Spring 2006

Van's Med-Shadow Journal - March 2006
Dr. Johnson has been a great person to shadow. I have continued the process of following him and third year medical students during their rotations in the clinic. Dr. Johnson is acquainted with all of his patients, and that's something important to have as a health care professional. I am so impressed with the amount of trust that’s held between a doctor and his or her patient. Last time I was shadowing Dr. Johnson, there was this 87-year-old woman who came in for abdominal pain. She carried all of her doctors' notes and medication bottles--they overfilled her small crocheted bag. I was left inside the room, and intuitively, I began conversing with her. I learned that she receives a low government allowance, resides in a nursing home, and usually rides a taxi to come to her doctor appointments. She spoke to me as if I was her companion, close friend. She started talking about her past medical history--and even about her grandkids! This woman showed me that as a clinician, you have to make yourself _presentable_ and _welcoming_ to your patients. Each patient is unique, and you have to accommodate to his or her needs--remember, you're the one working for them.

Shaun D Med-Shadow Journal on March 8, 2006
Today Dr. Johnson had an unexpected medical student come in to observe her so I was going to have to leave, but another resident, Dr. Kevin (he introduced himself by his first name only), offered to let me shadow him instead so I got to stay. After following him around for a while, he told me he was going to do a circumcision on an infant and that it may be uncomfortable to watch, but I decided to anyway. This was one of Dr. Kevin’s first times doing the surgery, so he was being advised by the attending doctor. I was quite shaken while watching, as it was some sight. As the doctor cut, the tied down baby would scream while the nurse fed him some sort of sugar solution to distract and/or quiet him. Dr. Kevin seemed a little nervous throughout the procedure (I don’t blame him), but the attending calmly and gently guided him through the process until it was done. Soon after, I left the room because the baby’s father would be coming back in soon. As I walked down the hall I passed the young dad. He was obviously very concerned about his son. It was a powerful sight, a true testament to the amount of trust given to physicians.

Fall 2005

Corrine’s Med-Shadow Journal
A patient came in with a really bad headache, fever, and sensitivity to light. Dr. Adams and another physician decided to test her for meningitis; therefore, Dr. Adams had to do a procedure in which he pulled some spinal fluid. I was able to watch Dr. Adams perform this procedure, and thought it was very interesting. In order to get the spinal fluid, Dr. Adams had to insert a needle between the lower vertebrae of the back which required high accuracy. There was another lady who had come in earlier that day who was experiencing amnesia and confusion. Dr. Adams was not quite sure what was going on, but later on in the evening he received the results from the CAT scan and mentioned that there was a lot of “empty space.” I am not quite sure what this means as had to leave before he could really explain it. Another patient had come in with a headache as well. He was given morphine for some sort of pain and ended up having a reaction to the morphine. So, they gave him a different form of medication as well as some benidryll for the reaction to morphine. Another patient was having belly pain, so Dr. Adams pulled used a ultrasound to examine his belly. With the ultrasound, Dr. Adams was able to point out some of the major organs and arties he could see. Basically, over the couple of hours I was there, we ran around from patient to patient trying to figure out what was wrong. As always, I had a great time with Dr. Adams. Every time I shadow a physician, I feel more and more confident in my pursuit to become a physician myself. I really enjoy talking to all the patients as well as learning some of the various illness and what symptoms help contribute to a diagnosis. I cannot wait to shadow Dr. Adams again!

Van’s Med-Shadow Journal
Dr. William P. Johnson, an internal medicine specialist that I have been following, has been a great physician and mentor. He is a busy man but is always willing to answer questions and clarify curiosities. In the past two visits, I've been able to follow Dr. Johnson and third year medical students who are completing their rotations. It's wonderful that you get to see their thought processes, and they share so much of their knowledge with you. It's inspirational to be around such intellectuals. Dr. Johnson and his students have come a long way, and they're always willing to give tips on medical school admission, interviews, etc. Dr. Johnson stressed that grades are very, very important, especially in classes such as Biochemistry. I've greatly enjoyed my experience as a Med-Shadow student; I was able to see the aftermath of an ulcer surgery, talk to patients in clinics, and see how a physician interacts with his patients. Cultural sensitivity, psychology, and medical knowledge are all important in this field.

