Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot, And Never Brought To Mind

    Another year gone by, another year of my youth spent buried in books, but another year closer to my lifelong goal of becoming a doctor.  Okay okay, so I don't spend all of my time studying.  I try to keep a good balance, and I think I do a pretty good job.  And I still love what I'm doing.  Sometimes I just like to be dramatic.

   2011, overall, was a year of growth and discovery in my personal life, a year of cyclic burn out and energization in my professional life, and a year of prolonging the delay of my future "gratification".  Now that 2011 has come to a close, here is a recap of some of the highlights (and lowlights?):

The year I shadowed OB/Gyn's in jail and in L&D several times, falling even more in love with women's health

The year I went to Vegas with my med school buddies...

... Then went again with my sorority friends...  

... Then went again-again with my sorority friends

And apparently, I just keep wearing the same dress

The year I rode Amtrak all the way from San Diego to Sacramento all by myself

The year I took up a new hobby and ran my first half marathon (the farthest I have run to date)

The year I became a student leader for reproductive rights through Medical Students For Choice

The year I traveled to Baltimore, MD for the MSFC Annual Meeting 

The year my "UCLA relationship" ended (which subsequently allowed me to discover the triple threat of comfort food: egg rolls, shapes mac & cheese, and wine)

The year I tried online dating, and dated a ninja turtle

The year I went on a fantastic Eurotrip with my family

The year I went to Hana's beautiful wedding in Hawaii

The year my grandma scared the crap out of us all when she had her TIA

The year my sister unexpectedly had to have her ICD replaced

The year I helped write and direct a nerdy med school video

The year I rediscovered how much I love to sing

   Well, that sort of sums up a lot of 2011 for me.  I'm excited for 2012: I think it's gonna be a good one. 

Everyone Has A Story

Today I shadowed my preceptor for Doctoring 1 again at Kaiser.  I really like shadowing her because she is really good with patients (someone I would want to model myself after).  Also, I personally have Kaiser Insurance so its pretty cool to see the other side of things.

My preceptor practices adult medicine, which I had been sort of turned off to lately, but being there today sort of sparked my interest again.  Pretty much all of the patients we saw today had a laundry list of medical problems.  I was really impressed with the fact that my preceptor remembered every patient we saw today from a previous encounter.  She was very empathetic and understanding of their needs, and I could tell they were all very pleased with her service.

Also, for some reason - today more than other days - I feel like I really got a quick glimpse into each of the patients' lives (outside of their medical issues).  Each one of them told their stories and just wanted to be heard by someone.  Maybe they just wanted some sort of acknowledgement.  Whatever it was, I felt my preceptor gave it to them.

This brings me to the point of this post: something that we often lose in medicine is our patients' stories.  Its way too easy to get caught up in thinking of your patients as "clinical vignettes", medical "problems" that you must find the "solution" to.  But it is so much more than that.  Our patient's physical health is one aspect of their multifaceted life.  Each one of them has a story, whether it be joyful, heartbreaking, heart-warming, or just easy to relate to.  I love being given the opportunity to hear patients' stories because I find that they re-inspire me every time.  There is something about just connecting with a patient that gives me the warm & fuzzies.  Sadly, the way medicine is today, we don't get much time to listen to our patients.

Its a lot easier to get out of jail than to get in...

Or at least that is the case when you are a medical student shadowing an OB/Gyn at the county jail.  Today, I woke up at 5AM to start our day of seeing female prisoners at 7AM.  While I was walking from the parking garage to the jail (its still dark out, mind you) some homeless man in a shady corner asks me what time it is.  Now, I am usually pretty polite to strangers, but sorry, I'm not about to stop by myself in a creepy, dark abandoned street to make myself vulnerable to be mugged so I just told him "Sorry, I don't know!" as I keep walking my normal brisk pace.  And he goes, "Do you have an iphone?!"  BAHAHA okay dude, obviously you don't have the best of intentions if you care how expensive my phone is.  Anyway, it was fine.  I just kept on walking.

Last week I had to get fingerprinted and fill out a few forms to get cleared and make sure I wasn't some crazy (understandable)... Today, I got to the jail early, but I didn't really know what to do because the doctor wasn't there yet.  So I went though some metal detectors and put my stuff through x-ray machines while I waited for her.  When she arrived, we got my visitor's security pass and headed upstairs.

So I don't know about any of you, but I have never been in a jail before.  I really had no idea what to expect.  I thought there would be cells with old fashioned bars like in the movies, but I didn't see any of those.  Instead, most of the cells are like the ones you see on prison documentaries or on Gangland (shout out to Amanda and Juliette, you guys woulda loved it).  It was really interesting to be on the inside.  There were cameras everywhere and you had to stand in front of the doors and wait for them to open them for you when they saw your face on the cameras.

I wasn't sure how the patients would be, or if they would be "dangerous", but I was pleasantly surprised that they were all very polite and not scary.  I think a lot of them were there for drugs, not necessarily violent crimes.  I was really impressed with the care that the women inmates were given and specifically the birth control options they had.  The patients had a general demeanor of respect and appreciation for the physician and nurse, and I thought that was really cool.  It was really cool getting a glimpse into what  inmates are like, and their outlooks on their reproductive health.  The doctor was telling me that some of the patients will determine their pregnancy plan (whether they continue or terminate) when they find out how far along they are because that tells them who the father is, which I thought was an interesting aspect of this particular patient population.  Also, they usually live lifestyles that put them at a much higher risk of STIs, so I got to see a few of those.  It really surprised me that the doctor looked at the vaginal discharge right then and there in the microscope!  I thought that kind of stuff was sent to a lab now-a-days, but it was awesome that she knew what she was doing.  I got to see some Trichonomas swimming around on a slide... pretty gross stuff, frothy discharge and all!  (Lesson to all to wear a condom)  One girl was 30 weeks along and had used meth early in the pregnancy, but the doctor was just super non-judgmental and I thought that was really cool.  All in all, I got a LOT out of my day at the county jail.  Not only did I learn a lot medical-wise, but I also learned a lot about what its like in jail and about the people who are in it.  I hope to go back again soon! :D