I was driving home from my work in the ER the other night and a thought passed through my head, “You know, I’m damn good at my job.”

Now this may sound a bit conceited and perhaps it is, but I went with it. The truth is, it applies to by my IT work and my ER Tech work.

Now, let me be clear, I’m not saying I’m the best there is. I’m not even sure I would say I’m great, nor would I claim I’m the best ED Tech there is in our department. I’m not even sure there is a single “best” since our job responsibilities are so broad. But I am damn good.

I’ve talked about my IT work and how some of my code is still running years later without any real issues. It’s not world shattering code, I didn’t write the next LLM AI code (and I’m not even sure where I’d begin on that) but it does its job and is solid. So I’d say I was damn good at my IT work. I’m a published author (though last year apparently my book sold zero copies according to my most recent royalties statement) and have several online articles to my name. I’ve also spoken at numerous conferences. I’m proud of my work. Yeah, there’s better folks out there in many specific SQL areas, but I’m still proud of what I’ve done.

Similarly, with my ER work, I’m at the point where I think I’m pretty solid. There’s one skill I definitely am NOT solid on (blood draws for those curious) but other than that, I look back at where I started over 3000 hours ago and I’m proud of where I am.

There are several reasons I like to think I’m good at my job. One for example is that I’m often the “go to” person. More than once a nurse or even doctor has told a colleague, “oh, go ask Greg, he’ll probably know.” Often this is in relation to where particular equipment or materials is stocked, but sometimes it’s on a policy or procedure.

I also appreciate the fact that in terms of general skills I have received positive comments.

Lately I’ve also been doing a lot of precepting new techs, something I very much enjoy and I like to think I’m good at (and based on the comments from more than one, they seem to appreciate my teaching). I also received a HUGE compliment from one of my managers who praised me for how I teach and what I was teaching. One of my real joys in life is to be an effective teacher and to have that recognized really meant a lot to me.

And, as I am about to begin the second round of PA School applications, I’ve had more than one of the provider offer to write a letter of recommendation for me. This also means a lot to me.

Now that all said, as I stated at the top, I’m not great at my job. I think anyone who starts to claim that is probably wrong and should have a close eye kept on them. But I think I’m damn good and every day I strive to be a bit better than the previous day and to keep getting better.

So I’m good, but every day, a bit better. I hope.