My classmates and I met PA Sadat at NYPQ to complete our Site Evaluations for our various Family Medicine rotations.  Each of us talked through our different rotations and discussed the experiences we had at each of the clinical sites.  I discussed the autonomy I felt I had with Dr. Streete-Smalls and noted how she challenged me to see patients and formulate a diagnosis and plan as if it were my ‘own patient.’  I highlighted the fact that I appreciated this ‘challenge’ because it prompted me to change my thinking from that of a student to one of a provider.  I noted that I felt that Dr. Streete-Smalls’ patients were very open to having conversations about their medical issues with me and I felt empowered to help them to the best of my ability.

We each presented our various cases and discussed the rationale for which we selected these cases to discuss to provide some context to one another.  The first case I opted to present was a case on a patient with Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy, which was something I’d not heard of prior to seeing this patient.  Given it is a rare disease, I opted to select an article that looked at a new medication that treats TAC and presented that article to the group.  We each presented the article that went along with our respective case and highlighted the key take aways to ensure PA Sadat and one another understood the significance of its selection.  My second case was one that discussed a patient with a refractory UTI that ultimately lead to a patient referral to urology with a diagnosis of bladder diverticulum.

Finally we reviewed our drug cards.  PA Sadat had us discuss each others cards, which was more challenging than expected because some of my classmates selections were very specific.  That said, I think we did a nice job of helping one another and ensuring that we were able to talk through each of the medications we’d selected and how they were used in practice in our particular experiences.  I have found that being able to use a drug to treat a certain ailment has helped me to remember the indications significantly easier than just memorizing a list of indications with no context.  As I continue my rotations, I will continue to hone my medical knowledge but also my knowledge of various medications to ensure I am providing my patients with the best option.  I will continue to challenge myself to present the best H&Ps I can and to find articles that help answer questions I may have about a patients presenting illness.

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