Shaun’s Med-Shadow Journal
I've learned a lot more than I thought I would during my shadowing experiences. Since I come from a family with no professional degrees, I have never had the opportunity to spend very much time with a doctor before. While it seems obvious (and I always thought I understood this), I realized that doctors are indeed just people. They are unsure of themselves, they get frustrated, and sometimes they just want the work to stop and to go home. I also learned that while doctors care a great deal for their patients, they have learned to become emotionally detached from them. This is the only way they can rationally assess a patient's needs in order to deliver the best possible treatment.

Christine’s Med-Shadow Journal
Working the outpatient clinic, you are exposed to seeing the patient-doctor relationship. Because several of these patients are those who have just received their kidney transplant, Dr. James has seen their progress from day one from when they first appeared on the transplant list until a few weeks to months after their surgery. I witnessed today how helpful and active these patients are with their recovery and almost equally as amazing are their families’ cooperation and concern. These patients are dealing with having to get back to their daily lives and routines which we take for-granted. All of them meet with Dr. James several times a month including monitoring diabetes, blood pressure, daily meds, changing their dressings on their sutures which are healing, etc. Also today, one lady with her long time husband of about 45 years was almost in tears as she thanked Dr. James for being there to consol her when her husband’s blood pressure had dropped to a deadly rate. The thank you was brief but lasting, and practically put everyone in the room to tears. Her husband and her were really spunky and sweet.

Rajesh’s Med-Shadow Journal
I met with Dr. Morris 2 weeks back for about 3 hours (Nov 4), and I had a fantastic time. She took me everywhere with her, and I observed a lot of her work. She also conversed with me a great deal, and I asked her many questions and was given terrific answers. I never before understood the extent of what it meant to go through medical school and residency, and now I know what I am getting myself into, and I am nothing but excited for my future. She had a wonderful bond with her patients, and she made them feel very comfortable even though they were going through the roughest of times. I can’t wait to shadow her again, because I know that the more I do this, the better understanding of medicine I will get.

Doug’s Med-Shadow Journal
As part of the Med Shadow program in AED, shadowing with Dr. Samimi, Chief of Plastic Surgery, has been an amazing experience. Dr. Samimi is an amazing instructor, both to me and his resident doctor. He is slow and methodical in explaining what things are and what the purpose and methods behind each surgery are. I really enjoy talking to him about medicine in general... both the pros and cons of it, and how it affects your life during my point in my school career. Dr. Samimi is very honest that medicine is a hard and difficult path, only the dedicated and most deserving make it through with happiness and success. While Samimi is open about the harder aspects of medicine, he is also very supportive of the positive role doctors and health professionals play in our society. He says he is very happy with his life and how it has turned out and supports those that are truly working toward this profession and future. He is a funny man as well, being relaxed in the OR, even jammin' to some Black Eyed Peas when cutting! Overall I'm very lucky to have been placed with such a great doctor and med shadow mentor.

Spring 2005

Corrine’s Med-Shadow Journal
Dr. Barrett Adams (E.R. Resident) – Shadowed on 2/4/05 from 6:00-9:00 pm I really enjoyed shadowing Dr. Adams. This was my first experience shadowing an E.R. doctor, and in the time that I was with him I was able to see a finger amputation, leg wound close, a broken wrist re-set, and various initial evaluations. Simply by shadowing Dr. Adams I have realized that E.R. medicine requires knowledge in nearly all aspects of medicine.

Erica’s Med-Shadow Journal
Dr. Akhter, the neurologist I am observing, is so insightful and inspirational to me. I told him about my passion of one day practicing surgical oncology. He stressed to me the importance of maintaining a "lock & key" analogy attitude. In other words, he wanted me to understand that as a future doctor, I am a key that is trying to fit into the right lock in order to open the door. Each lock represents a specific specialty in the field of medicine; the key is my personality, and behind each door requires a certain type of personality. Each specialty has its own characteristics and it is my job to make sure I fit the key into the right lock . . . . . . . Lastly, he encouraged me to remember that it is not where I am going that is important, but how I get there that is because the journey is where I will spend a significant amount of my life.

Daniel’s Med-Shadow Journal
I think the most important thing I learned tonight was the fact that these doctors really are just kids. You don’t walk out of medical school and just know everything. They look young, they act young, and they ask questions and are unsure or themselves . . . . I also noticed that the doctors actually had personalities, they were not just brainy kids who are one-dimensional. The doctor I was shadowing had a sense of humor, and he made me feel extremely comfortable and he made his patients smile and feel comfortable. All these people I meet, including my knowledge of my parents as professionals, contribute to the character I want to create when I am a doctor. I hope I can fuse all of the positive things I have seen together to make on damn good doc.