Third Day of the Last Week

I was at San Juan Hand Therapy this morning working with the therapy techs observing their daily work day. The cool thing about this was a patient that had three pens removed on Monday in Dr. Anderson’s clinic came in this morning for therapy, so I was able to make that connection. This also helped me with hand anatomy because that is a large thing they focus on to do their job right. For lunch, Zach and I presented our projects to the RMEC staff along with Dr. Youssef and his close staff. This was a very nerve racking thing to prepare for because of how intimidating the staff was, but once it began, it didn’t end up being that bad. We also got to sit in on a meeting with Dr. Youssef where he was preparing with the research staff for a conference in Australia, and also developing/refining a book chapter they wrote on ALIFs. Watching this conference was amazing to me because I didn’t realize they were involved in so many things. After this we went to the billing department to see what all that entails, and I was stunned by how complicated it all is. One thing that I took away from this is that I would never want to run a private practice on my own.

Second Day of the Last Week

Today was pretty simple. This morning we were with the radiology techs from Mercy all morning seeing what their job entails, and that was interesting at moments. The best part of this was watching a barium swallow. In this procedure the patient swallowed a barium solution, and then was X-Rayed to watch the barium move through the throat, intestines, and stomach, to make sure everything was working well. After lunch I worked on my project to finish up the final details, and this went well because I got all the work I wanted to done.

The Start of the Last Week

I was with Dr. Anderson all day in clinic and while he was one call, and it was pretty eventful from my standpoint. Clinic brought a variety of cases in, from simple post op checkups, to removing pins and popping cysts. There were two patients that came in who had pins placed in their hand, and needed them to be removed. Instead of a long, complicated process to get them out, Dr. Anderson pulled out a pair of sterile vice grips, wiped the area with an alcohol pad, and then pulled the pins out. Generally they came out easily, but one of them brought the patient quite a bit of pain and Dr. Anderson thought this may have been because it got a little bent since he put it in. Also, a patient came in with a ganglion cyst, and was okay with the doc drawing out the fluid in the office, so that’s what happened. The fluid that came out was a jelly like substance, and it was kind of disgusting to be honest. The other pieces of the day consisted of more clinic and some call visits. We visited an older gentleman in inpatient that was having severe gout problems, so Dr. Anderson pulled about 8ccs of fluid off of his knee to be sent for labs, and then injected cortisone into his wrist and his knee. We also had a case in the ER, but this was a simple consultation of how to treat a break in the wrist, and scheduling a follow up appointment at Dr. Anderson’s office.

Day Four of Week Two

This morning I was at Spine Colorado in clinic with Dr. Robert Wallach. Dr. Wallach went through college normally, but in return for “free” med school, he served eight years in the United States Army after he got out of med school. This was the first spine doc I’ve been in clinic with, and it was cool to see how they go about things, especially how nerves can send pain through certain parts of your body because of a particular vertebra that is messed up. In the afternoon I was in clinic with Dr. Robert Goodman at Durango Orthopedics. Dr. Goodman has been practicing for over 25 years, attended Princeton for his undergraduate degree, and med school at Princeton Medical School. The patients today were a mix between pre-op, post-op, and normal orthopedic outpatient, so I was able to kind of see the whole process.

Day Three of Week Two

I was at Durango Family Medicine again today, but I was shadowing Dr. Joe Murphy today. He, like Dr. Kearney, has been practicing for a very long time and proven to be very reliable. I was in clinic with Dr. Murphy most of the day, and the patients we saw had different symptoms/problems than patients yesterday. Having seen inpatient (with Dr. McKinnis), specialty (with Orthopedics), and outpatient with Durango Family has shown me the full range of medicine and how things relate. I have had a great time through the first half of our internship time, and the rest of it looks to hold more of the same, great experiences.

