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Post by Dr. Lisa Cuddy on Feb 14, 2009 13:53:33 GMT -7
Lisa Cuddy reviewed hundreds of applications a week. Only about twenty-five percent of them were called in, and out of that twenty-five percent, only ten percent got the job. That was how the system worked. And Cuddy had not gotten to be the Dean of Medicine by fighting the system.
She had reviewed a residency application earlier in the week, and had called the applicant in for an interview. He seemed promising enough, and Cuddy figured it would be only fair to give the kid a chance. So, she'd penciled him in for ten o'clock that morning. The clock above her office door read nine forty-five.
Deciding that the best way to pass the time was to read over the application again, she picked up the folder and had started to re-read it when the knock came. Closing the folder, she laid it down in front of her and straightened the lapels of her lab coat. Satisfied that she looked professional enough, she gave the command.
"Enter."
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Post by verbalchaos on Feb 14, 2009 14:09:36 GMT -7
James hummed loudly to himself as he walked into the hospital. One of the nurses gave him a weird look.
"Good Day Sunshine by the Beatles...look it up," James said as he walked by. She rolled her eyes.
Now James, you can do this without making a fool of yourself. No knocking over pencil jars or tripping over imaginary shoe laces today. he mentally coached himself as he pushed the elevator button.
James suddenly glanced down at his feet. He had carefully dressed for his interview at the hospital. New shirt, new pants. He'd even ironed everything. He had checked to make sure the outfit was clean five times. Everything had been just right....strictly professional.
Except what had ended up on his feet. His oldest high tops, previously red, but now a strange grayish-brown color, stared back at him. The laces were practically in shreds and anything that had been white on the shoes....well. Wasn't anymore.
He rolled his eyes at his own stupidity before stepping off the elevator; heading for the impending doom that was interviewing. All of his previous confidence had disappeared.
It didn't last very long. He grinned suddenly as he strolled down the hall.... For better or worse, today Princeton- Plainsboro hospital would see him for just what he was.
He made his way down the hallway until he found the right office, knocked, and entered.
"You are Doctor Cuddy; am I right? I'm James Nelson. Here for the interview.." He attempted a smile, hoping he didn't look nervous.
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Post by Dr. Lisa Cuddy on Feb 14, 2009 14:21:24 GMT -7
As the applicant entered, Cuddy glanced over him. He'd made an admirable first impression. Standing up from her chair, she placed her hands on top of her desk. An indication that he should approach. She'd done this a hundred times before, and this time would be no different.
"Yes. I am Doctor Cuddy," she answered, her voice clipped professionally. At the moment, she didn't care if she gave off the appearance of a hardass boss. She was, to an extent, and if Mr. Nelson got the residency he sought, he would learn quickly that 'strict' was not the only kind of boss she could be. Holding out her hand, she continued. "Of course. Please take a seat and we'll get started right away."
That being said, she resumed her seat and opened the file. "You've just graduated from medical school, correct?" she began, looking over the first page.
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Post by verbalchaos on Feb 14, 2009 15:07:13 GMT -7
James looked the doctor quickly over. Her professionalism didn't intimidate him, after all, his mother had always treated him like a potential employee. Sharp, brisk, and to the point. He couldn't recall a single kind thing she had ever said to him.
Now was hardly the time to think about the past. Time to worry about the present. This was his first interview, he was straight out of college after all. He was determined to make a good impression.
He took a seat, folded his hands in his lap so he wouldn't be tempted to fiddle with anything, and answered her question. ""Yes, I just graduated last spring from NYU...with honors."
Yea, that was original.....James thought to himself, sarcastic. He was unsure of how to go on so he just waited for the next question.
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Post by Dr. Lisa Cuddy on Feb 14, 2009 16:00:53 GMT -7
Cuddy nodded at his answer. She had that information in front of her. She was only following standard procedure by asking. "What made you decide to take your internship and subsequent residency at Princeton-Plainsboro?" she asked, not seeing anything on the transcripts about any particular specialty.
Flipping a page up, she skimmed over a couple letters of recommendation. Keeping her expression impassive, she glanced back up at Nelson. "Will you be staying at Princeton-Plainsboro through your eventual fellowship? Why or why not?" Follow up questions had to be carefully worded so as not to make an applicant believe that the interviewer had not already made up his or her mind about them.
Once he'd answered those two questions, they could move on to the practical part of the interview. Internship and residency interviews were always fun for Cuddy. She'd always particularly enjoyed seeing how the applicants responded to her situations. She was especially interested in what Nelson's responses would be.
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Post by verbalchaos on Feb 14, 2009 16:53:24 GMT -7
James Nelson thought for a second before replying; "I decided to come here for my internship for a couple reasons. Firstly, this hospital has a good reputation. What I found when I researched it was pretty much all commendable.
"Plus, one of my professors told me you have a particularly good Diagnostics doctor. A doctor House or something. This Professor was kind of a mentor to me the past few years, and told me I could learn a lot from him."
"And yes, I hopefully will stay here through my fellowship," he continued. "Though I suppose it depends on how things turn out...." He laughed. "The future is so uncertain for a newbie like me."
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Post by Dr. Lisa Cuddy on Feb 14, 2009 17:17:04 GMT -7
Figuring it was only fitting that she look a little proud of the first comment, she did so. It was her hospital, after all. Princeton-Plainsboro had a good reputation because of her doctors. She deserved to feel proud of her staff. The second part of the answer, however. She had to work very hard to control her facial response to House's name.
"If you're seriously considering a career in Diagnostics, there is no better doctor to learn from than Doctor House," she settled with. She was pleased to hear that he was intending to stay as long as he could. That showed that he could commit. A perfect trait for an applicant to any institution. Now, it was time for the practical portion of the interview.
