don't ever let anyone make you do something you think is wrong or unnecessary.
-Dr. Q

Dear Dr. Q,
A couple of days ago, a resident who works in the same hospital with me began to flirt with me. She is a fun person and good looking, but I feel uncomfortable with her approaches since I am an intern and still have to take orders from her on occasion. Granted, she makes me feel attractive, but I just feel this is wrong. Later I found out that she has had affairs with 3 other interns in the hospital and I was just some other conquest. Please help me deal with this difficult situation.
Sincerely, David N. MD

Dear David,
You are lucky. I have piles of letters from interns whose lives have been ruined because of a resident's action that started as a "harmless flirtation." The best thing to do is be true to your self. Do what you think is best and what is truly in your heart. Don't ever let anyone make you do something you think is wrong or unnecessary.
-Dr. Q

Dr. Q is a Retro-Health Practitioner in Alberquerque, NM.