I love my job.

I could just stop with the title, but since this is a blog, I'll go into further details for your reading pleasure.

I work for an ophthalmologist in Bryan, Dr. Marr. It's just me and him......and 7 technicians and 5 front desk people. We see about 80 patients per day--give or take 10 or so. I see about 1/3 to 1/2 of them now. The average age of our patients is about 75. (Dr. Marr does mainly cataract surgeries, which I guess explains our older population.) I've seen more ocular pathology in the 3 months that I've worked there than I did last year working in Baytown plus my 4 years in school all together. Crazy fun stuff. I do still get to do basic eye exams and contact lenses too, which I welcome as a nice break from the "sick" eyes.

Here's a few lessons I've learned while on the new job:

1. Leadership makes all the difference. I've always heard this, but I'd never seen it in action until now. Having a Christian boss whose first priority is patient care and secondly to take good care of his staff makes for a very happy, functional practice. The office manager, Elaine, has worked for Dr. Marr since he opened his doors almost 30 years ago. So have 2 others. That says a lot.

2. Old people are precious. I've always liked older people. I think it's because I grew up spending a LOT of time with my two grandmothers and great aunts. But now my relationship to them has changed, and it's taken some getting used to. I still think it's weird to hear an 80-something-year-old person call me "ma'am".

3. Being told that I'm "too young to be a doctor" is actually a compliment. This used to offend me horrifically. I still don't really like it. But I've noticed that most of them follow it up with "you must be really smart." So if they want to think that I'm a child prodigy or something, then ok, fine with me. It even fits well with their Doogie Howser jokes.

I feel extremely blessed to be where I am. I have no doubt I am where I need to be and that makes me feel content.....fulfilled......happy.