Today I volunteered at a free clinic in Atlanta. We had 1100 volunteers ranging from non medical all the way through doctors. 1700 patients scheduled to be seen and walk ins welcome. I was so excited to be able to be a part of such amazing day and was thanked numerous times from patients. The patients were seen for free and we wrote scripts off the $4 dollar list and free antibiotics from Publix. (thats right some ABX are free). As a student I was not expecting to do a whole lot as I am not a licensed professional YET. BUT insert Director of Mercer University and that means PA students see patients and report. I was with Mr. Schwarz (director) along with my classmate Mali. We were equally excited to be spending the day with the intimidating schwarz. We saw the first patient together. We walked in to this overweight man whose chief complaint was out of BP meds, swelling in legs and hernia. The man lifted up his shirt to reveal a basketball size hernia on his stomach with a lemon size umbilical hernia on top. He informed us that no one would fix it for him. I have never seen anything like this and obviously we could not fix the problem. He also had horrible swelling from his toes to his knees. And an irregular heart rate and after the EKG that was irregular we became concerned. He needed to be on coumadin and followed up with a cardiologists. I just hope he does as he is at risk of kicking clots to his brain.
Patient 2 I took on alone and she just had allergies with asthma exacerbation. My 3rd patient presented with chest pain and leg swelling. I was happy to find out she was 28 and her chest pain was actual epigastric pain. I treated her on my own and decided to treat her for the ulcer based on her symptoms as a scope was not feasible. Her mom was really happy I was helping her daughter and she made my day. Our last patient had high blood pressure and needed some medications. Another girl in the class saw and HIV positive patient on no medications presenting with a weird rash. It was Karposi sarcoma which I have never seen.
This is the first of many free clinics I plan to attend. I feel like God gave me this gift and I will use it to help those who need it.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
OB/GYN October 2009
Well this was the rotation I had been waiting on since the beginning not because of the specialty, but because it was with Dr. Fernandez in Toccoa. Dr. Fernandez wrote me a recommendation for PA school when I was in a bind and I really enjoyed the day I spent with him. I spent 3 weeks with him and it was pretty uneventful. I saw 2 C-section and assisted in lots of surgeries. Which I was really excited to actually get to "scrub in" and participate. Dr. Fernandez does not do vaginal deliveries because he has 3 midwives. And to my surprise, he does not allow his students do any paps. I became the nurses "buddy" or should I say "sara can do it and I can sit buddy"
After 3 weeks, I was released to the midwives. I was to be with whoever was on call. which equals 5 days of call. I spent the first day with Bethany. She was really friendly but just kinda let me follow her. That night I spent a LONG time at the hospital with a young pregnant girl who was praying her son Parker would come NOW. We saw her in the office that morning and admitted her because she was having a hard time dealing with contractions at home. We went around 5pm to check on her and then went home for dinner only to return at 7:30pm. When I got there, Bethany and mom were already pushing and getting the process going. HOURS later we were still pushing and no sign of Parker anywhere. When mom had to get her epidural I held her to keep her from panicking. And at 3am in the morning when we called Dr. Fernandez in, I held her again when she started having a panic attack because she was going to have to have a C section. I also held her hand all the way to the OR. Once in the OR we had to knock her out bc she was telling Dr. Fernandez "wait, wait hold on" from behind the sheet. I got home around 5ish just to be at the office at 8am. I was exhausted and happy day 2 on call no one called.
Day 3 through the end of my rotation I spent with April. She and I became very close and I really enjoyed the short time with her. She taught me how to do pap smears and let me write the scripts. I only saw 2 more deliveries in OBGYN. One was an older mom who was having her 3rd baby. JR was smaller than her second child and he pretty much "fell" out. I only watched this delivery as it was my first. Then came baby Corrine. I was really nervous about this mom as we went to high school together and lets just say we didnt roll with the same crowd. Mom # 3 was a little more realistic to how 1st time deliveries go. She had lots of pushing and didnt totally freak out. I got to deliver the placenta, which was a HUGE accomplishment for me. And when April was checking for blood clots, me watching INTENSELY I screamed AND jumped when a clot got some air and landed in the bag. I was completely humiliated and totally shocked, especially when it was someone I knew.
This rotation showed me that I do not want to delivery babies anymore. I had a plan of trying to get a residency in California and petition Georgia to let me deliver. PA's do not deliver babies in GA as midwives have a strong hold, there have been a few to petition the state after doing this residency. But after 5 days of being on call I learned OBGYN was not my call. It was also great birth control as I have had serious baby fever since pediatrics.
All for now, only 4 more rotations to talk about. I hope you have enjoyed my clinical life.
After 3 weeks, I was released to the midwives. I was to be with whoever was on call. which equals 5 days of call. I spent the first day with Bethany. She was really friendly but just kinda let me follow her. That night I spent a LONG time at the hospital with a young pregnant girl who was praying her son Parker would come NOW. We saw her in the office that morning and admitted her because she was having a hard time dealing with contractions at home. We went around 5pm to check on her and then went home for dinner only to return at 7:30pm. When I got there, Bethany and mom were already pushing and getting the process going. HOURS later we were still pushing and no sign of Parker anywhere. When mom had to get her epidural I held her to keep her from panicking. And at 3am in the morning when we called Dr. Fernandez in, I held her again when she started having a panic attack because she was going to have to have a C section. I also held her hand all the way to the OR. Once in the OR we had to knock her out bc she was telling Dr. Fernandez "wait, wait hold on" from behind the sheet. I got home around 5ish just to be at the office at 8am. I was exhausted and happy day 2 on call no one called.
Day 3 through the end of my rotation I spent with April. She and I became very close and I really enjoyed the short time with her. She taught me how to do pap smears and let me write the scripts. I only saw 2 more deliveries in OBGYN. One was an older mom who was having her 3rd baby. JR was smaller than her second child and he pretty much "fell" out. I only watched this delivery as it was my first. Then came baby Corrine. I was really nervous about this mom as we went to high school together and lets just say we didnt roll with the same crowd. Mom # 3 was a little more realistic to how 1st time deliveries go. She had lots of pushing and didnt totally freak out. I got to deliver the placenta, which was a HUGE accomplishment for me. And when April was checking for blood clots, me watching INTENSELY I screamed AND jumped when a clot got some air and landed in the bag. I was completely humiliated and totally shocked, especially when it was someone I knew.
This rotation showed me that I do not want to delivery babies anymore. I had a plan of trying to get a residency in California and petition Georgia to let me deliver. PA's do not deliver babies in GA as midwives have a strong hold, there have been a few to petition the state after doing this residency. But after 5 days of being on call I learned OBGYN was not my call. It was also great birth control as I have had serious baby fever since pediatrics.
All for now, only 4 more rotations to talk about. I hope you have enjoyed my clinical life.
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