Another family practice day, another day of interesting, diverse patients. A couple of the key moments:
- Saw a younger patient with a debilitating, fatal genetic disorder, already having the cognitive impairment and visible symptoms of the illness. It was heartbreaking to see her bottled up frustration and anger spilling over about the pain caused by her symptoms, the painful path that lies ahead for her, and the loss of her independence and lifestyle.
- Another patient quite frankly told us about his drinking leading to his cocaine & crack binges. I’m not sure why I was so taken aback – I guess the privileged listening role involved with being in this profession is still very new to me.
And there was much more. Again I was struck by the diversity of everything from foot problems, more ear wax buildup (Takeaway message: DON’T use Qtips to clean out your ears.), prescription refills for a terminally ill patient, and discussing the onset of menses with a young teenaged girl. I like it! And this week I put a sticker on my stethoscope so that I know which way is the front. Last week I put it on backwards once. I was so embarrassed when I did that that I pretended that I could still hear the chest sounds my preceptor was pointing out to me on a patient with an irregular heart rhythm while really I could hear nothing! Ugh! Tomorrow I have a group activity where my group is assigned a “mystery bug” and we have to do a skit demonstrating symptoms, transmission, incubation period, etc. to help our classmates guess what it is. My team has opted to do a claymation skit, of the Wallace and Gromit ilk. We chose this method because a guy in my group mentioned he’d taken a course in claymation – so my group figured it would be a very original/interesting way to present the info to our classmates. When we sat down to discuss more details, it turns out that our resident claymation expert (and idea originator) took the course when he was 11 yrs old. I nearly fell off my chair with surprise and laughter. I thought when he’d mentioned he’d taken a course in it, he meant in last year or so. Cross your fingers for us, tomorrow the big production comes together. That’s right, I’m really playing with play-doh in med school. It doesn’t get more intense than that! PS. I’m planning a trip to Ireland this summer with my friend Leigh Anne. If anyone has any tips or leads on fantastic (& cheap) inns or B&B’s there, do tell.
4 comments:
Jody,
Sounds like the typical combination of excitement and boredom (mundane) but oh so cool to be on the other side!
Saw the Bodyworlds exhibit and thought of you.
Read Vincent Lam's (?) book and thought of you!
Never thought of med students doing skits, but I guess every profession is looking at alternate learning models!
Hope all is well!
Paul C
Thanks for droppin' by Paul. I must say that it's fun to be back in school again. And I should add that the claymation experiment worked out very well. Who knew that my classmates are also master play-doh moulders? :)
Jody, I appreciate the qtip tip and as for having you check out my heart... I will check to see the stickie next time I visit! Great to hear life is as exciting as ever. Wow- Ireland sounds delightful. Cheers, Diane (going bonkers in my class of Gr. 3's, but loving it too).
Your Q-tip comment intrigued me. I did some quick checking on the 'Net and quickly realized that many medical experts recommend against using these types of cotton-tipped applicators. I can't claim that I am up on all health-related topics but I am wondering why the heck I have never heard this before?!? Particularly from any of my doctors?!
Gonna finish Hey Nostrodamus (finally getting around to reading that) before starting into Vincent Lam's book.
Ireland sounds fun. I have a colleague who is very Irish and they travel back to the homeland often. I will ask her for any tips and pass on.
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