Family Medicine

February 28, 2015

We made it to Miami and completed the first 2 weeks of our first rotation!

We had one day of orientation with all the students and every single one was from our class on Saba. It was very relaxing and stress-free asking questions and sitting around people who I already know. For those who know the names, Craig, Ankita, Malcolm, Silva and I were there for Family Medicine, Bev and Barintha were there for Pediatrics, and Mayoori was there for Psychiatry.

Craig and I were placed with our first preceptor in Urgent Care. The first day with him was shadowing and then the second day he let us see patients alone. He assigns us each a patient, we read the chart, then go into the exam room by ourselves and do a history and physical exam. We are loving it so much that we don't take a lunch break, we hold off going to the bathroom so we don't miss something, and we looked at each other like "oh hell no" when we were offered to go home early.

I am having a hard time adjusting to working with patients with financial barriers. Every time we create a plan of tests to run or prescriptions to write, it has to be modified based on the patient having no insurance. This especially applies to undocumented individuals. I have also been introduced to the world of domestic abuse. I have tried to apply what I learned in the classroom on Saba (ask if the patient feels safe at home, tell them that it is not their fault and that there will always be someone at the clinic who will want to help them if they decide they need it) but sometimes it doesn't feel like we are doing enough.

One thing I've really enjoyed is patient education which is actually surprising considering that I have never pictured myself as or wanted to be an educator in the traditional sense. I've discussed the basics of the reproduction cycle for purposes of conception. I've taken my time explaining to patients why they don't need an antibiotic for a cold. I have tried to stress the importance of taking blood pressure medications regularly because of the complications of hypertension.

I've done the very best I could to identify and diagnose conditions and although I fail at getting the answer and I forget important questions, it still feels amazing to have the privilege to do this work. Our preceptor gives us a lot of independence which is great for getting our confidence up. He will do a procedure once and then have us do it after him. I was unsure how people would react to me walking into their exam rooms, but for the most part I have been pleasantly surprised at how open people can be about their personal lives once you show interest and empathy. This is something I dreamed of doing for so many years and I am finally doing it all day, every day.

We were originally staying in a temporary place, but we are now moved into the place we will be staying at for the next 4 months. The couple who owns the home is super friendly and the house is beautiful. I am sitting by the pool on my day off as I write this. We are very excited about our time here.

We have some time for fun things too!

Arriving in sunny Florida!