September Newsletter

I was just talking with a friend and was reminded I'm a tad late writing this. Cardiology ended Wednesday and we had a wrap-up day Thursday, making today the first day of my second month of family medicine. Cardiology was a good rotation. I got to see patients in the hospital and observe some surgery-like procedures. I saw a good deal of patients in clinic, and I really don't like that type of interaction, but I keep telling myself that's where the bulk of medicine is practiced and that's where people get treated to stay healthy and I need to develop an appreciation for it. I need to learn all this background stuff to be a good surgeon. At least, that's what I'm trying to believe to make these non-surgical rotations bearable. Thankfully, the vast majority of patients are amiable and even glad to be involved in my education process. Some of them are downright pleasant and encouraging. But also, I've been able to practice dealing with patients who aren't easy to talk to, whether because they are angry, just odd, psychotic, or what have you.

For internal medicine and surgery, each of which is two months, my school lets us take a month of the basic specialty and a month of a subspecialty. So, my cardiology rotation, being a subspecialty of internal medicine, is considered my first month of IM and I won't take my basic IM rotation for a while. Sadly, I think I would have learned a lot more during cardio if I had taken two full months of the basics first. Because of this, I plan to take two months of general surgery before doing any subspecialties. Speaking of surgery, I am still set on becoming a trauma surgeon in the end, but I'm not sure if I want to get there through general surgery (and patch up the squishy stuff inside the torso), or through orthopedic surgery (and patch up the bones and ligaments and such). Apparently, general surgeons are the lead surgeons in trauma cases and orthopods just drop in to fix the bones. While it would seem more desirable to be a general surgeon from this standpoint, I've been told the one in charge must handle most of the paperwork, while the ones assisting just get to hop in, fix stuff, and hop out. Unfortunately, it would not be easy once I'm out of med school to start training in one specialty and later switch to the other. Fortunately, I have a good amount of time to decide; a good number of my classmates still don't even know what area they want to go into. I've been told not to worry about it, but I do anyway. On a side note, I thought recently that pediatric trauma would be an interesting niche, but I'm not sure how well I'd handle the abuse cases.

The doctor who owns the family practice office where I just started rotating only works Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I'll be shadowing one of the two physician's assistants who work with him. The PA I worked with today saw probably 24 patients in the six-hour day. He said he can get up to the mid 50s during the really busy seasons. He wants me to do basic physical exam techniques like checking ears and throat and listening to heart and lungs, so I'm thinking of my time with him as a good opportunity to break down my timidity in touching patients since I'll be doing it so much. Must suppress all I've been taught about spending adequate time with a patient...

Sorry this is more disorganized than normal.

Scott