Another taste of clinicals...

Well my birthday was a great time. Matt took me out to eat but when going into our little restaurant here - 5 or 6 of my friends just popped out to surprise me! I knew something was up! Haha. It was so nice though, there was a cake, decorated table and everything. It was so sweet of all of them so thank you so much!!!

Studying is sluggish but picking up. Today was our last day of clinic - so our group was up! We went to Vielle-Case Clinic where we met with our patient to take his history. This time it was actually a real one. I wish I could have gotten him all to myself, but there were limited patients so we had 3 people in the room, myself with another guy and girl. So we alternated taking the interview but - wow - did he have quite some story! If you ever have visited Dominica (because I am sure soooo many of you have lol) or have read my early on posts from last year, driving here is... there really isn't any words - it's just insane. Speeding, driving on the edge of cliffs, cutting SO close to people walking on the side of the road and animals - it can really freak you out, not to mention what it does to your stomach... ugh... Anyway, our taxis here are called "transports" and M.L. (funny how the initials are the same from my other interview, haha, but this was a guy) got caught in the door and was dragged THROUGH GLASS along with the transport! This happened years ago but with all of the injuries he sustained he ended up having a plate put in his leg. All in all, he ended up having the plate taken out but after the stiches were removed he started to develop a wound infection.

It was the most interesting case I have seen so far here in Dominica and I felt so bummed that I started my paper on my other case because this would be a great case-writeup! But after we were all done we thanked him and headed back to Portsmouth to present to the attending (supervising physician). It was quite intimidating talking our patient up to him. He was kind, but was pretty demanding. This is something we will all have to get used to but I couldn't help think he was looking at us like we were the dumbest people ever! Before I continue on that note, the other girl in our group really got on my nerves. While she was quite thorough in her part of the interview, she wasted SO much time. After the patient would tell us part of his story, she would go all the way back to the beginning and confirm. Of course, you do not want to miss anything but with the limited time we were given and expected to perform a complete history (which can be a lengthy process) it was hard to keep the flow going. She would constantly cut both myself and the other guy in the group off but moreso in presenting the patient. When I would begin talking she would cut me off and just go on like she did everything. Nothing but "I" statements. "I asked him" this... or "I wanted to rule out" that... It was so obnoxious and with her cutting me off I couldn't help but give a little glare in her direction. I could tell the physician saw my frustration with being cut off and when she would get frazzled or go too fast she would finally shutup and then I would just continue on. It really killed the flow and that disappointed me. We are supposed to be a team here and she just - well - I'm not sure what she was trying to accomplish. There really wasn't a grade for this, more for practice. I can't be 100% about this but her tag on her ID had a 4th semester color so she might have been a repeat-3rd semester that has done this before but just wanted to seem like she was "all that" and a bag of chips... Who knows. After that, I went to the gym and worked that all off my mind.

It was a great experience though and I look forward to more! He had us go through our whole case, making sure we missed nothing and even went as far as to us giving our DD (differential diagnosis)! It was actually pretty fun and in that short morning, I really learned alot. I'm not so worried about being criticized (positive or negative) by the attendings. That will be my life for many years to come and I can't let it get to me and consume me. They all have their preferences of how they want cases presented and if you can just feel them out and able to be flexible in that sense - I think it makes for a less stressful time and a more enjoyable experience.

As for now, I am back at my apartment after a wonderful nap and studying! Classes are basically over. Just a few hours here and there but they are officially over I believe Monday. Before that though I have my oral exam this Thursday then nothing but paper-exams after that! So - on that note - time to kick it into gear! Where's my energy drink??? :)