My 6th rotation was Peds at QHC. This was my second rotation at QHC so I was a bit more familiar with the hospital environment and location. Our first 2 weeks were at Peds ED, 3 days a week, 12 hrs shifts, 3rd week was clinic which was everyday and our last week was NICU. Overall, I enjoyed all 4 weeks but my favorite was Peds ED as I got to see new cases every single day.
At QHC I worked every day with new providers, except in NICU where I worked with the same doctor and NP/PA for that whole week. In Peds ED, I would see every new patient first then report back my findings to the doctor I was working with that day and he/she would come in and do their own assessment. I got to do splinting, rapid strep test and even blood draw. In NICU and clinic it was a bit different as I didn’t get to do my own examination but it was more of a shared assessment together with the provider.
One element I loved during this rotation was that I got my first experience in Peds ED which was very exciting. I got to see a lot of new cases and I loved the ability to examine patents on my own and to report back to the provider. I also liked the team dynamic in Peds ED between the nurses and clinicians and how they communicated with each other very frequently and effectively.
One memorable experience during this rotation was during my second week in peds ED when I got to see a patient with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. It was my first-time hearing about this condition and the first time that I saw a patient have 3 separate seizures within a period of 12 hours. I was able to follow this patient the whole day and her acute management was similar to any other patient with acute tonic-clonic general seizure, however the long term care for her juvenile myoclonic epilepsy was slightly different than a patient with generalized tonic-clonic seizures.
One challenge I experienced during my Peds rotation was physical exams on every single baby. Unlike in adults, performing a physical exam on a baby is quite challenging. Not only they start crying as soon as you walk into the room but they will push and pull away and make it much harder to perform the exam. I also had a hard time listening to the heart and lungs while they were crying. However, there were a few tricks that the providers who I rotated with showed me such as using the stethoscope as a toy and let them touch it and play with it for a min then use it to examine them or place the stethoscope on the parent then on the baby so the baby will become more comfortable with it. Overall, this has been a great learning experience and I’m excited to start my next rotation in Surgery.
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