More Family Medicine

Family Medicine is still going pretty well - the patients all seem to like me, and I have gotten to see a good range of ages, from kids 3 years old to adults 91 years old.  I have spent time with two general family medicine physicians and one sports medicine doctor (who also happens to be associate dean of clinical education at our school).  I've been trying to do readings on the stuff I see in the clinic, and stay engaging with the physicians.  I get along with all three of them really well, and I get the sense they do not mind having me around.  We had a little snag up with the scheduling so the dean was not quite expecting to see me today, but it worked out fine.  I talked to him a little more about some stuff, and near the end he said he was glad that I'm going to be with him two days a week instead of just one.  I also asked him if my timing on patient interviews was okay and he said that he would have let me know if I was going too fast or too slow, so I'll take that as a good sign.

Yesterday was good as far as patient interactions - a middle aged man came in yesterday and we diagnosed him with an inguinal hernia, and I was able to palpate bilaterally and up the inguinal canal - first time on an actual patient and not an actor.  Also one of the patients, a real talker who probably held me up a bit longer than I'd have liked, complimented me to the physician that day, saying that I was going to be a great doctor and was really good at talking to patients.  The more positive things said, the better - I just have to keep doing well and not let anything negative creep up.  I still feel pretty tired at the end of each day, and it's looking more and more like my drive is an hour each day - I have started listening to German audio lessons in the car.  Today I got off earlier than usual because the doctor I was going to be with this afternoon was not around and most of the other doctors in the office were not there this afternoon.  Time to catch up on my studies!