Is this normal?

[modsar]

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Hi! I'm on my third week of rotations and I'm very bored. Basically, im in outpatient internal medicine and I shadow a different doctor every day. A couple doctors I follow twice, but never two days in a row.

I dont have any internet or phone access (brick building and no wireless), I dont have access to the clinics computers. When I ask a doctor if I can do an H&P they politely say no.Ive been asked about 5 "pimp" questions in the last 3 weeks.

Basically, Im not expected or allowed to do anything except watch. I'm so bored!

Is this normal for clinical rotations??

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Hi! I'm on my third week of rotations and I'm very bored. Basically, im in outpatient internal medicine and I shadow a different doctor every day. A couple doctors I follow twice, but never two days in a row.

I dont have any internet or phone access (brick building and no wireless), I dont have access to the clinics computers. When I ask a doctor if I can do an H&P they politely say no.Ive been asked about 5 "pimp" questions in the last 3 weeks.

Basically, Im not expected or allowed to do anything except watch. I'm so bored!

Is this normal for clinical rotations??

It is normal for a terrible rotation. I hope your next one is better.

 

[cartoondoc]

Wow that sucks. Maybe at least ask if you can take blood pressures?

 

[mybubbles14]

It is normal for a terrible rotation. I hope your next one is better.

+1

my outpatient medicine month and family medicine clerkship were like this.

 

[theshellyb]

When I ask a doctor if I can do an H&P they politely say no.

That is some nonsense right there.

 

[Gfliptastic]

That sounds horrible. I'd be so bored too!!! The docs just seem really disinterested in teaching you. You should mirror their disinterest w/ your own.

It does sound like a "studying rotation". Get an e-copy of like Pocket Medicine/Sabine on your mobile device and go hide somewhere and just study for the shelf. You don't need internet/3 or 4G to read downloaded books. There are e-copies of just about any book you need. Casefiles, the green Pocket Medicine book, etc.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Grab a copy of casefiles or SUTM and read it during. At the end of the rotation, make sure to note all the negatives associated with the rotation. Hopefully the school listens and fixes it for future students. There isn't a whole lot you can do right now. I had a similar 4 week block of mostly shadowing residents and attendings at an outpatient clinic. I told the clerkship director at the end of the rotation, and they've since stopped sending students to that clinic, or making sure to find attendings that don't have residents under them. Unfortunately that's all you can really do safely.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Get an ipad mini/nexus/iphone/droid/book and read between patients. It sucks but at least you can use the time to study.

 

[SpecterGT260]

That is some nonsense right there.

yeah that part is pretty abnormal... that is like 90% of your job on OIM. OP, You shouldn't be shadowing. If you are I would bring it up with your clerkship director.

 

[Maddie90]

This sounds like a difficult situation. I'm on my second month of rotations and had one week in a clinic similar to yours, where the first day was just shadowing. However, on the second day, I tried to be more enthusiastic and engaged and never pulled out my phone or any other resources. In between patients, I anticipated various needs of my preceptor, i.e., checking to see if the next patient was there, to grab charts and order forms. They really appreciated that I was engaged and enthusiastic and let me do more and more. Try to keep a good attitude knowing that you won't be there forever!

 

[Cali2]

This is unfortunately normal on bad rotations, especially common on outpatient rotations. Keep trying to be helpful however possible, be enthusiastic, and ask lots of questions. Also, keep on asking everyone to let you see patients yourself briefly - doesn't need to be a full H&P, just go for a follow up visit if necessary. You may have more success on the occasions when you get to work with the same preceptor more than once. At least in the end you'll be the 'engaged, hard working' medical student and learn something from your questions, whether or not they let you see patients.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

This sounds like a difficult situation. I'm on my second month of rotations and had one week in a clinic similar to yours, where the first day was just shadowing. However, on the second day, I tried to be more enthusiastic and engaged and never pulled out my phone or any other resources. In between patients, I anticipated various needs of my preceptor, i.e., checking to see if the next patient was there, to grab charts and order forms. They really appreciated that I was engaged and enthusiastic and let me do more and more. Try to keep a good attitude knowing that you won't be there forever!

Yeah but you shouldn't need to do this...you aren't there to be their nurse or secretary. You're there to learn how to format an H+P in the outpatient setting (which tends to be a lot quicker and dirtier than in the inpatient setting), differential and treatment plan. You aren't paying to learn how to be a secretary.

The fact that they won't even let you do a few H+Ps during the day when you ASK to is some total BS there OP. I would be bringing this site up with the clerkship director with these specific complaints.

 

[cabinbuilder]

Unfortunately this probably won't be the last bad rotation you have. I had my share during medical school and remember spening 8 hours in the library reading some novel or sdn and then doing 1/2 hr of rounds and 1 hr of lecture. Just remember that there is always an end date and this too shall pass.

Definitely tell your rotations office how bad it is. I had a psych rotation where the first day the guy gave me the DSM IV and a drug book and basically said "read it all" and I will quiz you on friday. Friday came and we went to a nursing home and he gave me a stack of patient charts and said "do my rounds for me" and I will see you in an hour. WTF??? I walked out of that rotation, went straight to the school, changed my rotation to a different site and that guy was taken off the rotation list.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Definitely tell your rotations office how bad it is. I had a psych rotation where the first day the guy gave me the DSM IV and a drug book and basically said "read it all" and I will quiz you on friday. Friday came and we went to a nursing home and he gave me a stack of patient charts and said "do my rounds for me" and I will see you in an hour. WTF??? I walked out of that rotation, went straight to the school, changed my rotation to a different site and that guy was taken off the rotation list.

Wow, that is incredible. I hope that guy is no longer in medicine.

 

[Kaustikos]

Definitely tell your rotations office how bad it is. I had a psych rotation where the first day the guy gave me the DSM IV and a drug book and basically said "read it all" and I will quiz you on friday. Friday came and we went to a nursing home and he gave me a stack of patient charts and said "do my rounds for me" and I will see you in an hour. WTF??? I walked out of that rotation, went straight to the school, changed my rotation to a different site and that guy was taken off the rotation list.

My friend got a bad evaluation because she "used too much medicine" and focused less on "psych". And, like you, he was taken off the list.

 

[Bbon]

I really don't think this is acceptable. At our school, the clerkship director told us during orientation that if we were shadowing beyond the first day, to let her know immediately so that they could rectify it. Hopefully your school can be similarly proactive if you get in touch with them. Don't wait till the end of the rotation. This is one of your few opportunities to practice outpatient medicine in a low stakes, supervised setting.

 

[ucbsmd]

As much as I preferred my inpatient medicine rotation, at least I got to work-up, write-up and present all of the patients I saw in the outpatient setting. Sounds like you got some preceptors who weren't that interested in making it a worthwhile experience.

 

[alpinism]

Wow that sucks. Maybe at least ask if you can take blood pressures?

Lol. If you're lucky maybe you can get a pulse too.