#dani's review of clinical rotations

[enchantedpendant]

forensics.

i dont think ive ever been around as much death as i was in the 4.5 weeks of forensics, and now i realize how being able to say that is a privilege.

in this rotation i touched a dead body and did a lot more than just touch em for the first time - and no the cadavers from anatomy labs dont count bcs you cant really recognize em as people ok.

imma be real with yall, the first few necropsies were rough. idk, its hard to describe, i just keep thinking abt it for the next day (at least). maybe?? i pity em?? and their unfortunate, unsightly deaths?? probably. but it gets better and after the first few times they all become just another dead body, and honestly, idk if losing that 'sensitivity' is truly a good thing lol oops.

i spent nearly the entirety of forensics in ramadan, too. reminded me of mortality a lot. how no one ever knows how much time they have left. gave an entirely unique feel to this year's ramadan lol. makes me........ introspect a bit more, i suppose.

aside from the necropsies, the clinical side of forensics is fun. kinda feels like you get to play detective! i see that as something i'd definitely enjoy reading about in my spare time... though probably not something i'd enjoy cramming for lol. on a more serious note, being on the side of justice and fighting for the wronged is always a cool thing. that might not be me, but i could still acknowledge that its cool lol

those are the (+)s. the (-)s is where you get to see how shitty i am lol, for me personally, the lack of money and prestige, relative to other specialties at least. ngl i wanna be rich man, i wanna live happy and easy. and not to throw the blame completely to others BUT my dad's side of the family a.k.a. the whole reason why i got into medicine in the first place are, despite their abundance of positive qualities, somewhat snobbish. getting into forensics wouldnt give me the standing i'd need in the family, if that makes sense? tho tbh these reasons also exclude various other specialties for me. so these are all v personal, all on me. on a more serious note, another (-) is that i couldnt really see myself enjoying a future surrounded by all those deaths. it tires you not just in the physical sense but also emotionally.

tl;dr: a fun time, a fun reading material, but not for my future.

imma rate it a 7/10

[enchantedpendant]

physical medicine & rehabilitation

pm&r, physiatry, whatever its called in english man idk lol. its an elective rotation here(i’ll admit, it’s a part of medicine that is quite rarely taught and learned about here)

imma go right to the point and say that this rotation gave me mad respect for my preceptor (one of the very few physiatrists around that has to handle multiple hospitals across multiple cities) and the specialty itself. this specialty thrives on making the patients happy, perhaps even happier than they could ever imagine. rehab is often overlooked but if u actually pay just a lil closer look its v easy to see how good rehab could actually save a patient's life instead of making them have piles of complications on complications from prolonged hospital stay and immobilization. (i personally used to be most interested in OB/GYN bcs i thought that was the specialty that makes patients the happiest, esp the OB part of it i suppose. i used to joke that the only specialties that get to attend to patients who are happy to see the doctors, greeted with smiles and excitement and all, are OB/GYN and psychiatry lol - but obviously these thoughts were all before i got to know physiatry)

so, (+) it's a v noble specialty that makes all their patients happier and deserves all the love. it's relatively low stress bcs no death is gonna be on their hands. theres a very low number of physiatrists where i live, so "competition" is less of a concern.

the (v personal) (-), however, is, despite my abundance of respect for it, i could just truly feel that its not for me. shadowing my preceptor for 4 weeks gave me a sense of "........is that it?" no i am not underestimating the scholarly span of this specialty. what i mean is the (relative) lack of variety in the work on the day-to-day basis. and honestly... it felt restricting to me. as in, from what i observed, my preceptor only handled consults and thats it. getting into physiatry means you'd barely ever be the main doctor that's in charge of the patient. and i dont feel like im gonna like that. i dont think i'd like to spend the rest of my life doing "just that" everyday. i feel like i wanna actually handle a patient and like actually get to know em and actually see their treatment through to the end. these are all v personal reasons that also exclude many other specialty choices for me.

