I'm in my second week of my externship. ER was last week. This week is outpatient clinic. The clinic is open for about three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. I am in the room for the H&P and when the resident has to present the H&P to the attending. I see about four patients per block. Next week is internal medicine and the last week is surgery. It's a pretty flexible program because it is hospital sponsored. I don't think I will have this opportunity again so can you recommend some procedures or "things" that I should request to see while I am there. In other words, what is useful to observe in the hospital that will really stick out in your memory.
Get a feel for how much time the residents spend in the hospital. Ask them when their next day off is. Try to get a feel for the amount of paperwork that's being completed. Seeing some minor procedures might be cool, but its really not going to help you much.
Today I learned that you need to learn Spanish. I was in the clinic today from 9-11:30 and then from 1-3:30. Almost all the residents had to use the 1800 dial a translator service. Only one resident spoke decent Spanish but he informed me that you have to be thorough with the H&P so you need to be confident in your language skills. I got to see the charting. It does take a long time. Next week I will ask my resident if I can follow them for the whole day. So far I got to see so many rectal exams.
Yay for being a Spanish major! I'm so horrendously nerdy about Spanish that I hope it actually helps people if I'm lucky enough to become a physician. Because I'm seriously nerdy about it.
