Nightlife

Another noteworthy thing that happened recently is that I decided I'm going to have a nightlife. I discussed this with Jack and he agreed, that I should live it up. Don't worry, I'm not hitting the nightclubs on Rush Street (well, not yet anyway!); everything so far has been for business.

Last Monday was Labor Day and I drove back to Chicago Tuesday before dawn. The traffic was beautiful, so I may actually do that again. But Tuesday night, I found out I had to play in the softball game. Administration has their own softball team and our star female player tore her ACL last week, so she was sidelined. We had few women, so I had to play. Before the game even started and we were just goofing around, I dove for a ball in the outfield. Not only did I MISS the catch, but I did a running roll and jacked up my left knee. I played SS again that night and out of about 12 plays in which I was involved, I only messed up 2 throws. All in all, I had fun.

Wednesday night was the quarterly family practice meeting. The medical staff usually opts to close down a restaurant on the south side and the meeting fills the whole place. I ended up being seated next to Headless Wonder. It made for supremely superficial dinner conversation, but I got to know several of the new family practitioners who aren't much older than me.

On Thursday, I surpassed a couple big milestones! I went in super-early to get some actual work done and was about to call it a day at 6 pm. My EVOO boss invited me, last second, to a physician dinner downtown. He was leaving and I had 45 minutes to get downtown. As Headless Wonder wasn't invited and the other invitee bailed, I jumped all over the invitation. But then I realized...45 minutes wouldn't afford me enough time to catch the train. I had to jump in my GPS-less car NOW, fumble my way downtown, through rush hour traffic, and find an intimate restaurant on those crowded city streets. For some reason, I've had a terrific fear of driving downtown. It's not the highways that scared me (had those mastered a while back), it's those tiny streets in the actual city. However, I survived and not only did I not die, I didn't kill anyone or knock anyone off the road. Success!

The physician dinner was a great experience, too. I've been asked to join the physician recruitment team, which dovetails the physician partnership team I already lead. This may be my niche, as I greatly enjoy talking to docs. Their practices and motivational patterns mystify me. That, and St. Fozzie's is trying to woo a few new primary care docs, so the dinners do serve a business purpose (seriously).

My newest responsibility in the physician arena is that I've joined forces with the Chief of Residency at St. Fozzie's, and he is going to help me partner up with the current and recent medical residents at the hospital. This is an untapped resource and I told him he needs my help...the docs are all my age and who better to try and get into their heads? We'll see how this flies. I'm a bit nervous as I get my own American Express for this purpose. If you're trying to entice new attendings to join the staff, is it okay to charge martinis?

So anyway, the Thursday night dinner went very late and my eyes felt as though sand scraped at my retinas on the drive home. However, I could stare at the Chicago night skyline for an eternity and I again realized the uniqueness of my situation. I'm very blessed and I'm running forward with these opportunities with renewed gusto.