Exposure to new techniques or treatment strategies – how did that go?

While rotating with different providers, I learned about different interaction techniques with the patient. For example, some provider spends time to create a good rapport, while others just medically attend the patient need rather than psychological need. I learned ways medical concept can be broken down to patient to enhance a better understanding. A lot of first time mother fails to recognize the true contraction so one of the midwife explained to the patient that if your whole abdomen feel like your forehead then that’s a true contraction but if it feels like your nose tip or chin then that might not be a true contraction. Furthermore, I love the technique that Woodhull employed to create a trustworthy relationship between the patient and the students. Almost every provider mandates students to collect permission from the patient before interacting with patient care. I personally found this introduction allowed me to be part of the medical team and the patient viewed me as a team member rather than just a student.

How was the way I did my work different from how other people did theirs?

I tried to spend more time with the patient, nurses, and the provider compared to the other students. I learned from this rotation that my exposure to different situations will depend on my desire and contribution toward learning. There is a lot of medical and other PA students so there is competition for exposure and the best way to become part of patient care is being helpful toward the nurses, introducing yourself to the patient and the provider. Nurses play a trivial part of patient care therefore I was very friendly toward them and offer to help any way possible. This helpful gesture allowed me to assist in epidural placement, female catheter placement, IV lines, blood draw, and postpartum care. Also, when other students went to rest in the night shift, I stayed awake and continue to check on the patient which allowed me to see more vaginal labor and C-section procedure. Furthermore, the postpartum patients would acknowledge my contribution in front of the provider during followup which made me stand out in front of other students. Also, in the clinic, I worked with multiple providers rather than just following one person which exposed me to different practice models toward patient.

Skills or situations that are difficult for you (e.g. presentations, focused H&Ps, performing specific types of procedures or specialized interview/pt. education situations) and how you can get better at them

In the OB/GYN rotation, I worked with at least 20 different providers and I found it was difficult to keep up with their expectations because every provider had different demands for the students. Some providers allowed me to become part of the patient care and allowed me to collect history from the patient, do physical examination under supervision, discuss a plan while others wanted the student to just watch and not become part of the medical care. Every time, I worked with a new provider; I was confused with my role because I had to wait for instruction. I wish there was an inform practice among the provider regarding student role so the student would get more exposure and learning opportunity. However, I learned to work around it and asked questions to providers and try to work on the plan and assessment aspect if I was not allowed to do a physical examination. Overall, in this location, students get to learn based on their desire to learn.

What do you want to improve on for the following rotations? What is your action plan to accomplish that?

For the future rotation, I plan to continue my enthusiasm to learn because it allowed me to see a lot of procedure in this rotation. However, based on this rotation, I learned that in order to become part of the team, I have to be more active and ask to become part of the patient care. For example, I got to see a circumcision during the GYN call but I had to ask to see the procedure and If stayed quiet, I would have missed the opportunity. Even though, I was more energetic this rotation compared to the first rotation yet sometimes I hold myself back out of the fear of making mistake. In the future rotation, I want to overcome that fear because as a student it is the best time to learn and get exposed to new stuff.