Hello and welcome to Medical Mondays! Since I still don’t feel like talking about EBM, we’re going to go with one of my other favorite rotations from my second year–Community Medicine!
(Yes, I know I’m technically already in my third year and trying to catch up on my second year–please bear with me!)
Day in the Life: Community Medicine
My Community Medicine rotation had fairly odd hours–when I wasn’t at the office seeing patients from 7:40-12:30-ish or 12:40-5pm-ish, I was often off sitting in on meetings with the different resources we had available in the community, or at a senior citizen center or the local public library giving talks on different topics, including sugar, sleep hygiene, nutrition, healthy diets, and white coat syndrome.
Since one of my talks was about sugar and how it’s pretty much in everything (sigh), I found my own “props” to bring in to teach them to read nutrition labels and the like! That talk was kinda depressing for most of the people in the audience (honestly, myself included–it’s crazy how much sugar is in everything!), but I tried to end on a lighter note by going over ways to decrease the amount of added sugar in our everyday diets!!
On Thursday evenings, I’d go to our local FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center) and volunteer as a junior attending at Promise Clinic, which is a free clinic that offers primary care services to uninsured, under-served patients.
I’ve been there on a couple other occasions before to volunteer and it’s still weird getting used to medical students asking me what I think about their plans + treating my comments/advice/feedback the way I would when getting feedback from one of my attendings.
My advisor is awesome at finding me free food opportunities. :D
All things considered, this was a pretty chill rotation. My longest days were usually Thursdays since I’d be seeing patients at my office for morning and afternoon shifts, and then going to the free clinic in the evening–but despite that, it was a lot of fun! Being at Promise Clinic reminds me of being at Paul Hom Asian Clinic, so I’m always happy to be there–I’m hoping to have a little more free time this upcoming year to go volunteer more!
Random, but here’s the fluffy Muffin going for a walk with me! :]
- Do you like having a set schedule or random hours?
- If your doctor were to give talks within the community, what topics would you want him/her to talk about?
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You all work really hard taking care of everyone! Thanks for giving us a peek into your day
Deborah Brooks recently posted…Blueberry, Banana, Carrot and Zucchini Squares
Thanks! I really liked this rotation! :]
I really like to have a set schedule! A set routine is totally my jam.
Me too! It helps with my productivity! :P
I like a set schedule, though I like it better if I get to set the schedule :P The community talks sound like a fun opportunity!
hahaha, I definitely would too–I dream about being able to do that someday! :P
They definitely were! I’m kinda hoping I can do more of those sometime!
I like having a fairly set schedule because it’s easier to plan things around it. I don’t know what I’d do if it changed all the time. The worst I’ve had is weekends changing month-to-month, but thank goodness it was the same per week!
This sounds like a cool rotation – nice that you can get out and help the community. Finding out how much sugar is in things really IS depressing though!
-Lauren
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I’m definitely with you there! Mine kinda changes every 2-4 weeks, so I’ve gotten semi-used to that, but I definitely function better with a set schedule! It’s nice being able to plan for the future! :P
Forreals! It’s nice to be aware, but also rather saddening, haha.
So interesting learning more about your rotations. And on another note, I cannot believe your cat tolerates a leash/harness for walks – tell me your secret! LOL
haha, I wish I could tell you, but she’s just super chill and likes to explore! (Not necessarily in the direction I’d like her to go in though!)
It is crazy how much sugar is in things! I try not to drive myself crazy with it– but it’s always good to check.
I’m in the same boat! It’s kinda frightening how it’s in so many things! (Does not stop me from eating a tub of ice cream though…)
Farrah recently posted…Day in the Life: Community Medicine
Hey Farrah! I’ve missed reading your blog posts! I’ve been consumed with schoolwork as you are probably very familiar with yourself lol! It’s funny that you mentioned looking at the sugar content in things because I was just talking with a friend the other day about how much sugar there is in so many products! I’ve got a really bad sweet tooth so I’ve been trying really hard to cut out sugar but a lot of companies make it so hard lol! Thats a beautiful cat btw & I’m wondering how do you get a cat to walk on a leash like that. I have a cat and I want her to get more exercise outside without worrying about her getting away!
I’ve missed youuuu!! Welcome back to the blogging world!! :] I hope school has been treating you well! I feel ya on the sweet tooth (I ate almost a pint of ice cream in one sitting yesterday, har har).
I wish I could tell you I trained her how to, but I didn’t really. She’s just so chill that she doesn’t really care too much when I clip her into a harness/leash. She doesn’t always go where I’d like her to go, so we end up exploring together, hehehe. Make sure you get a harness that your cat can’t slip out of, and maybe familiarize her with it at home first for small amounts of time before trying to go outside? (Best of luck! My cat in California flatly refuses to move when she has one on and just kinda army-crawls everywhere if she needs to move while it’s on).
Farrah recently posted…Day in the Life: Community Medicine
Haha Thanks Girl! It’s got its good moments and bad moments lol. I’ve been wanting to put my cat in a harness so she can go outside but I’ve just been worried about it. I can totally see her being like your cat in California and not want to move at all…..that is her personality for sure! I just transitioned her to being a fully inside cat after being inside/outside and it was very difficult at first. She was not happy that I was keeping her inside but I’ve got her enough toys and activities that she doesn’t mind it now, but I am worried she will react the same to a leash lol.
Hang in there!! There’s definitely a chance that she’ll react the same way, but maybe if you slowwwwly get her used to having the harness on indoors, and then add on the leash indoors, and then try to transition her to meandering outside? I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you! :O
What an interesting rotation. It’s sad how much of the food around us is so unhealthy. Hopefully being better educated will help us make better choices.
Agreed–it was really eye-opening for me too. I’m glad there are more healthy choices out there now though!
Farrah recently posted…Day in the Life: Community Medicine