I finished my first rotation in Family Medicine!  I have already learned so much in two short weeks.  It makes me really excited for how much more I will learn in the coming year.

Family medicine was a fun rotation.  I love seeing a different patient with a different complaint in each room.  We saw a lot of diabetes, hypertension, anxiety/depression, and chronic pain issues.  But we also saw a lot of other diseases, such as cellulitis, pes excavatum, Peyronie’s Disease, fibromyalgia, and multiple myeloma.  It was also fun working with a variety of age ranges, although my preceptor doesn’t get a lot of pediatric patients at his practice.

Surprisingly enough, I really enjoyed doing procedures.  I have never really had any desire to do procedures, and it has always scared me that one day I would have to practice on a real patient.  Well during this rotation, I got plenty of practice!  I didn’t do a ton of procedures, but I got to do a bunch of injections, including a knee, a foot, a wrist, and a shoulder.  I also got to remove some moles from a patient’s back.

There is a philosophy in medical school called “See One. Do One. Teach one.”  It is exactly what it sounds like.  My preceptor would perform the injection on one side of the body, explaining to me what landmarks to look for, what angle to enter at, and how deep to go.  Then he would hand me the syringe, and I would do the other side!  It really was a lot of fun.

The experience this week was very humbling for me.  I think that if I was getting an injection and a medical student wanted to try their first injection on me, I would say no.  But the patients were so nice and all looked at me and said, “Yes, I trust you.”  What an amazing feeling!  Over and over I was just so surprised at the willingness of patients to open up and share their life story with me or allow me to perform procedures on them.

In two short weeks I was able to laugh with patients, cry with patients, and experience first hand what every medical student dreams of – to help people.  Every time I walk into a patient’s room, I feel like I am where I belong.