So yesterday I went to the hospital in the capital of Dominica, Roseau, for my very first hospital rotation. As many of you know once I finish on the island and write my boards. I will have to complete semesters 6-10 which are clinical rotations in the hospitals. These rotations will be in a variety of fields like surgery, ER, internal medicine, OB/GYN, Pediactrics, Ortho. Etc. and will be the learning/hands on experience that I use to determine which type of Dr. I want to be. Yesterday I got my very first taste of what a "rotation" will be like. I went to Princess Margret Hospital where we were each assigned a different rotation. I was assigned to Pathology, which meant that I would get to see an autopsy. Ahhh my very first autopsy. But I was relieved to know that one of my favorite professors here at Ross was doing the Autopsy, Dr. Nine! So I changed into my scrubs and off I went with my partner Zeeshan to the Pathology department where we had a presentation about pathology in general before going into the autopsy. Then into the autopsy room we went...I am not going to give details for those of you with weak stomach's and for a few other reasons but lets just say I put on my gloves, mask, face shield, gown, booties and we watched as Dr. Nine performed a forensic directed autopsy. Let me just tell you people...its NOT at all like TV or the movies! It is also completely different from being in the anatomy lab with the cadavers. The entire experience was one of a kind, the sights, the smells, the feeling was very very different. When it was over I was happy that I had been given the opportunity to experience it and see what goes on. I also realized that pathology is one field I can most likely cross of my list of things I want to do. I need that personal connection with people getting to know who they are, where they've been, what makes them smile and laugh, and cry.
After our very minute lunch break it was off to the ward in our white coats to go see a patient. We were split in groups to see a patient, take an interview, do a physical examination and then meet up with the patients Dr. to talk about the case. We had to tell the Dr. what we thought was wrong and what we thought should be done to treat the patient. It was an amazing learning experience because my patient had one set of symptoms and we thought he had one thing so we had our diagnosis and then the Dr. let us look at his EKG for a minute and we were shocked so we kind of changed our diagnosis. After presenting our case and talking to the Dr. he asked us why we changed our diagnosis and we explained it was because of the EKG and what the machine had said and he told us that you NEVER go only by what a machine says because they make mistakes too and it is important to trust your logic and your own investigative skills. So our original diagnosis before seeing the EKG was correct! Lesson be learned if it looks like a dog and barks like a dog but a Dr. tells you its a cat...guess what..Its a DOG! Trust yourself and what you found and use the machines to HELP you but not to give you all the answers.
So that was my day at the hospital....by the way the hospital is a very interesting place. far different than any hospital in the US. and the nurses still wear classic nurse outfits with the white skirts and the little white hats lol so funny!Till next time....
