Family Medicine Rotation - DONE!

Here is a post I meant to publish back on December 18, but forgot! Hope you enjoy!

Week 5 of Family Medicine Rotation - "In Patient Week":
Five out of the six weeks of the Family Medicine rotation is spent at a Doctor's office, working within their practice. But, one of the six weeks is spent at the hospital. My in-patient week was at Mary Immaculate Hospital (where my father used to work as the Pharmacist). Unfortunately, the hospital, known as MIH for short, is a tale of "how the mighty have fallen." Back in its heyday, when my father worked there, it was a model of medical education, offering every "service" as we call the various medical services like OB/GYN, Peds, Internal Medicine, etc. Going to MIH now is like exploring a skeleton of what used to be a vibrant place. Years of mismanagement and budgetary cuts have led to the hospital shutting down its Peds and OB/GYN service and offering scaled back versions of anything else it still has. The hospital is no longer considered a premier place to do your residency. And worst of all, it is about to go through its second bankruptcy - one that many are predicting will be its demise for good. In fact, the sixth floor has been completely shut down.

Doom and gloom aside, there were some highlights - during my in-patient week I learned how to draw blood, start IVs, and the general "Day in the Life" of a Doctor at a hospital. I also met two individuals who actually have been at the hospital since my father's time and actually remembered him. They didn't have any stories like I was hoping for, but alas, it has been 18 years, almost to the day, since my father's passing. I do sometimes wonder, now that I'm in the same field, if my work ethic and personality - or anything, really - is similar to his. I know my family claims we have similarities, but I wanted to actually hear about what he was like from his colleagues. Oh well, I'm a few (several) years too late :)

Overall, my Family Medicine rotation taught me quite a few things - for starters, I do love working with kids. Any time a child would come into the office, I always tried to get their chart! I just felt more excited going into the exam room when a kid was there - trying to help them overcome their apprehension and fear, talking with them about their likes and dislikes, or just plain old talking over their screaming and tears because they knew some shot or another was coming! :(

I also learned that I enjoy working with strong older folks, like my grandmother and some other grandparents I know. In fact, I met more than a few folks in their 90s who were still going strong. One lady, 95, actually went to the Adult Care Centers and taught them dancing!! (By the way, the office I was at catered to Spanish speakers, especially Colombians, where the Doctor was also from - the 95 year old lady was Colombian).

At this point many of you are quickly realizing that I have left out middle aged people. It is not that I dislike this age group, it is just that I find them boring. Sorry to all of you in this age range, but you bore me in terms of medical practice. I have no interest in your complaints and aches and pains. When I step into another exam room with a patient complaining of lower back pain who is 41, I just yawn and wish I was working with somebody else. I know, I'm terrible.

Finally, I learned that medicine can be quite boring sometimes. During my 24 hour call at the hospital, the majority of the time was spent watching movies. Sure, we visited all our patients and made sure all labs and xrays were being conducted and updated, but then it is down time, unless you get a new admission. So, make sure you bring lots of good movies! And your toothbrush - you don't wanna wake up in the middle of the night and see patients with bad breath!