Rotations

Well the first half of 2009 is over, along with my first week of rotations; who wants to hear about it?

Mom and Dad, Stormy and Ranee came to visit us last week and they were able to stay for a few days. The best part about that arrangement is that they came at the same time we were moving to Charleston, and thus we were able to recruit some Texas born and bred muscles. They got into Lewisburg on Saturday and we jumped into the car that next morning and headed to Charleston. It was nice visiting with the folks, catching up and shootin’ the bull; sorta brought back a bit of that home-sickness we were used to the first month in West Virginia. I suppose the hardest part about it is that we aren’t able to visit Texas as often as we’d like to. Anywho, everyone was excited to see each other, catch up and share stories. Last week started out in Charleston for my three day orientation to the hospital, CAMC. It was interesting I’d have to say. Well, perhaps a mixture of emotions; 40% interesting, 30% boring, 25% exciting and 15% stressful.
More than 100% you’re asking yourself; well get used to it they say! We’re going to be giving more than 100% for next 2 years! Lets see….how about a quick sum-up?
Throughout the orientation I met the WVU med students we’ll be rotating with, I got my pager, my schedule, my didactic schedule, a tour of the hospital, HIPAA training, 5 new log-on and passwords, computer training, 2 hospital ID badges, 4 free meals, a Charleston tour, and the Charleston epidemiology report. Like I said, interesting/boring/exciting/stressful !

Wednesday afternoon we headed back to Lewisburg to relax and enjoy the rest of Mom and dad’s “vacation.” Thursday, Dad and I finally got to go play The Greenbrier, and oh man what a nice course. Funny little fact however, who was it that arranged the tee time? Me. Who checked in? Me. Who had the gift certificate? Me. But guess who got the personalized Greenbrier golf bag ID souvenir thingy? Dad! WTF? Oh I got one, sorta. But it wasn’t personalized….oh I could go on and on, but I’ll just hold my tongue. Hope you enjoy the tag dad, I’ll be sure to get mine fixed when I go back for my next 18 :) Dad also took us to see Transformers, which everyone was excited about. Well, almost everyone. I do believe Tricia’s exact words were, “I don’t want to see that movie, I won’t like it.” But oh just wait, 20 minutes into the movie she turns to me and smiles, “This is pretty good!” It never hurts to try something new. On Saturday we went to pick Blueberries and had lunch at The WhiteOak BlueBerry Farm. That was fun aside from the fact that we STILL have 10 pounds of Blueberries in our freezer. Thanks dad for picking up the check on those too.

Monday inevitably rolled around and year three of medical school began with Family Medicine I rotations. The week started with a 7am meeting at the hospital followed by another orientation, HIPAA training again, another 2 sign-on and passwords for GVMC, and then across the street to meet my preceptor and family physician for the next two weeks, Dr. Debra Sams. Dr. Sams is an amazing physician that works incredibly hard and is very patient and eager to teach me. A few stories from the week follow:

My days have been flooded with check-ups and re-checks for past situations that I wasn't around to know too much about the patient or their history. I basically go in before Dr Sams and ask the basic questions to reassess the patient's current status. I do a brief work-up and a Q&A H&P followed by some problem oriented diagnostic tests and quickly exit the room to present the patient to Dr Sams. She doesn't give me much time to talk, enters the room, and in about 10 minutes she has made the diagnosis, written the prescription, ordered the follow-up studies, said goodbye to the patient and has filed the paperwork with the front desk; she is an incredibly efficient and direct worker. So far, I've gotten to assist on a ton of H&Ps, a PAP smear, prostate exam, a nail extraction I did my first patient PPD test,

and a few structural exams. One funny story happened on Wednesday when Tricia stopped by to see the office, which just so happened to be Pharm-Rep-Lunch Day ;) I was giving Tricia the tour and showering her the exam rooms and lab when I talked her into letting me attempt to draw blood (I need the practice). I coerced her into sitting calmly on the table so I could prep her arm and draw some blood. Long story short, I stuck myself instead of her. I tried to recap the needle before I applied the tourniquet and stuck my thumb; made me bleed like a stuck pig. In response to my rookie mistake, Tricia and the nurses got a nice chuckle out of the incident. Dr Sams on the other hand was not as entertained.

All in all, the first week of my Family Medicine I rotation has been incredible. And in the words of a colleague of mine, much better than in the classroom. I am sure, that within the next 7 weeks, I'll have much better, and much more entertaining stories to share; but in the meanwhile, stay-tuned.