2/14/11

Today, I was referred to the Gregory St. family medicine clinic where I was to begin shadowing Dr. Vas Naidu during Dr. Williams’ absence. I arrived at my new placement a bit early, but it was closed while the staff was on their lunch break. So I walked around campus a bit and returned at one o’clock only to be told by Nicky (the receptionist) that Dr. Naidu will not be back till 1:30. I was seated and made use of my time by reading TIME magazine, till Dr. Naidu’s nurse, Lisa, came out to greet me and show me around. One of the conveniences of their clinic is that they have their own lab where they can draw and screen blood samples along with other bodily fluids [D]. This was not the case in the orthopedic clinic, they had to send the samples in to the lab and wait for results to come back.

When Dr. Naidu arrived, his patient had already been seated by the nurse inside a room. The first patient was in for a routine checkup. I noticed that Dr. Naidu spent far more time than Dr. Williams with his patients. He also had a stronger relationship with his patients, giving them medical as well as friendly advice to enhance their living styles. There was more of a personal connection with the patient, which I believe creates more trust between the patient and the physician. After meeting with the patient, Dr. Naidu had a bit of leisure time till the next appointment. He then explained to me more of the nature of family medicine. Family physicians often deliver babies and act as the primary source of health care for each family and individual from the time of birth till death. Dr. Naidu sees this as an advantage because he handles patients of different ages and helps closely monitor each patient’s health through the course of their life [D].

During Dr. Naidu’s down time I found guidance in a senior U of I student who is preparing to go to medical school next fall. We discussed classes to take and when to take them as well as when to prepare for medical school (exams to take such as the MCAT and the application process). After a long wait and a long discussion, Dr. Naidu was called for his next patient. The patient was suffering from anxiety and tends to get very emotional. Her weight has been decreasing rapidly and she finds herself vomiting constantly. Dr. Naidu asked a few questions regarding the patients daily activities. The patient was active in sports but her grades were dropping. Dr. Naidu assessed this to the patient's lack of sleep and nutrition intake. He believes the vomiting is no more than a side effect of her anxiety medications. He also suggested that the patient makes an appointment to see a psychologist. Dr. Naidu prescribed refills to the medications she was already taking and then we were asked to step out and speak to the patient while Dr. Naidu examined her mother. This was a very awkward situation for me because I have never spoken to a person with anxiety, so I felt that I should be very careful with what I say. I went ahead and let Ester, the other student, carry the conversation. The patient began speaking about her social problems which apply more to girls. I couldn't really relate so I refrained from contributing to the conversation. When I felt that I had something constructive to say I didn't hesitate to add any input. But for the majority of the time I stood there quietly while Ester exercised her communication skills on the patient [D]. However, the patient stopped a few times to call me out about not speaking. This made me nervous because I didn't want to offend her as she constantly glanced over at me [F]. At one point she just stared at me. Luckily her mother came out, which eased the tension till they left.

I was relieved when the day was over [F]. There was a total of four patients in the afternoon. This is a big change in pace for me because I'm accustomed to full schedules of 15 to 18 patients in a span of four hours [A]. I found it quite boring, but I'm not going to be quick to disregard family medicine [F]. It seems less stressful and layed back. I wouldn't mind the excess leisure time [A].