Exposure to new techniques or treatment strategies:

My Emergency Medicine rotation was a great exposure to new techniques. I was able to start IVs, blood draws, obtain ABGs and blood cultures, insert an NG tube, re-insert a gastrostomy tube, among other procedures. Specifically when I had my shifts in the urgent care, I was able to suture several lacerations, wrap strains in ACE bandages, apply an ulnar gutter cast, etc. When I was on trauma I was able to first assist in inserting a chest tube, placing a femoral line and an A-line, using the ultrasound for a FAST exam, etc. I was glad to have this opportunity to practice already well-established techniques in addition to ones that I had not experienced before, especially right before entering the workforce.

 

Types of patients you found challenging in this rotation and what you learned about dealing with them:

More often than not I encountered a patient who did not speak English presenting to the emergency room. I was fortunate to be able to use the translator services at my disposal, whether it be for Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, etc. At first it was difficult to interact with patients without being able to speak directly to them in their home language, however, with time I got used to using the translator. Specifically, when doing more invasive portions of the physical examination, it was critical to make sure that the patient fully understood what was going to happen before it did. For example, when performing an incision and drainage on a female with a Bartholin’s cyst, it was critical to have the translator available for me to explain each step of the process and to check along with the patient if she had any questions or concerns.

 

How was the way I did my work different from how other people did theirs?

On this rotation I was able to have varying shifts between trauma, pediatric ED, the main ED, and urgent care. Each day I worked with a new attending and new residents, who each had their own unique way of treating patients. It was interesting to see how one practitioner would interact with a patient vs. another, and how their history and physical examinations would differ from each other’s. I then noticed that my own approach to patients had evolved and developed over the course of clinical year. For instance, what I considered to be a more focused neurological examination, one resident considered to be quite thorough. I will always remember what Professor Malavet taught us back in Physical Diagnosis during Didactic- everyone does it different, but everyone does it right.

 

What did you learn about yourself during this rotation?

Overall my emergency medicine rotation was a great way to culminate my year of clinical rotations. I was able to see a variety of patients, of different ages, gender, and race. The diversity of diagnoses that I was able to see over the course of these five weeks provided me with excellent experience setting out as a new graduate. I learned that I am able to conduct a thorough history and physical on any patient, and develop a broad differential diagnosis and appropriate treatment plan. I have improved in my confidence in interacting with patients and working together with the attending/residents and other members of the healthcare team. I look forward to taking my experiences learned here and applying them to the workforce in the near future.