First Impression: Family Medicine
Wow! What a day... day one of Family Medicine was met with a busy schedule and a lot of recall from many areas I haven't thought about in a while. The amount of learning I did on the job today was impressive. I saw patients today ranging from 2 months to early 90s, and everything from regular check-ups to reviewing labs from previous visits with patients. It was a great experience overall!
This rotation is very organized. The students in my group received emails one week ago with our schedule for the six weeks, detailed explanation of expectations, a curriculum schedule broken up by weeks with learning objectives, a sign off sheet of procedures we should perform before the end, and a patient log where we will be signed off for having seen at least 200 patients over the six weeks. I will be in-patient for one week, and the rest will be out-patient.
Orientation this morning was at one of the clinics that I will be at for part of my time here. I was very impressed with the layout of the clinic, as it even had a gym because of the wholistic approach of the practice. Orientation lasted about 1.5 hours where we were able to ask questions, and were given a preview of how to navigate the electronic records (which is my only negative about the experience because it is very different than what I have used and it is poorly designed IMO).
Then, a 25 minute to another outpatient clinic and I was at the clinic I will be at for the next two weeks. I was able to shadow the doctor there for three patients before he expected me to start seeing patients. By 1:15PM, I had learned how to do an x-ray, ordered labs, ordered medications, and refreshed many physical exam skills I had not used since our Internal Medicines Foundations elective in Miramar. I got to go to lunch today with a friend of mine rotating with me, which was nice since previous rotations I have been the only student. We came back to report at 2, and continued to work as hard as possible until we saw the last patients at 6 PM.
This was the first rotation where I was in a primary care setting. It was great to see a physician who put so much emphasis on overall health (and not just medication). I saw things from the Alternative Medication lecture we had on island that many of my peers joked we would never see again. I saw a physician who took his time to make sure he addresses all patient concerns, and one who had a great connection with his patients. It was awesome to see that today as it was very refreshing after coming off a six-week rotation of inpatient psychiatry.
I felt many things today: excited, confused, ignorant, embarrassed, daring, challenged, and tired (current state). I look forward to knowing I will get so much hands on experience in medicine, and I am glad I have family medicine before Pediatrics and Internal Medicine as this rotation is a great mix of experience for both.
But seriously, I really have to go study now because each rotation does come with its own exam...