Shadowing in the Clinic
Yesterday, I was invited to follow an internal medicine physician as he ran the continuity clinic for internal medicine residents at Jackson Memorial Hospital (which is the University of Miami Medical School hospital).This continuity clinic gives the residents the opportunity to build relationships with their patients. Each resident is assigned a group of patients that they care for throughout their residency.
I met my mentor at the Gordon Center, (see my previous post), and together we walked through the hospital to the ambulatory clinics. My mentor paired me with a resident, who served as my mentor for the day. Together we saw five patients. I learned how to take and record blood pressure and I listened to the aorta of one patient who had a small heart murmur.
The unique thing about the resident clinic is that after the resident sees each patient, he must present the patient to the attending position. In this case, the attending physician was my mentor from the Gordon Center. It was really interesting to watch these doctors engage in scholarly conversation. All of the residents knew their stuff, and for the most part, were able to treat their patients correctly. The attending physician simply serves to guide the residents. He gives them advice while quizzing them on trivial things that every doctor should know.
Another unique thing about this particular clinic, or the city of Miami in general, is that many of its residents do not speak English. The resident that I was paired with, coincidentally, did not speak much Spanish, so I was forced to translate for the patients. Luckily, I am proficient in Spanish, so I was thrilled to practice.
Overall, it was a great experience and I can’t wait to go back!