Slowly Settling In

Progress is being made in getting me settled into my new job (yay, progress!). I have an office now. It's nothing exciting yet:

We're supposed to get some fresh paint in the next couple of days, and it's still undetermined if anything will be done about the flooring (rumor is, the tiles have asbestos, so they might have to stay put). We have some furniture waiting to be moved in, once the painting is done, and then really, all I'll need is a computer. There will be an "after" picture, at some point.

I do finally have access to AHLTA, the DoD's electronic medical record. That just came through today, so I was pretty excited about that. Even though I won't be able to get it installed on my office computer (you have to be on the medical department's network, and my new job isn't), I will be able to access it remotely from my office, once my application to do so is approved. Again, with any luck, that won't be too long.

I also swung by the division surgeon's office today. The division surgeon is the top medical person in the 3rd Infantry Division (the division at Ft. Stewart). My battalion isn't technically part of 3ID, but since we're located on the same base, we fall under them in some respects. One of those is an agreement that all medical providers in the division put in some time at the Troop Medical Clinic (TMC). This is kinda a hairy point, as I'm not technically part of the division, but common belief (not held by me) is that this applies to me as well. So I talked to the division surgeon and explained that patient care is actually a very small part of my job, and the number of hours they were asking was not in alignment with how much time I should be spending on care. She then asked for my full job description, so now I'm roped into giving a presentation to her on Thursday about my roles and responsibilities as the physician in a civil affairs battalion. Much fun. I'm hoping I do a good enough job that I can convince her to let me out of time spent at the TMC, without having to involve higher-ups to pull any influence. Fingers crossed.

Getting Work Done, and Taking a Break

I've been a bit lax about updates, but to catch you up, I finished in-processing, both for Ft. Stewart and the battalion (yes, there was a separate in-processing for the battalion, but it was easy and only took about an hour).

Friday was my first full day, and since then, I've been working(ish). The unit does PT together every morning, which is a completely foreign concept to me (I'm used to working out by myself). So Friday morning, I joined in for PT with some of the other officers. We ran about three miles in a park not far from where I live, which was nice, because it meant I got to go home and shower and change, instead of sharing a locker room with about 100 other girls.

I still don't have full computer access, either at the battalion or at the hospital. I don't mind so much at the battalion; as long as I can get on a computer, I'm happy. The hospital, on the other hand, controls whether or not I can do work. So I've been spending a lot of time going back and forth between my battalion headquarters and the hospital (where I'm using a computer in the preventive medicine department). It's a couple of miles across post, so all I've really been doing since Friday is going between office and car and office and so on and so forth. I think I made the round trip three times today.

I tried to do PT with the battalion on Monday morning as well (after doing a whole lot of nothing all weekend), but got caught in traffic and ended up arriving 45 minutes late. And I thought I left the traffic behind in DC (I found out later yesterday that there was an accident, which tends to slow things down on a two-lane highway). So I went running on a treadmill at the gym yesterday morning instead (and then dealt with the whole shower/locker room situation) before spending the morning at the hospital working on getting computer access. Great fun.

The day started early this morning, when I drove to Hunter Army Air Field (subordinate base in Savannah) to do PT with the junior medics. They're taking a paramedic course in Savannah, so it's easier for them to work out at Hunter instead of Ft. Stewart. After that was back to Ft. Stewart, to continue trying to get stuff down without a computer (seriously, how did people do it?!?). People are starting to come to me with medical questions, which I can't really do anything about. I can't practice medicine, because I don't have a clinic, computer access, or credentials; and because I don't have computer access, I can't write referrals for them to see anyone else. With any luck, this will all be over soon and I'll be doing real work.

Until then, I have ten days of vacation, because that's what the Army does when you move somewhere and haven't figured out your job yet. Immediately gives you a vacation.

Days 3 and 4 of In-processing: Almost Done

I realized this morning that I forgot to write a post about yesterday. Sorry about that. I'll try to combine the experience with today's experience.

Yesterday I did not go in for PT at 0600, choosing to go running at home instead. I was going to go running outside, but ultimately, unfamiliar neighborhood, lack of sidewalks, prior to sunrise, and lack of streetlights lead me to believe that that not be the best idea ever. I found a place on base today where I'm going to try running tomorrow, but I digress.

The day really started at 0845, when I arrived at the room where we would spend the morning. Even though they told us 0845, nothing really started until 0915, and that wasn't much. We turned in our dental records (exciting), our medical records (I didn't turn mine in, because I don't see the point), and then finance came to have us fill in forms to get our housing pay changed to Ft. Stewart (good-bye, getting paid to live around DC) and fill out our travel forms to get reimbursed for moving. Sounds simple enough, but you would think it was rocket science for all the questions it generated.

After lunch was when the VIPs (me and a few others) were separated from the normal people. We were given four tasks to go through: dental for an exam and x-rays, even though I just had an exam and x-rays at Walter Reed last month; medical, to confirm that I am up-to-date on vaccinations (which I am; that's kinda my job); behavioral health, to confirm that I'm not [too] crazy to be in the Army; and personnel, where I changed my address and made sure my life insurance when somewhere (have fun, parents). Then I was given four more tasks to complete in the next five days. I knocked out two of them yesterday (the museum of the 3rd Infantry Division and the Education Center). The other two will take the next two days, because they both happen at the same time daily.

