"All You Can Do Is Your Part"

Clinical rotation day 3, which means it’s already going to be a good day. To make it even better, my rotation didn’t start until 2PM today which means I got to sleep in. I woke up around 9am and made coffee. I needed to make a few phone calls and do a few things for my parents to help with translating. Then I drank my coffee while reading a devotional, I also read the Bible in Arabic today to get better at it and not forget it. I then caught up on my Wix journaling, made lunch and a smoothie, showered and got ready for the day!

I drove over to the clinic, introduced myself to the front desk and got escorted to meet the physicians and nurses. The first person I saw was Alliah who had the AM shadowing shift. We sat down for a few minutes with Dr. Newman then went into a patient's room. It was a middle aged woman who is very anxious because of some family issues. She also has seizure episodes and her last one was just this past Sunday. Another issue we discussed was how she is constantly dizzy and gets fatigued quickly. What I noticed was that this patient and the rest that we saw for the day were so vulnerable off the back because they knew that someone was finally listening. Whether it was to their health concerns or not, they just talked about everything. The second patient was a middle aged man who is experiencing withdrawal from alcohol. He has a liquor store right across his street and it is so easy for him to walk over (because he has no car) when he starts shaking or feeling the urge to drink. The way he presented himself by shrugging, looking down and not making eye contact, calling himself “lame,” and so on broke my heart. He appeared so ashamed of himself and felt helpless. He also has a knee injury from skating so he is battling that simultaneously. He can’t work because of it so he doesn’t even have enough to buy his medicine. Dr. Newman Said she would do her HW and try to find him some financial support. It made me so happy that Dr. Newman truly listens to her patients. She even takes it upon herself to not chart in the room to make sure she is making eye contact with the patient and fully being present. This means that she would have more work to do before going home and sometimes she would finish charting at home.

The third patient was one who originally came in for some STD concerns. However, it was Dr. Newman’s first time meeting her and she got a holistic view of her first. One of the questions was about tobacco usage and the patient says she partakes in that frequently. She asked the patient if she wanted to stop and when the patient said yes, more questions were asked. Why do you want to stop? When do you want to stop? Do you have an accountability partner? And when you have the urge to smoke, what will you do instead? So although smoking wasn’t the reason the patient came in she left with a plan knowing she will be back feeling better.

Can't wait for tomorrow!!