Thoughts?
What is the craziest/most interesting thing you have ever seen while shadowing?
- Thread starter Zobo135
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I shadowed for a total knee replacement.
Left with bits of the dude's knee in my shoes.
Left with bits of the dude's knee in my shoes.
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deleted1001426
not the most interesting but definitely the most eye-opening thing I saw was ~10 cprs with only 2 rosc. Up until this experience I was under the impression that the movies were correct in that all you had to do was bang on someone's chest and theyd promptly wake up deficit free
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A woman diagnosed with AIDS and tuberculosis in a single visit.
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And that’s actually pretty impressive. Lots of places would kill to have 20% of their out-of-hospital cardiac arrests to achieve ROSC.
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"Only" 2? I mean, if this was an ED that's honestly pretty good.
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Not during shadowing but during my work in ED, nothing really crazy, but pretty demonstrative how patients "take care" of themselves:
1) Woman with blood sugar ~450, if she wasn't delivered to the ED, she would go DKA. When we asked why she didn't take her insulin, she said she felt good for a couple days and didn't think it was important.
2) Another woman with acute chest pain, history of emphysema and asthma. Her HPI stated that "she felt bad while smoking this morning". No comments.
3) 3 y o bariatric boy came with father and 2 siblings. All kids had flu symptoms, he was the youngest one and paramedic I worked with was going to do an IV on him. Father said he and his wife got flu shots that year but decided that kids don't need it. The funny things was when the kid had dyspnea after walking couple feet to get his IV and father said: "don't be afraid, we will go to KFC after that". Seriously? KFC? (To give that kid credit, I would also like to go to KFC after having couple IVs).
4) This is a rough one. Violent patient who got tazered and tied to bed by hospital's cops.
1) Woman with blood sugar ~450, if she wasn't delivered to the ED, she would go DKA. When we asked why she didn't take her insulin, she said she felt good for a couple days and didn't think it was important.
2) Another woman with acute chest pain, history of emphysema and asthma. Her HPI stated that "she felt bad while smoking this morning". No comments.
3) 3 y o bariatric boy came with father and 2 siblings. All kids had flu symptoms, he was the youngest one and paramedic I worked with was going to do an IV on him. Father said he and his wife got flu shots that year but decided that kids don't need it. The funny things was when the kid had dyspnea after walking couple feet to get his IV and father said: "don't be afraid, we will go to KFC after that". Seriously? KFC? (To give that kid credit, I would also like to go to KFC after having couple IVs).
4) This is a rough one. Violent patient who got tazered and tied to bed by hospital's cops.
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deleted1001426
Small typo there with 2, meant 1. Either way from what I’ve been told since it’s a better rate than I should expect. Not denying that but still a long shot from what’s advertised on tv or hell even in most cpr courses
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deleted966164
Well, when EMS is bringing a patient “CPR in progress” the odds are very very skewed to the left. Doesn’t ACLS throw out a statistics that only 35% IN-HOSPITAL codes (access to everything) end in a “positive” outcome?
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A young, otherwise healthy guy got diagnosed with McArdle disease after coming in with rhabdomyolysis. Until the doctor told him otherwise, he honestly thought it was normal that he "peed brown for a couple days" after any sort of strenuous physical exercise. Said it had been happening since he was a teenager.
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When I shadowed in the ER, the first person I saw was a young woman with an irregular heart beat. When medication management failed, they shocked her back into rhythm, which was incredibly cool to see.
During that same experience, another young woman was kind enough to allow me in the room while she was there for a rather painful looking cyst on her labia. As someone with an interest in women's health, this was definitely an interesting experience and I was very appreciative of her willingness to allow me to observe.
During that same experience, another young woman was kind enough to allow me in the room while she was there for a rather painful looking cyst on her labia. As someone with an interest in women's health, this was definitely an interesting experience and I was very appreciative of her willingness to allow me to observe.
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I shadowed a neurologist who mainly dealt with concussions. I recall one man who got knocked out by someone in a different city, which led to a concussion. Next thing he remembered, he was home 
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Shadowed an IR doc and watched two cool biopsies.
- The first was a pelvic bone marrow biopsy. He said patients regularly tell him that it hurts worse than childbirth. It looked painful.
- The second was a lung biopsy of a tumor that was wrapped around the aorta.
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This is one of my greatest fears.
If I had a disease with a 50% mortality rate but a 100% cure rate with bone marrow transplant, I'd be like, "guess it's time for some essential oils"
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I have shadowed in some fairly unique clinics and some of the stuff that I have seen is crazy. When I was shadowing a dermatologist, I observed two girls storm out of the room in the middle of their appointments. The first one was there for an acne followup and she wanted to get put on birth control, while her mother would not allow her to go on the pill, leading to a huge shouting match and the patient storming out the room. The second patient was just barely a teenager, and she was there to get a foot wart frozen off. After the wart was treated her mother decided to broach the topic of the patient's acne, which led to the patient screaming at her mother and then storming out of the exam room. Another patient, who was a college aged male approximately my age was in for his acne followup, and he decided to ask the doctor for an STD test because he saw a darker pink coloration on the tip of his penis. The doctor gave him some cream to rub on it when he got home (she thought it was just a bit of dry skin) before she then examined him and could not find the discoloration. The patient ended up getting referred to his PCP or college health center for STD testing.
The craziest patient that I probably saw was during my time shadowing in a transgender medicine clinic. The doctor warned myself and his MS-4 that this patient was an interesting one. We walk into the room and see a male to female transition patient in what looks like a pink Disney Princess costume dress with chest hair sticking out of the dress. The patient also had an ESA who was totally untrained and needed to be held by me so it didn't harass the medical student. During his appointment the patient then complained that his neighbor was poisoning his ESA and was conspiring against him.