SO! tl;dr: (+) very noble, makes everyone happy, changes lives in a unique way compared to most other specialties, relative less stress bcs no death is gonna be on your hand. (-) does not fit my personal preference.

i rate it a 7.5/10

[enchantedpendant]

internal medicine

nearly 2 weeks ago now i finished my IM rotation. sure, it was only the second rotation i fully got through (bcs covid and all that)... but tbh, it already seems like the best. i have a few reasons for that.

the first thing would be how i, at this point, am actually most interested in IM as a specialty, as in i actually do wanna become an internist. i even have a subspecialty in mind — endocrinology! and for this i think i’d have to give a shoutout, with utmost respect, to one professor, an endocrinologist who gave several classes back in preclinical. he was just... very smart, which of course not that im saying others aren’t as smart, but his teaching method is just very effective. his classes were among the few which i’d actively take notes for, thats how invested i get. he was probably the first one that got me thinking “huh... IM seems interesting” when for years before that i thought i wanted to be an OBGYN.

aside from that wonderful teacher, allow me to elaborate more on what i like from IM. all the complex cases with long lists of comorbidities that some would complain about? listen, i love them. not in the sense of “oh theyre easy”, obviously theyre complicated and difficult, but like thats the fun! everything connects and the discussions could become endless. it might sound pessimistic when i say that somehow it would feel like no matter how much i study there would always be something i dont know, something others would know better about... but i dont mind that — the things to learn about are endless. IM is vast, dare i say it’s a large portion of medicine. the patients we come across are extremely varying. i love how these complex cases could feel like giant puzzles. i love how you get to work with other specialties or maybe even subspecialties among the internists for each cases �� i love how its like a team game. and the workload feels like it hits a perfect balance — as in, i get to ‘directly’ save lives (hopefully... i mean, dealing with possibly mortal cases could be scary but also very rewarding), but on the other hand the chances of being forcibly woken up at 3AM for an emergency are far less (than, lets say, the surgical specialties... im sorry OBGYN).

last but absolutely not the least, i would like to say thank you to my preceptor throughout this 9 weeks rotation. the coolest dude ive ever known. my senior in junior high and senior high (10 years my senior, to be exact), the dude who went through the same trajectory through school as i did (started school at 5, skipped 2 years, got into med school at age 15)... ive heard a LOT about him (“OH you started med school at age 15? youre just like Alex then!!” i get that from nearly everyone yes his name is also Alex) but this was the very first time i actually got to interact with him. dude’s so smart, he became an internist at age 27 bruh holy shit dude what the hell and he could really teach. dude treated us coffee on our first and last meeting, greeted us on Whatsapp with “gang”... believe me when i say that we were truly shocked bcs... nah mates attendings just dont do that😭 i could go on and on about him, ive bored my mom by talking endlessly about him lmao all on how cool he is, but i’ll spare yall on that. he told us a story on how he decided to become an internist (after initially wanting to become an OBGYN!) and his story made me go... hey.... yeah i could relate to that. i sent him a message earlier today, a nice lil thank you and that im really happy to have him as my preceptor and i hope i could be just like him within the next 10 years. he responded along the lines of “awww! i hope our discussions were helpful, i wish we couldve had more but too bad we dont have enough time😞 see you on top, doc! ideally you dont need 10 years, you have lots of potential👍” which deadass i sent my mom the screenshot of it and i said “look at him and these white lies hdjskdjsksks omg how do i respond” i havent even opened the messages bcs idk what to say🥺😭 tl;dr knowing him has been very inspiring and i feel like ive learned a lot, more than just in an academic sense. i dont get all inspired and motivated often... but he did that.

okay yeah this post is long enough, ive said plenty i think! lol but i think IM deserves this.

imma rate Internal Medicine 9/10... the only 1 its losing is bcs i wish i had spent less time napping etc etc and spent even more time studying😭 like i still couldve done more i think😕 and like holy shit this is wild yall you dont often get to see me retrospectively wishing i studied more and of course with covid and all, we had no night shifts, we were discouraged from doing certain invasive interventions to the patients, so we still werent getting the Full Experience™ you see... but oh well

thank you IM (and doctor Alex!) — i hope i’ll see yall again☺️

[enchantedpendant]

ophthalmology

i just finished my ophthalmology exams and, therefore, rotation!

this rotation was... fun, unexpectedly.

i never really cared abt this field in particular, as in ive never wanted to specialize in it, but as i got in this rotation and esp nearing the end, at a few points, honestly???? i could?? see myself?? specializing in this?? and become an ophthalmologist???? like hey i dont hate it? sure i have my weak points (infection/immunology bcs its all.. just... red eye... and stuff... and then you give em some topical meds and if thats not enough then fine give em some oral ones as well... but like youre supposed to tell the difference on where the inflammation is happening? but yknow, its all just.. that? and there are all these choices of meds??) but i do have some strong points, if i’d say so myself, and a bit more that i enjoy, and some more that i dont mind

conclusion: i’d rate ophthalmology a 7/10