This morning, I opted for the Central Issue Facility, where I was given almost $5000 worth of Army gear (not to keep for myself) that I will probably never use. At every step, they seemed really surprised that I hadn't been issued any gear before. That's what happens when you spend your time at a base that only has a hospital (and no troops). Nobody gives you anything. So now I have a trunk full of cold weather gear, Kevlar helmet, sleeping bag, rucksack, etc, etc. Tomorrow morning will be the safety brief, and then I'll be done in-processing on post.


Since I finished at CIF around 1100, I headed over to the battalion office to check in and see if there's anything they could do for me (or I for them, even though I can't really do anything yet). While I was there I took a lovely picture of the sign:

They're getting me set up on getting email and whatnot, which is about all they can do until I actually get an office. I also stopped by the hospital to see about getting computer access, because I can't really be a doctor until I have access to the DoD's EMR. With any luck, that'll happen soon.

Day 2 of In-Processing: Continuing to Make Progress

Today was my second day of in-processing, which is actually my official "day zero". It didn't make much sense to me, either.

After getting up early to make it to PT on time, I was again stuck in the "no decals" lane at the main gate, because I still don't have decals on my car (I now have a temporary pass, which is the best I can do until I have my Washington registration and plates, but that's another story). What nobody bothered to tell me, however, is that it takes about 45 minutes to get through the "no decals" lane around 0600. I didn't make it on base until 0630, half an hour after when I thought PT was supposed to start. Turns out, 0600 is the time for formation; PT itself doesn't start until 0645. So I didn't miss anything (except a good workout, because you can't get that at group PT 95% of the time).

I finished PT, showered, got dressed, and returned to the Marne Reception Center to find one of my classmates from my MPH sitting there. After the initial "What are you doing here?!?" greetings, I noticed he had the patch for the 85th CA Battalion on his arm (see Friday's post), and was able to put two and two together and realized that he's the environmental science officer for the battalion. So I do know someone at Ft. Stewart (and even in my battalion!) after all.

Since he was just signing in today, his "day one" is Wednesday, and since he's a major, he doesn't have to work at getting on the VIP list, so he's not even coming in tomorrow. For today, though, we stuck together to get our cars registered (which is where I got my temporary pass) and go to finance, where I turned in my paperwork to get paid for my partial do-it-yourself move (meaning I put a bunch of stuff in my car and drove it south). Then we grabbed lunch and he headed back home, I got official word that I'm a VIP (yay for no group PT tomorrow!), and then headed over to the hospital to do the in-processing that's not a part of the overall in-processing.

I won't be working at the hospital, since I'll be working in the battalion, but the hospital has to keep my credentials and give me access to the computer systems and whatnot. Turns out, though, that while we were able to get my credentials file started, Walter Reed still hasn't send over my residency file (let me put on my surprised face...). We got that going, but I won't be able to request access to the electronic medical records or my work email until I'm done in-processing to Ft. Stewart.

That taken care of, I headed home and got my paperwork ready for tomorrow, my "day one" of in-processing (only three work days into the process). What do I have to look forward to tomorrow? Endless lectures. Including one on preventive medicine. I wonder if they'll let me give that one.

In-processing to Ft. Stewart, Day 1

Today was my first day of in-processing at Ft. Stewart in anticipation of starting my new job as the battalion surgeon with the 82nd Civil Affairs Battalion. In true in-processing fashion, it was not all smooth sailing. Let's start from the top:

I arrived at the gate at around 0745 this morning, only to be told that, while the DC area no longer used military decals on the cars, Ft. Stewart still does. Since DC doesn't have decals, I don't have any on my new car, which meant that I had to go to the main gate to go through a full inspection before I could get on base.

Even with that, I still arrived at Marne Reception Center, where all new arrivals sign in, around 0800, only to discover that I forgot my leave form. I thought it was still in a folder in the trunk of my car, but it wasn't. So I tried calling WRAIR to see if they could fax a copy over; unfortunately, the sergeant seemed to be incapable of operating a fax machine, because despite multiple claims of faxing it over, no copies ever arrived. So I drove home (about a 35 minute drive), found the pile of papers that included my leave form, and drove back to sign in. Success.

I was supposed to go to a safety brief at 1530, but instead, I was rescued by MAJ Ellis, the chief of preventive medicine at Ft. Stewart (everyone in PM knows everyone else, it seems). He took me to find my battalion, which after a few wrong turns, we did. There's a pretty sign in front of the building and everything (I didn't get a picture of it, but I will). The battalion commander is at a training course, so he wasn't available, but a few of the senior non-commissioned officers were there. They welcomed me to the battalion, which included giving me the proper left shoulder patch for my uniform:

So I am now officially part of civil affairs, and no longer part of MEDCOM (Medical Command). The fifteen minutes I spent with the two NCOs were probably the only useful fifteen minutes in my entire day. They explained who has arrived thus far (the battalion won't be officially stood up until September), what my job will be (I'll be in charge of the medical shop for the battalion, which includes me, a vet, an environmental science officer, medical logistician, and a slew of medics of various ranks and training), and where my office will probably be. I didn't see my office, but I am excited about the idea of having an office. Of course, as one of the NCOs pointed out, having an office means people know how to find you.

In all, a long and trying day, with a rewarding few minutes at the end. Compared to most in-processing activities, the rewarding few minutes at the end made it almost worthwhile.

Next step... PT at 0600 on Monday. Fun.