While that one transgender patient was just bizarre, those teenagers at the dermatology clinic elevated adolescent medicine into my number 3 specialty of choice, so I'm definitely glad that I had that opportunity.
The craziest patient that I probably saw was during my time shadowing in a transgender medicine clinic. The doctor warned myself and his MS-4 that this patient was an interesting one. We walk into the room and see a male to female transition patient in what looks like a pink Disney Princess costume dress with chest hair sticking out of the dress. The patient also had an ESA who was totally untrained and needed to be held by me so it didn't harass the medical student. During his appointment the patient then complained that his neighbor was poisoning his ESA and was conspiring against him.
While that one transgender patient was just bizarre, those teenagers at the dermatology clinic elevated adolescent medicine into my number 3 specialty of choice, so I'm definitely glad that I had that opportunity.
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Shadowed a reconstructive plastic surgeon and saw a guy whose entire face was blown off by some sort of accident... by the time I had seen him, he'd been through numerous appointments and had restored most layers of the skin but was still missing his nose entirely. I got to see the initial photograph, and immediately the description that came to mind was "crater face." Amazing how much progress he's made.
At the same place, there was also a 21 year old guy who had already suffered a stroke by that point, but (probably due to his young age) he made amazing progress to the point where it was actually difficult to notice any facial droop.
At a free clinic, saw a guy who was determined enough to quit smoking on his own for years straight, but ended up relapsing because he worked a stressful construction job and all of his coworkers smoked. We eventually caught that he had suicidal ideation and were able to link him to the in-house psychiatrist.
In the ED, saw a young lady who had lived all this time without knowing she has Turner syndrome (she originally even thought she could be pregnant, but apparently most women with Turner are sterile)
In the ED, saw a lady who had lost her husband to pancreatic cancer just a week before. She was having chest pain that she thought might have been due to stress/grief and half-jokingly admitted that she should probably stop vaping ASAP (she was also a former smoker). She ends up being diagnosed with late stage lung cancer. Cruel twist of fate. To make it all even worse, she realized that her husband's insurance---which she inherited---was just about to expire. The diagnosis and the insurance issues seemed to garner about an equal reaction from surrounding staff, which really says a lot.
At the same place, there was also a 21 year old guy who had already suffered a stroke by that point, but (probably due to his young age) he made amazing progress to the point where it was actually difficult to notice any facial droop.
At a free clinic, saw a guy who was determined enough to quit smoking on his own for years straight, but ended up relapsing because he worked a stressful construction job and all of his coworkers smoked. We eventually caught that he had suicidal ideation and were able to link him to the in-house psychiatrist.
In the ED, saw a young lady who had lived all this time without knowing she has Turner syndrome (she originally even thought she could be pregnant, but apparently most women with Turner are sterile)
In the ED, saw a lady who had lost her husband to pancreatic cancer just a week before. She was having chest pain that she thought might have been due to stress/grief and half-jokingly admitted that she should probably stop vaping ASAP (she was also a former smoker). She ends up being diagnosed with late stage lung cancer. Cruel twist of fate. To make it all even worse, she realized that her husband's insurance---which she inherited---was just about to expire. The diagnosis and the insurance issues seemed to garner about an equal reaction from surrounding staff, which really says a lot.
D
deleted987519
A primary care doc I shadowed would always make small talk about work with his patients and this one guy (who seemed a little...off) was going on about how he doesn’t work anymore and is collecting disability
We get in the hallway and the doctor just immediately begins venting, “boy that was painful. Idk what the hell that guy is talking about telling me he’s collecting disability and I’m thinking ‘dude, I’m your doctor, how the hell do I not know you’re disabled’”
We get in the hallway and the doctor just immediately begins venting, “boy that was painful. Idk what the hell that guy is talking about telling me he’s collecting disability and I’m thinking ‘dude, I’m your doctor, how the hell do I not know you’re disabled’”
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Is there no anesthesia? or if the pain is truly that bad, is general anesthesia also an option or are they unreasonable? Just curious
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IIRC, it’s an option, but she didn’t want anesthesia.
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Story time:
So I just got laid off. I'm 24 years old and just moved back in with my parents (this was actually much more awesome than I thought it would be by the way). Anyway, my cousin at the time is an ortho resident near home for me at a major academic center. While I'm in town to catch a sports game I decide to shadow him and see some knee scopes, hip replacements, shoulder scopes, etc. It's alright but meh. He's good buddies with the CT Fellow and while we're having coffee he tells me that there is a type A dissection coming in. I ask if I can come along and promised not to contaminate sterile field. Long story short, I watched an amazing operation by a senior surgeon and fellow who were absolutely on their game. The next day I found out that the patient had been extubated and sitting in a chair. This lady looked as good as dead when she rolled in. It was in that moment that I actually realized that people did this thing called surgery for a living. So I sat back, sought counsel, counted the costs and decided that I was going to one day be a surgeon. And here I am now. Cheers.
So I just got laid off. I'm 24 years old and just moved back in with my parents (this was actually much more awesome than I thought it would be by the way). Anyway, my cousin at the time is an ortho resident near home for me at a major academic center. While I'm in town to catch a sports game I decide to shadow him and see some knee scopes, hip replacements, shoulder scopes, etc. It's alright but meh. He's good buddies with the CT Fellow and while we're having coffee he tells me that there is a type A dissection coming in. I ask if I can come along and promised not to contaminate sterile field. Long story short, I watched an amazing operation by a senior surgeon and fellow who were absolutely on their game. The next day I found out that the patient had been extubated and sitting in a chair. This lady looked as good as dead when she rolled in. It was in that moment that I actually realized that people did this thing called surgery for a living. So I sat back, sought counsel, counted the costs and decided that I was going to one day be a surgeon. And here I am now. Cheers.
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My ratio is a lot worse!
