Thoughts on wrapping up my first rotation...

***This post was written on 7/13/2010 at 2:30 a.m. on the night shift.***

This is my last week on OB/GYN. I can’t believe it. Time is flying by so fast. It will be May before I know it and it will be time for me to decide what I want to do. As of right now I have no idea. I thought I would sum up my six weeks in a paragraph or two.
As far as my OB/GYN experience goes, I helped deliver babies, assisted in C-sections, held the newborns, did annual exams, did ultrasounds, assisted in hysterectomies, restored fertility, and saved lives. In the midst of all this I learned about humanity. I saw so many reactions and emotions. I saw the excitement of new life on the faces of the family members staring into the innocent eyes of an infant. I saw the woman struggling with fertility cry tears of relief as she saw her baby’s heartbeat on the ultrasound. I saw fear in the eyes of the teenager come into the ER in labor alone. I saw worry in the furrowed brow of a woman flown in for emergency surgery and go home three days later. I saw a terrified young girl in foster care get a physical exam to rule out sexual abuse. I saw an embarrassed teenager with a rare birth defect sigh relief when the doctor told her that with a little therapy she can eventually be normal. I saw a young woman full of life have surgery on her stage 4 ovarian cancer who will never be able to have children again and face her chemo with unshakable faith and courage. I saw a mother weeping the loss of a desired pregnancy. I saw a grandmother fight uterine cancer and go in and out of the ICU for a month while her family struggled to hold on to hope. I saw sweat on the brow of the doctors and nurses working to ensure health and life. I saw worried husbands. I saw sick brothers. I saw clueless kids. I saw eyes of hurting souls. I saw gruesome realities. I saw hopeful futures. I saw pain. I saw joy. I saw tears. I saw life begin. I saw life end. I saw the physical and emotional struggles of women of all ages.
This was a lot to take in during 6 weeks. I learned so much, yet I know so little. I am trying to learn clinical knowledge from books and bedside manner from the doctors. Each patient is so different, not just in their clinical situations, but also in personality. You have to learn how to approach each of them differently and effectively. If they don’t trust you or like you, they won’t take your advice. You have to learn to talk to the white collars, the blue collars, and the no collars. You have to learn to talk sports with the scared dad, talk about Dora the Explorer to distract the curious four year old, and talk to the woman about her kids or where she got her purse as she undergoes an uncomfortable procedure. Practicing medicine is the art of blending knowledge of science with the understanding of human nature and society. And it is called “practice” because perfect medicine can never be achieved.