Last Day of Clinic and midterms

Last week was my last day at the Endocrine clinic. On the one side, I will really miss it because I have enjoyed seeing patients. I have learned a lot about Endocrine, including thyroid disease and growth hormone deficiencies. One of the classes I am taking now is all about hormones of the body so I am sure all that I have learned will come in handy soon.

My last day in clinic, my preceptor let me see my own patients. I was able to get the patient history, do the physical exam and then report to my preceptor for her to do the final wrap up. It was a great time to test what I had learned over the previous weeks. I knew the proper questions and what we were looking for with different diagnoses. I wasn't even nervous. I enjoyed talking to the patients and their families, and I look forward to the future when I can do this completely by myself.

Since then, life and school have been tough: 5 exams since last Friday and today was the dreaded exam. It took 3 hours...and it wasn't even a midterm, just an exam. We have one of these every month or so. It's a bear but I am learning a lot. Today's exam was all about how our bodies metabolize sugar and blood glucose regulation during fasting. I now understand insulin deficiency (Diabetes).

The other exams were: Women's Health, Neonatology, Physical Diagnosis and a group exam that requires talking through potential diagnoses for a particular set of symptoms. This time we talked about developmental delay in a child. There are so many possible causes including maternal illness during pregnancy. Did you know that a fetus can have a stroke? Many problems can be diagnosed before birth, including many kinds of heart defects which allows doctors to prepare for delivery.

I have really enjoyed Neonatology. We have been learning about fetal development and why the first trimester is the most critical for protecting the fetus against drugs or other harmful affects. One thing that I found interesting was that the nervous system isn’t completely developed until 4-5 years of age. This is why infantile illnesses can still dramatically affect a child’s overall health. Brain damage can occur after birth. For example, recent studies show the cerebral palsy is not usually from perinatal hypoxia (lack of oxygen during birth). Evidence shows that there is much more to it and CP can actually develop after birth as well.

One topic that has been hammered this semester is STDs – in almost every class. It is a topic I never really cared to learn about but I have learned so much about the reasons why STDs can be so detrimental to personal health, as well as future children. To protect a fetus from an STD, they will do a C-section because maternal illnesses can be transferred during birth.

Anyway, this is a very small taste of all I have been covering over the last few weeks. Hopefully I will retain a good portion of it for future use.

One more exam next week – Microbiology. I will be thankful for next weekend – a weekend without major studying to do! My on-campus Bible Study is having a retreat next weekend – a great weekend to meet new people, relax and have fun!