I Stuck a Needle in Someone Today

My name is Derrick Antoniak, and this is my blog about being a first-year medical student.

So, I'm going to keep these short to try to avoid the long delay between posts, because this really is supposed to be a journal I can look back on, and a lot of the day-to-day from head and neck got lost because I went so long without posting.

Today I had my second preceptor visit in as many weeks. Dr. Roy genuinely (at least seems like she) likes me and wants me to get the most out of her clinic. But today was a test of her patience. I'm not a guy that likes to use phrases like 'emotional rollercoaster', but we certainly had some high and low moments this afternoon. I don't know how, but after the first two or three appointments, the waiting room was full. And she doesn't run her clinic like the hospital, where a nurse brings you back, then a med student comes and talks to you, then you see the doctor for five minutes. She does it all. She calls the kids back, and (with my help) gets the history, performs the physical exam and any other testing, makes the diagnosis, discusses the plan with the parents, writes the prescriptions, and sets up any follow-up. So all of a sudden, we had the entire afternoon's patient roster sitting in the waiting room and it was just the two of us.

Anyways, besides that, I thought I was getting good at looking at the eardrums, but I totally blew that. I looked, saw the membrane, looked at the other side, saw the membrane, told Dr. Roy that it looked normal, which it ultimately did. But when she came behind me to look, she said, "You see the tubes?" "No." "Look here." So, fully expecting to see some microscopic color change or something, I was stunned when I instead saw these massive, blue intertube-looking rings that wound up being in both ears. I was pissed off, to be honest.

But, I kept practicing. We were in a huge hurry, but I kept insisting on looking in each and every ear, and she kept letting me, and she kept teaching me, at all times, discussing the problems in lay terms to mom and in (slightly) more medical terms to me. And, by the end I was feeling a little better. The last appointment was a guy with his three sons all in need of flu shots. I've seen Dr. Roy give plenty, but so far she had only let me give the nasal mist flu vaccine. But today I was promoted from the guy holding the legs down (kids don't like shots, it's by far the worst part of pediatrics so far) to the guy giving the injection. When I finished, Dr. Roy said, "different than chicken, right?", knowing that's what I had practiced on at school, but honestly, other than the insanely loud screaming and crying, the injection felt remarkably similar.