Lessons Learned: Rotation 2

My Rural Clinic in Ardmore was fantastic. While I grew very homesick as the days passed, the experience I gained was well worth being so far away from my own bed. I delivered 8 babies vaginally, assisted on a C-section, performed 3 circumscisions (with lots of help!), and was able to see patients on my own in my physician's clinic. The latter forced me to fill in the gaps in the education I've received so far and led to a greater sense of confidence in my history-taking, physical exam, and decision-making abilities. Here's some of the tips I picked up this August:

Lesson #1: Smartphones are an invaluable resource for medical students and doctors alike. I can't begin to describe the amount of information we're expected to retain; access to online resources is vital to sparking our memory on pathology and continuing our education as we discover medications and other topics we didn't become familiar with the first two years. The apps I used most often this past month? Medscape, Epocrates, and Visual Dx (lots of rashes in family clinics). Thank you, technology!

Lesson #2: Enter into each rotation with an open mind. I made the (big) mistake of answering my doc's query on which field I'd like to pursue a little too honestly on the first day - the answer did not include family practice. I knew I shouldn't have, but I felt too uncomfortable lying. I spent a lot of effort making up for that first impression and overcame it fairly quickly, but it's not something I'd like to repeat in the future. Luckily, I realized my mind is not set on a particular specialty, so I don't have to lie! 

Lesson #3: A display of confidence is a necessity. The doc has been practicing for over 30 years, and as such, has patients with which he's built a relationship that are wary of being seen by a student. I found that if I exuded confidence as I introduced myself and automatically began my routine, patients did not request to wait to be seen by the physician. A warm smile played a big part in that, as well. :)