Rotation #10: Pediatrics

Ahhhh . . . pediatrics!! The FINAL rotation of the third year of medical school (at least for my hubby) and the finale of it meaning that we are officially a 4th year medical school family!! It may not seem like a big deal to many, but this was a huge milestone for me personally!! We have completed 75% of medical school, the light at the end of the tunnel is becoming brighter and brighter every day, and I am excited to think that we will be settling in one place for at least four years! Who knows where that someplace will be, but we are almost there!! Woohoo!!

Since this milestone is complete, it has been interesting to reflect back over the year or even since the start of medical school to see how we have grown. I say "we" because our family as a whole has truly grown in so many ways!! My hubby, the medical technologist, has grown into a student doctor, learning so much each and every day. I have personally developed patience and learned to live by the seat of my pants (which tends to be a bit difficult for me!). And, physically, our family has grown from a family of three to a family of four! Wow!! So much has changed in the past three years! And, I truly believe that it is for the better!! There have been hard times and good times, but I can say with the utmost confidence that WE do not regret this decision one bit! Though this may change (ask me again during internship/residency!), I feel that this journey has made our personal relationship stronger, it has exposed us to so many different people and ideas, and we have both become better people through these experiences.

And, now most importantly for me, the countdown to graduation begins!!!

Moving back to peds, here is what my husband, the student doctor, had to say . . .

I should start out by saying that I had no interest in pediatrics but I ended up loving this rotation. In fact, I am doing my fourth year pediatric elective with this particular pediatric group. The days usually go from around 8 until around 5 in the afternoon. I will usually go to morning report at 7:15 and then report to the newborn nursery at 8:00. I will get a list of all the newborns and begin seeing them first thing. Usually there is at least one other medical student and sometimes an intern on the rotation which helps out a lot. The attendings are fantastic to work with and very patient. They will walk you through the newborn exam and tell you what you are looking for and help you to identify any abnormalities. This can be especially useful for all the students who don’t have kids and for those that are tentative about examining someone else’s newborn. It can be a little delicate at first but you get the hang of it. You’ll present to the attendings all the newborns that you saw and then go over the exam with them all the while writing your own notes of course (no different than any other rotation). After you are done with the newborns you’ll see the older pediatric inpatients. Usually there are only 1-3 patients for this particular group but that can be more than enough. We don’t have a pediatric ICU at the hospital where I am placed, so most of the kids are fairly stable. You’ll see your fair share of asthma exacerbations, diabetic kids, and diarrhea induced dehydration. When done with the older kids you will usually sit down for a presentation given by one of the medical students. After the presentation, the attending will usually add to the talk and give some tips and tricks. On certain days the attendings themselves will give lectures which are VERY good. They cover the basics-fluid management in kids, bilirubin, diarrhea and constipation, etc. These can be very useful. The afternoons are spent at the clinic with this group. To say this is a busy clinic is an understatement. There are 16 rooms and they are always full. You can see as many patients as you want during the afternoon and you will see a good variety of illnesses. Of course you will have a lot of diarrhea, viral infections, strep throat, etc., but you will also have a fair number of uncommon illnesses as well. Every one of the attendings are fantastic to work with and I would do this rotation again if given the chance.