Hospital #2

I had my second hospital rotation today at PMH - it was AMAZING! What made my experience so much better this time than last was that today I did not have to sweat at all - our physician had air-conditioning in his office (I was so thankful). Anyway, besides that... today was really eventful and let me tell you why.

In the morning I rotated in Internal Medicine again. When I heard my assignment at first I was very bummed out - I already had Internal Medicine last time. And I was frustrated because I requested for Surgery at the beginning of the term but did not get any. But there are classmates of mine who got Surgery twice in a row! Anyway, I shook the hand of my doctor with the frustration simmering in the back of my mind.

However, he changed my negative thinking into positive energy with only the first patient! He let my two partners and I conduct the interviews and physical exams on the patients, only interrupting here and there to steer us in the right direction. He quizzed us and stimulated us to think, to pull together the big picture and come up with many differentials! I finally feel like I am in Medicine! The cases were very interesting as well. First patient had a mechanical aortic valve and I got to listen to the irregular heartbeats as well as a SYSTOLIC (not diastolic) murmur! It was amazing! The second patient had a congenital VSD and he was 24! His murmur was pansystolic and you could not make out his S1, S2 heart sounds at all. He also had a Grade 6 murmur in his Tricuspid area from the VSD - ie, the murmur was audible even with the stethoscope a few millimeters off of his chest!!! These are real heart sounds in real people and they sound so much better than those we hear in Harvey! Our third patient had Familial Spastic Paraplegia and he had extreme difficulty walking. But he was independent, upbeat, and helpful to the medical students. I think he has done this many times because at one point when we were pondering one question our doctor asked us, the patient gave us a hint on what the answer was! It was hilarious. I think he could probably write my exam for me and get a better grade...

Anyway, the bus ride back home was rough - our driver did not bother to avoid any potholes and I was in midair half of the time. Now I feel nauseated but made myself sit down and write about my experience before this flame fades tonite. I had a great day and hope everyone else did too :) Don't forget to give thanks!