Dr. D.R.E.

Class continues to progress.  Board exams relentlessly approach.  In a few months, I'll be in the hospital on rotations.  This journey seems so far from where it was when I quit work some years back and began this endeavor.  As I'm in the midst of what is the craziest bit of studying that I've experienced, I've not written very much lately.  Do, however, feel free to check out Scholarly Photos, a photo blog that I've created to provide some creative outlet in lieu of writing.  (See the links to the right; you'll know the one.)  I look forward to posting more regularly in the near future.  In the meantime, please accept the following yarn as a down payment on future posts.  
-- The Scholar


Yesterday, I shadowed a doc at an Urgent Care clinic.  In the past, I have been stunned at the variety of things that I've seen, amazed at her prowess in diagnosing and treating, and thrilled at what I've seen.  Late in the day, we saw a patient who presented with prostatitis.  We took a history, did a physical exam, and asked him for urine.  The doctor got a gown for him and asked him to change into it because we'd need to do a rectal exam.  Pretty cool, I thought, as I walked out of the room.

A few minutes passed and, during a break, she asked me if I'd done a rectal exam.  She asked if I wanted to do this one.  I let her know that I'd never done one but I'd love the opportunity as it would be a great learning experience.  As we went back into the room, I was pretty amped from the adrenalin and anxiety.  Like a hawk, I watched everything she was doing.  She asked the patient if he'd allow the student to do the procedure as a learning experience and he consented.  Immediately, I threw on some gloves and was overcome by a sudden urge to roll my freaking sleeves up as far as I could get them.  Seriously, if I was wearing a muscle shirt, the sleeves still wouldn't have been up high enough.  No worries, I was going in!

The doc gave me another quick demonstration which I pantomimed in the air.  I can only imagine the look on the patient's face as he overheard me repeating everything; poor guy must've been mortified.  Next, the doc and I tried to put a dollop of lubricant on my finger.  Turns out, the tube of KY was nearly empty.  Honestly, it was like fighting to get the last bit of toothpaste out of tube that should've been thrown out a week ago or, more specifically, exactly like someone nervously trying to get adequate lube on their finger before doing their first rectal exam on a patient.  Once successfully prepared, I approached the "entry zone," began the exam, and did my best to act out her instructions, being careful to try to listen with my fingers for any abnormalities.

After, I ditched my gloves, maintained my professionalism while I left the room, and, grinning, washed my hands as furiously as Lady MacBeth.

In addition to that patient, I helped suture a hand laceration, removed an embedded foreign body from someone's eye, did a few physicals, practiced OMM on two patients (a respiratory case and a shoulder rehab), and saw a bunch of sick kids.

My day was awesome.

I.  Love. Medicine.

Chasing My Shadow

I thought I'd share more from last week's shadowing experience, including a bit that I frantically wrote prior to the start of my first day. That morning, I arrived at the doctor's office, talked with him a bit, then went to the hospital to meet the resident that I'd follow for the day. While waiting, I decided to jot down some things in my journal. Here's what I wrote:

I'm sitting here in the doctor's cafeteria. Man, do I feel like a fish out of water. I have this white coat crumpled in my lap and am sitting here alone at the table: the new kid on the school playground. The problem is that I don't even go to this school. My fear: putting on the white coat, walking across the parking lot, being caught in the middle of some big accident or something, and having someone yell "Doctor! Doctor!" while I just freak out. Yep. This is my terrible fear. At the very least, I should get my community CPR and First Aid renewed pretty quickly. This might help me feel a little more comfortable in my own skin.

As it is now, I'm sitting here waiting, waiting for my contact to show up. The room is full of docs scarfing down breakfast and just being normal. SportsCenter is on in the technology noon, pleasantly low volume, recounting the Phillies win last night. So, I'm here. Consciously trying to blend into the background but feeling like I might as well be standing on the table screaming. Just a perception really; things are probably fine. I'm likely unnoticed by most. What will the day hold for me? Will I see crazy things or just a normal day?

The awesome thing is that I nearly crapped myself this morning. Nerves? Probably. I was on a military strike mission to find and destroy a nearby toilet. Using the facility inside the office wasn't an option. No easier way to thoroughly alienate people than to violently defecate in a small office toilet. Seriously, it would've been something from Dumb and Dumber: me with a branch clinched in my teeth levitating over the seat. Anywho, after the initial "shock and ewww," I met with Dr. B who told me about today's assignment.

Pulitzer worthy stream-of-consciousness stuff, isn't it?

Anyway, as I mentioned previously, I saw a fantastic amount of stuff on the first day. The next day, however, seemed to be much more subdued. I worked with a doctor in a clinic seeing patients for most of the day. Here are few notes from my journal regarding day two:

Spent the night at mom and dad's place. This morning, I slept in a little and made my way to the doctor's office. Surprisingly, I've had no violent ass-plosions this morning. I think yesterday made me feel a good deal better about everything. So, at the moment, I 'm waiting for the doctor with whom I'll be paired to show up and take me to the clinic.

[Six hours later...]

Today has been pretty cool. I've been with a doc who's pretty close to my age. He'd been giving me some very helpful insight into D.O. schools. Seems like a lot of the patients we've seen today have diabetic conditions that require medications. We've given the 1200-calorie ADA (American Diabetic Assn.) diet to about half of the folks we've seen.

So, that's about it. It was pretty cool and has gotten me really jazzed about school again. All of my secondary apps have been submitted and I'm awaiting recommendation letters to be sent. Then, the ball is rolling once more. Keep your fingers crossed that I won't have to retake that damned MCAT.

The Shadow!

Today, I've shadowed a DO resident at a hospital near my hometown. Essentially, shadowing means that you follow a doctor around all day, watching everything, trying to soak up everything, and convincing residents that, yes, you've really thought it through and, of course, you want to go to medical school.

Without going into too much detail, I'll just make a quick list of the highlights of the things I witnessed today: a rectal exam (yep, the ol' finger poke), an NG tube being shoved into someone's stomach via the nose, and some poor guy who's balls had swollen to the size of a grapefruit.

Super awesome!

Tomorrow, I follow a different doc around. More later.