Hello everyone! This week in clinic literally flew by and with
the "falling back" time change I have felt discombobulated. It is
going to take a while to get used to the sun going down before 5:00
pm! This is the time of year we have to adjust to less and less
sunlight, which makes it difficult to not get sleepy in the
afternoon… that's for sure!
Trimester 9 Phase Exams
This week was extra stressful in clinic with the Trimester 9
Phase Practical Exam that all Tri 9 interns are required to pass
before moving into 10th Trimester. We are set up in the TAC
(Training and Assessment Center) where a simulated patient is
trained to pretend to have a specific symptom of a disease. It is
our job to ask the appropriate questions and perform the
appropriate physical exam and to then formulate a treatment plan.
There is a clinician in the room taking notes while you complete
the 30-minute intake and physical exam. Next, you move to another
room where you formulate a list of differential diagnoses based on
your findings and formulate a treatment plan for your mock patient.
After your clinician approves of your plan, you then go back into
the treatment room and give a report of findings and treatment plan
to your patient. The simulated patients are told to ask questions
including:
- Why do you want to run all of these tests?
- This is going to cost a lot of money. Can't you just give me a
cheaper treatment?
- Am I going to die from this?
Although I knew the sim patients were told to ask a myriad of
tough questions, I know that real patients will be coming in with
similar questions just as tough if not more difficult to answer. It
was good practice to run through an entire patient visit from start
to finish and to get feedback from our clinicians.
Dr. B's Birthday!
Thursday was our main clinician's birthday so in honor of this
my fellow intern Sarah and I made her a crown out of construction
paper. Being a sport, she wore it during our preview session at the
end of the day to humor us! It made for a good laugh at the end of
a long day!
Weekend
This weekend a group of friends from Eastern Iowa came into
Chicago to attend an Iowa Hawkeye football game followed by a
Chicago Bears football game. I did not get to attend either game…
one of the perks of being a poor college student. But I did
manage to go downtown Saturday night to the Hancock building for a
little wine and amazing views. I love going up to the lounge on the
96th floor and looking down on the city at night. It was a nice end
to a hectic week!
Next week a group of ND interns and I are set to go for a tour
of the CTCA (Cancer Treatment Center of America) in Zion, Ill. We
are going to meet with ND residents and see how they practice in an
integrated hospital setting. I'll be sure to report how it goes
next week!