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Monday, October 24, 2011

Rotation 2: Pediatrics

I love Pediatrics! I find great pride in not only diagnosing and treating little ones, but also creating a sense of ease for parents. So, essentially, at the end of the day I have treated two patients. What could be better? While I don’t have children I can see that it is equally as taxing on parents as it is rewarding. While a normal bump and bruise may mean nothing to us it is at times a call to the ER for new parents. It is my job to provide anticipatory guidance. I tell parents what to expect and how to deal with issues as they arise or how to avoid potential problems. For most parents it’s easy. For others, a takes a while to get comfortable with the fact that parenting is difficult and they need help. Trust is important in this relationship more than anything else. Everyday I work through parental concerns involving toilet training, tantrums, school rebellion, sibling rivalry, nutritional guidance, bed-wetting and constipation. Sometimes my response is as simple as “Try these techniques, if they do not work come back and we will work through another solution to the problem.” The simple act of being there in the process means a great deal.

As I am getting toward the end of this rotation I, again, am amazed at how fast time flies. I remember being so timid when I first started this rotation 5 weeks ago. Now, I can see three or four children in one room. When you get comfortable in a rotation it is really hard to tear yourself away from it. I know that this is what I have to do to complete my degree, but it does not make it any easier. Some of these children I have seen multiple times and seen them grow. Today I had a 10-month-old baby girl want me to do a full physical exam while holding her hand. Yesterday, I had a child whose arm got stuck in a chair in the waiting room. There is never a dull moment. I am sure I will have more crazy adventures on my next rotation, Family Medicine.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

One rotation down, pediatrics to go

I can now say that I have successfully completed my internal medicine rotation and passed the final exam! I am so excited that I am one step closer to becoming a PA. I still have 6 more rotations to complete and then my elective rotation. My last days in Jenkintown, PA in internal medicine were great. I feel like I really started to get into a rhythm. I even got to see some repeat patients that I had already built a good rapport with. Internal medicine gavee me a solid foundation for which to take with me to future rotations. I was very sad to leave because I had grown close to the staff, patients and the doctor there. I was given a nice thank you card from the staff and a few hugs goodbye. I went through my evaluation with my preceptor and was pleased that he thought I did a great job on the rotation. My last day was Wednesday, September 21st. On friday the 23rd I took my final exam, which was tough, and then our class had a few introductory lectures in order to help us prepare for our certification exam after graduation. It was nice seeing all my classmates and teachers. It was great to hear about different rotations and experiences. It was interesting the wide range of topics all the way from delivering a child to seeing their first patient pass away.

Currently, I am on my pediatrics rotation at Virginia Beach, VA. I love the setting over here. While the pace is slower than internal medicine I really like the doctor I am working with. She is willing to teach me at every opportunity. She takes time out of her day to go over a topic a day with me. The doctor is also very personalble and friendly so working with her is a breeze. I enjoy the patients that we have seen so far. It is so differnt than internal medicine. The volume of medications and past medical diagnosis for these patients are significantly less for the most part. It is a hard adjustment to go to tiny little bodies for physical exams but I am managing so far in this first week. The patients are adorable, I love seeing them smile. It breaks my heart to see them cry when giving immunizations. Soon, I will be doing immunizations myself on patient...eek. The other day we had to give a 9 month old 3 shots, proir to this she was smiling and laughing and just so delicious. Seeing her streaming tears and high pitched screams almost made me want to cry too. I know this will take some getting used to, for now, I am taking it one day at a time and enjoying the experiences as they come.