Yesterday was my last day at ARMC OB/Gyn, and I have to say that the minute I walked out of clinic, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The rotation was very hands on and I learned by collision, but there were many barriers to getting work done.
The morale of the nurse assistant staff is very low right now and as a result, the wait times for patients double. We had to run around looking for our assistants, sometimes met with an eye roll when we asked forthem to chaperone (which is required), and sometimes straight out shot down and told to find someone else. Not all of the assistants are like this, but I would say this was the only thing that made this rotation difficult for me, other than the lack of orientation. I am sure its frustrating for the staff to constantly have to deal with new med students who don't know what they are doing because of the lack of orientation. I certainly hope that they can get to the bottom of what is going on in clinic before patient care is affected.
I am happy that I had a chance to rotate at Arrowhead, and I learned tons about women's health on this rotation. I am glad I had to bust my butt in that hospital because my future patients deserve to have a doctor who put forth this effort to learn. I am just surprised at how various health care professionals can treat each other when the common goal is supposed to be quality patient care, individual health, and community healing. I will continue to approach healthcare with the perspective that we need to work cohesively as a team to increase the number of successful outcomes. If you choose to go into medicine, no matter what your specialty or position, you are making a commitment to help others and that service should bring you joy. Working in this field, you make many personal sacrifices- among the most important of things, your time and energy. It is good, honest work and those of us who choose to do it should be happy that we have the chance to work together in such a positive effort.
And stepping off of my soap box, I am so happy to head back to the Bay Area tomorrow to continue my life in Benicia with Walter! It has been 16 weeks since I slept in my own bed, woke up to the sun shining through the blinds, the birds chirping outside our bedroom window... man it will be good to be back!
I start Orthopedic Surgery at DMC on Monday, which is a 4-week rotation. After that I am doing a 2 week elective rotation at East Bay Cardiology, and a 2 week elective in PM&R near CPMC in the mission, SF City. So excited and happy to commute from my home in Benicia :) Until next time...
