RUOP Reflections

2019 RUOP Reflections 

Reigniting the Flame
My clinical experience at my RUOP site reignited the flame that gave me the impetus to pursue a medical education and gain the knowledge and training to become a healer. Dr. M approaches his medical practice with a level of kindness and care I hope to emulate one day. He is well aware of the upstream factors that contribute to the health effects endured by his patient population. He considers these health inequalities and barriers in each of his treatment plans. One of the most memorable lessons I learned in my time with Dr. M was understanding the difference between doctoring, the work the job entails, and the practice of healing. The goal is to perform both in order to best serve your patients.

Dr. M treated me as if I was an integral part of his medical team. He trusted me to see patients alone and report my findings while teaching me new skills along the way. He not only helped me to take on new perspectives and better understand the medical conditions we encountered, but also elicited my views on various cases and respected my thoughts as he did with everyone he worked with in the clinic. He is one of the most insightful providers I have had the honor to work with.

I had the honor of hearing many patient stories and I was lucky enough to see some patients more than once on follow-up and see the transformative possibilities when an appropriate treatment plan was found using a patient-centered approach with respect to their wishes, circumstances, and expectations of care. I will try to apply Dr. M approach to treating his patients to my own clinical practice as student and future physician. He emphasized the importance of planning a path forward with patients’ input for the best outcomes. The path forward is more concretely paved when the source of the insights about an optimal social or medical intervention is the patient themselves. As a physician I hope to never lose site of the unique identities my patient’s bring to the doctor’s office and how those identities are influenced and impacted by the social determinants of health within the community and outside the sterile environment of a medical setting or clinical trial.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Finding my Path in Rural and Underserved Medicine
My experience here in (RUOP clinic) has really been great. It has helped me learn a ton about medicine and medicine in a rural community. However, possibly more importantly, this experience has taught me a lot about myself and what I really enjoy in medicine. This was something I was previously worrying about, just figuring out what I want to do and where I could see myself working, and RUOP here in (RUOP site) has been so reassuring in so many ways.

First of all, Dr. H has been an absolutely great role model. He has shown me how to be an outstanding physician but also on how to practice medicine in a way that you love and in a way that makes you want to come into work every day. He has been in this clinic for over 18 years. Almost 100% of his pediatric patients he has delivered himself, and most of the time he delivered all of their siblings too. He does procedures in his clinic at least twice a week, where I really strengthened my suturing skills. He also does full OB, where I got to help out in 2 C-sections and do OB checks on tons of moms. I love that he is still a hands-on Family Care doctor, this is how I hope to be too and it was so refreshing to find a doctor still practicing in this way. You can tell he loves being a physician and he loves this clinic and his community. He and his wife even opened a free clinic, where I was able to work and absolutely loved.

Over-all, I really enjoyed every day here and have finally found a spot where I could see myself working. I also just love the community. It’s really a perfect fit for me and I am sad to leave. I heard that (RUOP clinic) just received a grant to start a family medicine residency, I’m hoping that it opens up in time for me.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Rewards of RUOP
My entire RUOP experience was very rewarding and educational. The entire staff that I interacted with was helpful and seemed dedicated to assisting me with my learning. I had the opportunity to rotate through many departments and work with a variety of providers. This exposure to different styles and techniques provided me insight into what works for certain patients and what may work best for me in the future. I learned some helpful questioning techniques to assist with patient interviews, and how to best complete a physical on infants and toddlers something we haven’t practiced yet.

Throughout the month I was able to assist with multiple deliveries, surgeries, and procedures within the emergency department and OR. I found all of these experiences to be very exciting and helped me work on hands-on skills that we have not had a lot of time to develop yet. With each experience, the physician I was working with would provide valuable guidance and tips on how to further improve these skills. These are skills that I hope to continue to develop and work on during my own time to ensure that once I begin clerkships, I am at the level that is expected of me.

There were many instances where I was pushed outside my comfort zone and in the moment, it was somewhat uncomfortable; however, following those encounters I realized how much I learned from these types of scenarios and that being perfect is never an expectation.

Each time I have come back to my TRUST site throughout the year, I have been given more responsibility and have gained more confidence in myself with each patient interaction. I look forward to returning for WRITE to continue improving upon skills and expanding my clinical knowledge.