The episode was written by series creator Bill Lawrence and directed by Adam Bernstein.

's story begins with a first-person narrative, setting the tone and style of the series while introducing the main characters.

A flashback to the previous day's orientation shows hospital lawyer Ted Buckland advising the doctors on malpractice.

Following Ted's presentation, chief of medicine Dr. Bob Kelso introduces himself as the new doctors' "safety net".

's day continues, he is thrust into the fray, but freezes up and relies on nurse Carla Espinosa to carry out a routine IV placement.

On his second day, J.D., while waiting for Elliot, encounters the hospital's janitor repairing an automatic door.

Nurse Laverne Roberts tells him that a patient he had bonded with earlier has died, and says, "Just pronounce him so I can go home".

runs into Turk, who admits that he, too, is scared of the new hospital environment, and that he has already moved his things into J.D.

that he only cares about patients who have the necessary health insurance, and that he only carries a chart with him everywhere so that he can pretend to remember the new interns' names.

eventually overcomes his fears and, with Dr. Cox's encouragement, successfully inserts a chest tube.

Happy to have gone through his first three days "without looking like a complete idiot", he leaves and runs into a glass door.

Several of the scenes from this episode are based on the real-life experiences of medical adviser Jon Doris, a close friend of director Bill Lawrence.