ENT, Optho, and ER Clerkship
At the University of Pittsburgh we do a clerkship called Speciality Care which is a four week rotation of ENT, Optho, Adult and Peds ED. For the non medical: Ear Nose and Throat, Eyes, Adult emergency rooms, pediatrics emergency rooms. It's a nice variety pack of specialities that you don't necessarily have a lot of exposure to during medical school, unless you specifically seek it out.
I felt generally prepared for the ER shifts but I was completely unaware of the day to day activities of ENT and Optho. Eyes were, (and still are), a mystery to me. Many doctors are intimidated by the eye, and I will be falling into that camp. However, I did enjoy the eye surgeries. Since they knew I was going into Dermatology I had the opportunity to watch eye related skin surgeries!
On ENT I was able to see patients in clinic and observe surgeries including cochlear implants, nasal and sinus procedures, and (my personal favorite) head and neck skin cancer removals. My residents and attending physicians were great - which makes all the difference.
Feeling awesome after our movies and stitches in the ED! Already jumping around after his tumble!
Finally the month concluded with emergency medicine. I aiming to see patients quickly independently and brainstorm with my residents about the diagnosis and work up The ED is a cool place to practice medicine because the patients are completely fresh - they don't arrive to your inpatient medicine team with a working diagnosis. Pediatrics was intense as we saw a mix of generally healthy kids, and those with complicated medical issues. Oddly enough I was in the pediatric emergency room the week prior for a few stitches for our older boy who fell in his room! That's one way to complete your orientation I guess? P.S. The kids' bandage WAY overestimates the tiny scrape it covers ;)
I medical school, I like that we have the opportunity sample a variety of different medical practices. The ever changing variety is one of the things I'm going to miss about being a student. Luckily, Dermatology has a lot of variety and I'm sure will keep me on my toes!
related posts
