My Clinical Experiences

This year I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Foundation of Clinical Medicine course and the corresponding preceptor program. While I have had previous experiences interacting with patients volunteering as a high school and college student, this year I took my first step to becoming a physician. Previously, I learned how to talk to patients and how to act appropriately in a hospital setting. This year I learned how to complete a history and a physical. Even though I still have a lot to learn, this year will be an important foundation for my future as a physician. When I began my year at New York Medical College I was slightly concerned about the early clinical exposure. Getting early clinical exposure sounds important, but …show more content…
The history is much more complex than a physical, and therefore we had multiple lectures on taking a history. During the history portion of the course is when the small groups started. While we were taught the basic questions to ask at an interview, there are a lot more complexities that needed to be ironed out. While interviewing a relatively healthy patient one on one is pretty simple, but in almost every other situation, things can be more complicated. One example is when conducting a pediatric interview. In the previously stated situation, a physician must be able to give appropriate attention to the child, but also show the parents of the child respect. Additionally, things can get more complicated when the patient gets older. At a certain age, you may need to ask the child some questions that he or she may not want to share in front of the parent, and of course the parent will want to know everything the child tells you, the physician. These subtleties were addressed in a lecture, and then were discussed in the small groups. There are other complex situations, for example, when a patient has a substance abuse problem or when the patient has special needs. With the course and the small group combined, I learned how to be respective while asking my questions, how to ensure a patient never feels judge, and how to make my questions open so I allow the …show more content…
There are still aspects of the doctor-patient encounter I have yet to master. One of them is when the patient is not cooperative. So far, the standardized patients have acted as cooperative patients and Dr. Haq has had me interview agreeable patients. I know that not all patients will be so cooperative, and that is something I need to experience and learn to deal. Another major concern I have is that I need to learn more about medicine. Often, I have no clue what the basis is behind the patient’s disease, or what connections the patient’s symptoms could have to other disease, and I find that really hurts my interview. Eventually, I will learn all the information in school, but I need to keep in mind when I’m covering the material to apply that knowledge to the clinical setting. Furthermore, I need to work on my note taking skills. Interestingly enough, this is something that has not been addressed by either the Foundation of Clinical of Medicine course or Dr. Haq, but is something that I have noticed I need to work on. Usually, once I have completed an interview with a patient, I go back to Dr. Haq and he will ask me questions about the patient. Often, I either take a while or I am unable to answer his question because I cannot find the answer in my notes. Thus far, my notes have followed the flow of the conversation, and related facts that should be grouped together, like