I finished my 3 weeks of outpatient (ambulatory) Internal Medicine rotation. It was...alright. I was only scheduled to be in clinic from 9-12, then I was to spend the afternoon writing case reports. The case reports have not been fun. The patients I've seen have been fairly specific, with specialized problems that probably won't be on the shelf - and if they are, it would be a general question. The case reports are to be very specific, with at least pathophysiology, current diagnoses algorithms, treatment recommendations, and follow up. While it's nice to know loads about POTS, for example, I can rest assured that I won't be tested on it at this point in my career...and my time and effort spent putting together a case report will have been not the most efficacious of tasks in terms of succeeding on the boards. So it kind of feels like a bit of busy work, when I should be studying other things like hypertension, diabetes, COPD, and other very common problems that are seen in Internal Medicine. But it is fun to learn about what happens that causes more specialized problems, especially in relation to cancer.
I do love Heme-Onc. It's a shame I couldn't spend my entire 3 week block there!
Oh and working 3 hours a day is not for me. It just doesn't feel like I've done anything all day when I'm only in for a few hours. It's not challenging enough. The extra time is meant to be spent studying, but I learn best from patients, so it's not the ideal situation for me. Honestly, I'm looking forward to going back into 12 hour days, which will start this week while I'm on Inpatient Cardiology.
Have I mentioned that cardiology is my least favorite subject? Well it is, but I want to learn more so that I can be a better doctor for my future patients. So I'm challenging myself by surrounding myself with experts in the field, and I know I'll learn so much from them in the next 3 weeks.
Arterial Anatomy Revision:
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