Family Medicine I - Rotation Summary

This was a great rotation. In a lot of ways it was more like Internal Medicine, but Dr. Orr tried to make sure that I was exposed to the pediatric aspect as well. Every Tuesday I would spend the morning with Dr. Yu. In this way I was able to see child care as well. I saw some interesting things, a lot of well child checks, but I saw a case of hand, foot and mouth disease, some childhood obesity, hypertriglyceridemia in a child, and a lot of colds and coughs.

Southwest Medical Associates offers multiple classes for their pts. They have some on sight dieticians that help and assist the pts. Dr. Orr will have you go to some of these classes as well. They have a lot of great information. Definately something that I want to incorporate into my own practice someday. I think that is one of the most important aspects of medicine, pt education. Like the saying goes, "Knowledge is power."

I had my own desk and computer by the nursing staff. It was great to have access to all the pts records and the electronic system that Southwest Medical Associates uses is great. I felt it was very user friendly. I think Dr. Orr is going to have future students take a class to learn how to use it. It is nice to be able to view the pts lab results and past visits before the pt comes in so you can better become aware of what the pt might need.

There is a staff lounge with microwaves and a refrigerator for lunches. Occasionally there will be drug reps that will bring in lunches. Those are usually pretty good. There are also some pretty good Mexican restaurants around from what Dr. Inocencio says. I tried out one of them, if you get a chance to go to Los Toritos, you have to try the Horchata (a drink) and the Sope (a corn tortilla type thing, but not really, hard to explain). Make sure you take plenty of water. There isn't purified water anywhere except the vending machines, and the tap water is awful.

Dr. Richard Orr is a great Dr. I learned a lot from him. He is eager to teach and very helpful. He never makes you feel stupid regardless of the question, he understands that you are still learning and does his best to make sure that you learn something. He doesn't assign you topics to study, but allows you to take something that you found interesting that day and focus on it for your studying. I saw many different things, of course the expected things: HTN, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, asthma, and COPD, but I also saw a pt with early onset Huntington's Dz, a women with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Dz), a woman with goiter and a menangioma (brain tumor), and a man with CML and squamous cell carcinoma of the lungs. I learned about pts who are proactive in their own care and listen to you, and then about those that are non-compliant and don't. Of the many things I learned this rotation I think Dr. Orr taught me the art of practicing medicine. I am grateful for what I have learned from him.

I can honestly say that I loved this rotation. The Drs and staff were all great, very helpful and very kind. It was a great environment to work in and learn. The dynamics of the office are enjoyable. The back office staff and their jokes. It reminded me of the office I worked at as a medical assistant. It brought back lots of memories, and further strengthened my desire to pursue family medicine. I loved being able to spend time with pts. Sure it wasn't a lot, but there was interaction, there was continuity. I saw some pts more than once during the month. I hope that all other Touro students enjoy this rotation as much as I did. Good luck to whoever is next and have fun.