The end of internal medicine

Well, at least the end of it for me (for now). Wednesday was my last day of the internal medicine rotation and the last two days were the end-of-rotation exams. The rotation itself was actually pretty fun. There was some waiting around not doing anything and there were times when I felt pretty useless. But, overall, I learned a lot, saw a lot of interesting cases (and a lot of not so interesting cases), got to feel like I was the part of a team taking care of people, and got a chance to get to know some interesting people.
Do I want to go into internal medicine? It's hard to say since I only got to experience what life is like for hospitalists. I only saw the specialists tangentially. I wouldn't want to be a hospitalist (things are too hectic and once you see something interesting, you call a specialist). However, from what I saw on the wards, infectious disease and rheumatology appealed to me the most. There is a lot of detective work in both of them and a diagnosis could quickly lead to an effective treatment (Interestingly, these were the two fields that I felt I was the worst at when it came to exam questions). Radiology is still at the top of my list, but going through a more patient-based rotation does make me consider other options. We'll see as the year goes by.

Some advice...
- enjoy your time, at least with my experience, there really wasn't any pimping. There's no reason to feel stressed.
- don't let your first few days' experience set your mood for the rotation. Every time you have a change there is some awkwardness and confusion. It will also take a few days for your team to get warmed up to you. You'll find your place soon.
- don't feel like you have to stay on the wards forever. If someone tells you to leave, leave... it's not a test. You've got a lot of studying to do, and everyone on your team understands that. If nothing is going on, ask if there's anything you can help with, the answer will be "no", and you could leave.
- Spend extra time with your patients. You've got the luxury to actually spend time with your patients. If they're up for it, spend some extra time with them. The more you know about your patient, the better resource you are for the team (plus, the patient will trust you more than the rest of the team, if they've made a connection with you).
- If your school allows it, try to get some experience in a different hospital. It'll give you a better idea of what's constant and what's variable in internal medicine.
- prepare to feel defeated if you're taking the SHELF (nationally standardized) exam. Holy crap the SHELF exam sucks ass. None of my studying prepared me for that test. Even knowing what the exam was like, I don't think I could have effectively studied for it. It is not a good assessment of how much you've learned on the wards. I've never came out of an exam seriously thinking that there's a possibility I could fail until now. Luckily, everyone else in my class felt the same. And from people who have taken it in the past, the results end up being better than you expect.

Now I get a whole weekend off before Surgery starts on Monday. I start with ENT, then have Orthopedic surgery, followed by a month of general surgery.



Old song, but it's been stuck in my head ever since I saw a patient with Wenckebach heart block last month