Psych Rotation-8 weeks

Daily Schedule: Mon. --> Lecture  Tuesday --> Clinical day from 0645-1315

Actual Schedule: meet at 0655 to get assignments and then report.  

What to wear: Polo and khakis

What's in my pockets:  keys for the locked units

Patient notes you'll be asked to write: GAD score, reason for admission, past history, meds

What to study: Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar 

A few unforgettables along the way:  This rotation has taught me to look for themes in conversations and to bring up those themes to the patient as a way to learn more about the patient and what it is they think is going on.    I like to think of it as acknowledging the "elephant in the room" and discussing whatever it may be.  There have been some interesting stories as to why patients were admitted, suicidal ideation, PTSD, psychotic breaks, etc. This rotation has forced me to be the one to initiate conversation, which as uncomfortable as it is, has been a learning experience for me.

Critical Care-12 weeks

I realized that I had not been keeping up a log of my rotations.  Here is the low-down on critical care...

Daily Schedule: Mon. & Wed. --> Lecture  Thursday --> Clinical day from 0645-1530

Actual Schedule: meet at 0645 to get assignments and then report.  Fortunately we did not have to research our patient the day before.  This was really great considering I live 45 minutes from this particular hospital.

What to wear: Scrubs

What's in my pockets:  Report sheet, med book, scissors, alcohol swabs, stethoscope, pens, snack

Patient notes you'll be asked to write: Pathophysiology of disease, VS, I&O, Careplans

What to study: Mostly cardiology since this rotation took place at a heart hospital.  Diabetes and renal issues also deserve a good look through.

A few unforgettables along the way:  I appreciated the opportunity to float to the ED, burn unit, wound clinic, etc.  What I will remember most about this rotation is how on the second day my preceptor assigned me two patients (a big deal for the second day and the first time I had more than one patient)  One patient was a talkative baptist minister and the second was a patient with early onset Alzheimer's who wanted to call home but couldn't remember the home phone number.  It was a mentally and emotionally heavy load.  I didn't have time to review meds. before my preceptor came around and I was blamed for something I didn't do.  The ten weeks that followed were filled with anxiety and fear that each clinical day would be a repeat of this day.  It was for sure traumatic to say the least.  I was so glad to finish this rotation.

Another unforgettable is that I actually saw a PA wearing one of these

Grief and Fear

C.S. Lewis in his writing,  A Grief Observed echos my feelings as of late.

"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the
sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same
restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing.
At other times it feels like being mildly drunk, or concussed. There is a
sort of invisible blanket between the world and me. I find it hard to take in
what anyone says. Or perhaps, hard to want to take it in. It is so uninteresting.
Yet I want the others to be about me. I dread the moments when the house is
empty. If only they would talk to one another and not to me . . .

And grief still feels like fear. Perhaps more strictly, like suspense. Or
like waiting; just hanging about waiting for something to happen. It gives life a
permanently provisional feeling. It doesn’t seem worth starting anything. I
can’t settle down. I yawn, I fidget, I smoke too much. Up till this I always had
too little time. Now there is nothing but time. Almost pure time, empty
successiveness . . ."


So I continue onward peddling about different tasks and obligations, like a fine haze contemplating when I will be full again.