Things I have learned in Week 1...

So somehow, I went to sleep 4 times and woke up and it was Friday and my first week 'on the job' was over?!?!! What just happened?! I've seen and learned a LOT in 5 short days. I discovered I really do enjoy Family Practice. It's fun getting to be the gate-keeper of peoples' health and well-being. You may not to get to deal heavily with some super involved, complicated, rare disease... but you CAN be the first to CATCH it, and refer that person on. Not to mention that even those 'outlie-er' patients will always have minor health problems that they come to you for, and you have to take into consideration their other, more serious co-morditities. So you may not be treating that specific crazy disease entity but have to stay up on it and how it might affect the treatment of the more seeminly bengin problems nonetheless.
In this past week, I've also discovered how HORRIBLE I am at being empathetic for 'babies' and 'fakers'... and believe me, even as I type that I realize how absurd it sounds ;)... but for real... 19 year old in for a STUBBED TOE... dude... areyaKIDDin' me?! ME: "How would you rate your pain on a scale from 0-10..." DUDE: "3/10" ME: (pushing HARD over the joints of the big toe) "Does that hurt?" *no reaction* ME: Can you stand on your tip toes? *patient stands on toes* ME: "Did it bruise at all when you did it LAST WEEK?" DUDE: "Nope" ME: "Can you walk on it without pain?" DUDE: "Yeah..." Soooooo... WHADDYAWANTMETODOABOUTIT?!?! good LORD! why even come in!?! Here's your Rx for ADVIL now get the hellouttamyoffice! - of course, I didn't say those last 7 words but I SOOOO wanted to!
I've also discovered how SYMPATHETIC I am to the people I didn't think I would be! For all my distain of all our 'fluff' lectures on how to counsel patients, and ask about home, pyscho and social health... I find THAT's the suff I'm good at and willing to spend the extra time on (versus big-toe-itis guy)... One patient I had was in for a possible migraine diagnosis. The poor thing broke down in TEARS 60 seconds into my interview with her... fiancee was deployed til 2 months ago, his brother commited suicide WHILE he was abroad. Her wedding is 8 weeks away, she's frustrated at all the weight she's gained and the big life stressors she's got going on... I felt like saying "honey, you don't need imitrex, you need a HUG and more walks in the sunshine!" :( Super sad...
One thing I especially love about this rotation, is the great job that the military does at encouraging the TEACHING process for the next generation of practioners who are up and coming. They really are soooooo willing to help you learn, allow you to try stuff, see interesting procedures, and just get in there... you get the impression that they REALLY do want you to learn and better yourself through your time with them. I think in other private practices it'd be so easy to look at an intern as just someone to come in and take half your workload off your shoulders, but these guys have been great at allowing me to SLOW THEM down... allow me to see patients first without them (doubling their work hours in the process) just so I can see and practice things for myself. Amazing people for sure... One of the PA's today pulled me from my fifth case of Hypertentsion for the day because he wanted me to assist with a vasectomy. I'm not even his intern and he cared enought to come find me and the PA I was working with so 'the new kid' could see something out-of-the-oridinary for the day. So awesome! The teaching-the-next-wave-of-PA's is definitely something I feel strongly about doing myself some day - if I ever grow up :)
That's I gotz for nowz... sorry for another uneventful post. Hopefully I'll get into some fun or trouble - or both :) over the weekend. Stay tuned... miss and love you all! xoxo Mego