I honestly don't know where the time went, but my two weeks on inpatient hematology & oncology are up. It has been a really great experience; I just wish it would have been a four week rotation rather than two!
One subject which kept coming up while on inpatient is sickle cell crisis. About half of our inpatients are people with sickle cell disease who need to be in the hospital for pain management during an acute sickle cell crisis. It is horrible to see people in such overt pain. We do our best to manage the pain with all of our best pain medications, we push IV fluids in an attempt to minimize the sickling, we give oxygen, we give transfusions...but it is still difficult to see people in such agony. It's really such a horrible disease; I am more affirmed in my opinion of the importance of genetic screening for diseases, such as sickle cell trait, prior to a couple choosing to procreate. A lifelong battle against pain just seems so difficult, when it can possibly be prevented by proper screening of potential carriers and providing useful education.
I did see a couple of really interesting cases, which I am thrilled to have been a part of the management team in these instances. I'm working on a couple of case reports at the minute, and who knows? maybe I'll be able to publish one.
For now, it's back to putting together my residency application before I begin my next clerkship tomorrow - I'll be on internal medicine for four weeks! :)
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