Case Study On Patient Shadowing

I learnt so much in the time spent shadowing Dr. Sharma this semester. I learned not only medical terminology but also on how to operate a successful practice. Dr. Sharma has a great relationship with all his employees and treats them all with respect. He also has a good relationship with his patients that he sees on a regular basis; they all seemed to enjoy his presence and telling him about what was going on in their life. Most patients even seemed to trust Dr. Sharma more than their primary doctor. They would follow up with him about medications and procedures that were recommended by other types of doctors, even when the issue was not heart related. He disclosed to me that he sees his patients as a friend and not just a customer. …show more content…
Dr. Sharma typically uses minimally invasive procedures to diagnose his patients. These procedures include cardiac catheterization, Transesophageal echocardiogram, stress echocardiogram and the use of a Holter monitor. On the other days that I shadowed him I would observe him in the patient rooms as he attended to patients. While doing rounds at the office with the doctor I would stand in the room with him and listen to all the complaints that his patients had. He would ask them questions about their daily habits such as if they smoked, exercised regularly or drank coffee. He would then use his stethoscope to listen to their heart and lungs. For patients with high blood pressure he would check their blood pressure also. If the patient were a recurring one that he had previously put on medication he would either lower or raise their dosages or take them off of the medications that they no longer needed. During this time there were numerous words that I did not understand being used and I would write them down in my notebook to ask the doctor when he had time. Sometimes the physician assistant that was usually in the room with the doctor would explain them to me. At his office I first got a chance to observe a cardiovascular stress test being done where the patient was hooked up to an EKG and walked on a treadmill that increased its speed in intervals and his EKG was monitored to find any abnormalities. I then got to observe a stress echocardiogram where they took an ultrasound of the person’s heart while at rest and then while his heart rate reached a peak level after walking on the treadmill. I also learned about the uses of a Holter monitor, which is a portable device that a patient wears for twenty-four hours so that the machine can monitor their heart as they go about their normal