"We're going to do a little roleplaying now. I'm going to give you a situation, and I want you to tell me what you would do in that situation. All right?" She would take the time while he answered to come up with some situations she could throw at him.
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Post by verbalchaos on Feb 14, 2009 17:27:24 GMT -7
((sorry it was so short. *smacks forehead* Fixed))
James was slightly amused by the pleased look Cuddy had on her face when he gave his first answer. He had not made it up- he had done a lot of research on the hospital before applying. By research meaning asking everyone he knew at NYU what they knew about Princeton-Plainsboro.
A lot of stuff came up about Gregory House. It seemed everyone who met him had a very strong opinion about him. He'd heard the words 'sarcastic' 'genius' and 'jerk' many times....
James brought himself back to the present. "That sounds good. I'm ready."
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Post by Dr. Lisa Cuddy on Feb 14, 2009 21:46:35 GMT -7
Cuddy thought for a moment about the first scenario she could give him. Thinking back, she decided to use a case they'd had a while back. Like a few years back. Finding the perfect one to start him off with, she set down the application folder and closed it. Picking up her notepad, she leaned back in her chair and regarded Nelson with a critical eye.
"Thirty eight year old woman. Presents with hearing voices and sharp leg pains. She collapses, and begins exhibiting tremors and vomits blood." Tilting her head to the side, she raised one eyebrow. "What do you look for first?"
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Post by verbalchaos on Feb 15, 2009 8:13:10 GMT -7
Jason contemplated the question. Half a minute later he replied:
"Fibromyalgia would account for many of the symptoms, but that seems unlikely if the pain is only in her legs. Plus she would have complained about it earlier. It would have been a long-term thing.
"It could be Lyme disease. That would explain the tremors, collapses, vomiting, and leg pain. I'm pretty sure it would explain the voices as well....I would check her for rashes, see if she has EM anywhere.
"If she doesn't have Lyme's it could be Lupus. That would explain all of the symptoms."
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Post by Dr. Lisa Cuddy on Feb 15, 2009 10:37:20 GMT -7
Writing down his diagnoses on her notepad, she nodded a couple times through each of the possibilities. House's team hadn't even considered either of them when they'd had this case four years previously. At least, as far as she knew. At the last one, Cuddy raised an eyebrow. It was better that she told him now, since he would hear it all the time anyway if he got the job.
"Mr. Nelson. Providing that you get this internship, if there is one thing you will learn from Doctor House, it will be this. It's never Lupus." There was nothing in her tone except perhaps a small amount of annoyance at House for that life-long lesson. She hoped that Nelson wouldn't pick up on that, or if he did, that he wouldn't think the annoyance was directed at him. Shaking her head, she returned to the scenario.
"Examination shows there are no rashes. After taking her medical history, it was discovered that she lives on a consistent diet of alcohol and microwaveable hamburgers." She realized that she could have mentioned that before, but there were often times when conclusions were drawn before histories were taken. She would slowly add in details from the case, to see how many misdiagnoses he would go through before settling on the correct one.
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Post by verbalchaos on Feb 15, 2009 12:39:10 GMT -7
Jason was a little puzzled by her Lupus comment, but he decided not to think about it too much. He would probably find out what it was about sooner or later. Or maybe he didn't want to find out at all.....
"I'll remember that, thanks," James replied. He crossed his legs, trying to relax, and thought for another minute.
"It could be Multiple sclerosis, but patients with that are usually younger... and it would not have anything to do with drinking. Peripheral neuropathy would explain nearly everything, including drinking." He trailed off wondering how the microwave hamburgers fit in with any diagnosis.
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Post by Dr. Lisa Cuddy on Feb 15, 2009 13:17:26 GMT -7
Making another couple notes on her notepad, she stared at Nelson. Maybe it was time for another couple hints?
"Working away from a misdiagnosis of Schizophrenia, further examination of the patient reveals cirrhosis and a cancerous tumor. Since we've ruled out MS, would peripheral neuropathy explain those as well?" Cuddy wasn't sure at this point how to direct the roleplay so that Nelson would consider Wilson's Disease. She had to get him to the final diagnosis before something happened. That something being related to the case she'd given House yesterday. Glancing at the clock, she sighed.
"You aren't considering all the evidence," she said. "If this were a real case," which it had been, but he didn't know that, "you would be putting the patient at risk." Harsh truth, but it couldn't be helped. She couldn't be lenient with him on this, not if he was going to be working with House. 'If' being the operative term.
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Post by verbalchaos on Feb 15, 2009 17:54:38 GMT -7
Oh crap, James thought when she let out a sigh. First interview and I'm already considered a idiot.
Oh well. He could crawl in a hole later; now it was time to try and salvage himself.
"Right, not any of those things."
Whatever the woman had suffered from had neurological and psychiatric symptoms. He went through a mental list of diseases. Cirrhosis causes immune problems, leading to the risk of infection. And lung failure. That along with the alcohol...
Suddenly something clicked.
"It could be Wilson's disease. I'd give her an eye exam; look for the Kayser-Fleisher ring around her eyes."
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Post by Dr. Lisa Cuddy on Feb 15, 2009 18:16:41 GMT -7
A genuine smile crossed Cuddy's face when he answered. She'd been hard-pressed to remember the details about that case, but it seemed like she'd done a good enough job. She had to admit, though, this kid had potential. Making some final notes, she regarded him again, this time with an appraising look. After a brief second's thought, she decided to tell him.
"Very good, Mr. Nelson. You've just solved an actual case that Doctor House worked in 2004." Setting the notepad down, she crossed her arms and leaned forward on the desk. "I'll grant your internship right now if you can tell me the treatment for Wilson's Disease." Cuddy knew she was breaking protocol by doing that, but the kid had promise. And House would be grateful for the help.
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[My5:]