I had my third physician shadowing today! My second one was with a dermatologist, and although I'm supposed to write about it, I didn't because I disliked it.
Anyway, so today I shadowed Dr. Stewart again. He truly is a great doctor. All his patients rave about him, and you can tell he cares. He doesn't prescribe things just to prescribe them. He doesn't give unnecessary tests. He always calls his patients to check up on them and figure out how things are going. The part I love the most? He tries his hardest to save his patients money! He finds alternatives to lower costs for them. I want to be that kind of doctor!
The first patient he saw was an opthamologist. He had a crackle in his left lung, but all his tests came back normal. Thanks to that, I got to use the stethoscope for the first time ever! It was the coolest thing ever! I heard a different between the two lungs, but I didn't hear a crackle or anything. I think I just heard past it because it sounded like a beating. It was still really awesome.
I asked him if it was easier or harder to see another doctor. He said that it can be challenging to see other doctors or family members of said doctors. Sometimes they assume the patients will know because they have a doctor in the family they can ask, but he said that it is important to be objective, no matter who they are. The easy part about seeing other doctors is being able to use lingo that non-doctors wouldn't understand.
He also had another patient that had a heart murmur. I used the stethoscope again and listened to it. It was the coolest thing all day! The heart definitely sounds different when you have a murmur, although I'm pretty sure that's no surprise to anyone. I compared it to my heart and it just blew me away. The difference is great! I mean, it's not great for him, but it just blows me away how a murmur sounds.
I also mentioned I'd like to be a neurosurgeon, but that I was keeping my options open. We went to see a patient and he had a daughter in a wheelchair. She was sassy! She made me laugh; truly a remarkable young lady. When we got back to his office, he told me what she suffers from would be a good thing to research. She had spina bifida, a developmental congenital disorder caused by the incomplete closing of the embryonic neural tube. Basically the vertebrae overlapping the spinal cords don't close all the way. The young lady in the office had to be in a wheelchair because her legs were paralyzed; she kept growing but her spine never recovered. He also mentioned the best way to deal with it is to prevent it; folic acid is very important in pregnancy!
There were a lot of reps that came over to get Dr. Stewart to sign things today. It made me think of another question; how does he keep up with new medicine that comes out? He went a little further and answered how he keeps up to date with everything; medicine, diseases, etc. He uses this site called Up To Date. He said that you pay a pretty penny for it, but that it's totally worth it. He uses it when he wants more information about things his patients ask about. He also said that you need to take classes, a certain amount a year, to learn what's new. He said for family medicine you need about 50.
At the end of the day, I asked him what was the most interesting or scary thing he had seen. He said he had seen a gentleman last month with a widow maker, or Proximal LAD Blockage. It's a blockage in the left anterior descending artery; it can lead to heart attacks and death, which is why it's called the widow maker. He thought it was interesting because he was only in his 40's and, since Dr. Stewart is getting close to that age, he really took notice. He said it makes you think. He also told me about this lady who had a severe mental illness and gave herself a tummy tuck. She ended up at the hospital and eventually committed suicide; she was a very troubled lady, may she rest in peace. Another story he told me was about a guy who shot himself with a nail gun. He accidentally got a nail in his calf and it took a very long time to pull it out. He said it was difficult to figure out where it was because it was small and it went in at an angle.
I LOVED the experience. It was super interesting and amazing. Getting to FINALLY use the stethoscope was awesome, and listening to that heart murmur was definitely the highlight of the experience. It sounds horrible because it's not really a good thing for the gentleman, but I was just excited to hear the difference in heartbeats. I am so ready to be a doctor, even if I don't go into family medicine! I can't believe I wasn't interested in stuff like this growing up; it is great! I am that much more excited to keep going and getting close to my goal! I have even more excitement and I'm even more motivation to keep going!
I WILL be a great surgeon one day! :D
Or any kind of doctor, really. Whatever I find to be my calling. :)
Love,
Andrea, Future M.D. or D.O.
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