Good day in Family med!

I had a great day in family medicine today. Worked with Dr. K in Walk in who is one of the best preceptors I’ve worked with because a) she is patient, never rushes me b) is very observant and opportunistic about areas she can teach me c) lets me do as much as possible (in fact, I think she let me see and manage every one of my patients today by myself and didn’t even bother to come in and “check my work”. She also let me talk to a funny Navajo guy named Dodger who was a real character and extremely open. His father was actually a Code Talker in WWII and he is a vietnam vet who was called a gook by the other soldiers and had several near misses in Nam and even won a purple heart, which he says he doesn’t want because it just reminds him of “not ducking fast enough”. Then in the afternoon, I had a great time working with Dr. M in Peds clinic. Got to remove some sutures, meet a really cute 3yo whose grandma wanted her to see speech therapy because she couldn’t understand a word this girl said, watch a brave 5yr old get a toenail removed, make a 14yo girl with a cough laugh when I joked with her about basketball and talk to a 16yo skater who had sprained his ankle. Again, part of it was the preceptor who really let me do a whole lot including remove the sutures, counsel the kids, set up appts, write orders for medications, write orders for vaccines and agreed with my notes and diagnosis.

Maybe I feel good because its family medicine, I am pretty relaxed and well rested. Maybe I feel good because I ran 4 miles without stopping yesterday, maybe I’m getting more confident with my exam and diagnosis skills and that feels good, or maybe its the friendly people here who are responding to my greetings and jokes. I dunno what it is but I am feeling pretty good about being here right now and being in family medicine. Who knows, I just may work as a family doc for the Indian Health Service someday!