Day Two of Week Two

Today I shadowed Dr. Patrick Kearney in clinic, at Durango family medicine. Dr. Kearney has been practicing for over twenty-five years and has built ranged over four generations in some cases. We saw everything from a nine month old baby for a wellness check to an 85 year old who was “suffering from over exposure to birthday cakes” (getting old). I loved the pediatric cases because I am interested in pediatrics, but the whole day was fun and gave me a really look into what being a doctor of a family practice looks like.  I will be with another doctor at Durango Family tomorrow, and I look forward to it.

The Start of the Second Week

I am really excited that the second week of my internship has begun. This morning I was in clinic with Dr. Scott at Durango Orthopedics. This was a useful experience because it gave me an idea of how the docs go through the diagnosis process, and also taught me some things about the human body. Dr. Scott is also pediatric certified, and one of the cases was a five year old little girl. I am interested in going into pediatrics, so this showed me how an orthopedist can be involved in pediatrics. In the afternoon I was in surgery with Dr. Anderson, and like all surgery, it was exciting to watch. The previous surgery I saw was a full hip replacement, and these surgeries today were “mild” operations on the hand/wrist. So today wasn’t near as gruesome, but of course I still learned things while watching and enjoyed it all the same.

The End of the First Week

Today I was with Dr. Valerie McKinnis again. We went around and saw some of the same patients we did yesterday, but also some new patients that came in over night and early this morning as well. She was able to discharge two patients before I left for the day, but she was planning to discharge a couple more people as well. She actually had a patient that was recovering from an operation that fused their whole lumbar spine, and although I did see the operation, it gave me a since of the whole process that occurs. I had a great time seeing this perspective of medicine and being around Dr. McKinnis and the nurses was a great experience. On Monday I will be attending a spine surgery with Dr. Youssef early that morning, and I’m looking forward to seeing this surgery.

Fourth Day

Instead of being at Spine Colorado/Durango Orthopedics today, I was with Dr. Valerie McKinnis in the hospital. She is a family doctor employed by Mercy Medical. I “followed” her around all day checking up on her patients and writing patient’s reports. She allowed me to listen to different patients’ hearts and lungs showing me examples of a heart murmur and lungs affected by emphysema. Towards the afternoon I read an article on choledocholithiasis, an aliment where the patient has a presence of gallstones within the common bile duct. I read another article on Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangionpancreatography (ERCP), a procedure where a surgeon examines an internal body part with an instrument called an endoscope. Dr. McKinnis had me read these articles because one of her patients had choledocholithiasis and needed an ERCP.

Third Day

Today was extremely cool and gave me a brand new experience. This morning I watched a full hip replacement done by Dr. Scott and his staff. The procedure was pretty lengthy, lasting for about three hours, but it was so interesting that I didn’t mind standing through it at all. I read an article on the surgery, and seen pictures/diagrams, but that didn’t hold water to the really experience. After lunch I worked on my project and gave a draft of it to Dr. Anderson and Dr. Furry to look over and give feedback on. Tomorrow I will be with Dr. Mckinnis, working in the hospital, seeing the perspective of a doctor who provides general medicine. I can’t believe it has only been three days because I’ve already seen so much and expect to continue this feeling.

Second Day

Today was pretty fun and opened my eyes to different parts of the medical process. First thing this morning  I was in the X-ray department seeing what goes into that process. After that I went to the MRI department. I saw how they gave a MRI, but while one was going on the technician showed me scans of every part of the body essentially, from the brain, all the way to the ankle and everything in between; it was super cool. This afternoon I was in clinic with Dr. Anderson and his PA, being able to see follow up visits and one new patient who was contemplating surgery.  

First Day

Today was the first day for me to be at my internship site and be in the RMEC program. We went around and met all the docs we will see around the offices and accompany in surgery. In the afternoon I met with my mentor, Dr. Anderson, and discussed my project. We refined my initial concept into a project that would better serve Dr. Anderson and allow me to get more from the experience. All in all it was a busy day, and the next three weeks look very productive.