Patient Load

[whispers]

So waht is your patient load on each rotation at your school?

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[cabinbuilder]

So waht is your patient load on each rotation at your school?

You cannot answer this question!! It's not quantifiable.

Path- none
Surgery OR + floor + clinic??? 10-40
AMB 10
OB/GYN 15
IM 5
Peds 10

 

[whispers]

I meant how many patients are you responsible for each day ie report on during rounds

You cannot answer this question!! It's not quantifiable.

Path- none
Surgery OR + floor + clinic??? 10-40
AMB 10
OB/GYN 15
IM 5
Peds 10

 

[pillowhead]

So waht is your patient load on each rotation at your school?

Generally 2-3 patients, but damn, you better know those patients inside and out, talk directly to their consults, call their families every day, wheel them down to radiology, etc, etc. That has been pretty consistent across rotations so far.

 

[Pox in a box]

Generally 2-3 patients, but damn, you better know those patients inside and out, talk directly to their consults, call their families every day, wheel them down to radiology, etc, etc. That has been pretty consistent across rotations so far.

On surgery, did you coach them into flatus and flush their first BM?

 

[ExtraCrispy]

Start with a low number, and gradually, as you become more comfortable and efficient on the wards, you'll increase your patient load. I started out with two at the beginning of the year, followed 3-5 mid-year, and durintg my sub-I's I followed 7-9.

It will get much easier over time. Just work your way up - challenge yourself, but don't make the mistake of overloading yourself with patients such that you don't know their histories & current status.

 

[cabinbuilder]

When I did Sub-I in surgery I had 4 patients on the floor for rounds and soap notes. Then in the clinic that day I would have about 10 patients I saw.


Today in ER I saw 8 patients and the attending had me stop so he could catch up. It really depends on the rotations.

In IM I did 3 patients on the ward before rounds. and finished the rest later. I had up to 10 patients then.

 

[Adcadet]

- 3-4 on pediatrics where we functioned like sub-i's and there just weren't enough patients for each studnet to get more than 4

- psych 3-4 for the first two three weeks; I'm guessing it will be more like 5-6 for the last half

 

[whispers]

- 3-4 on pediatrics where we functioned like sub-i's and there just weren't enough patients for each studnet to get more than 4

- psych 3-4 for the first two three weeks; I'm guessing it will be more like 5-6 for the last half

Geez I feel bad. I'm lucky if a get 2.

 

[Bevo]

In my IM rotation now.

considering how my rotation is going now. I feel lucky if I get 1 patient, estatic if I get 2 patients.

in Family, I did 3 weeks of inpatient medicine as well. I was given 3-4 patients then.

 

[Tenesma]

i remember those days fondly... i used to boast that I was following 6-8 pts a day on internal medicine as an MS3... now I remember during internship doing trauma rounds and being stuck with 52pts all to myself (other intern on vaca, med students doing board exams and junior residents stuck in trauma bay)... the truth of the matter is that the more patients you follow the more you will learn... just be glad that you don't have to wake up at 3am to start pre-rounding at 3:45am like in the good old days (mid-1990s).

 

[Bobblehead]

After a certain point "following" more patients is not only counter-productive but unsafe for the patients. You simply can't give each the attention they deserve if you didn't have another one waiting for you in the next room over.

 

[pillowhead]

the truth of the matter is that the more patients you follow the more you will learn... just be glad that you don't have to wake up at 3am to start pre-rounding at 3:45am like in the good old days (mid-1990s).

I have to absolutely disagree with that. When I was carrying 5 patients on my internal medicine rotation (which was more than a handful of the interns were carrying in the hospital), I learned absolutely nothing. I spent all day calling a billion different people trying to get crap done for my patients that I had almost zero time to actually learn the medcine about them. I mean, I learned something, but if I could have dropped a couple of them, I would have learned much more about the remaining three. Now I can barely remember anything about any of them.