Beginning Monday, I’ll be working in the Comprehensive Mental Health Program at the VA Hospital as part of my psychiatry rotation’s first month. Guess it makes sense – I ended my internal medicine (IM) rotation at the VA, and now I’ll be starting psychiatry there. Another month of interacting with veterans and listening to their amazing wartime stories… can’t wait! 🙂
Coming off of IM, I felt smart. I knew what I was doing most of the time, and if I didn’t, I knew how to find out. After a month working with guinea pigs in the research lab, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to deal with patients on a regular basis. To get back in the swing of things, I’m trying to finish the highly recommended First Aid for Psychiatry reference book before beginning the two month rotation. Fortunately it’s relatively short and easy to read, but let’s see if my procrastination can cause me to fail yet another short term goal. 😉
The psychiatry rotation is two months long. After my month at the VA, I’ll be heading to Ben Taub’s inpatient or consult psychiatric service. Throughout the two months, students are given four mandatory call shifts in the Ben Taub ER, but again I lucked out and don’t have my first session till the second week. Hopefully this will give me some time to ease in.
Now let’s just see how fast this rotation flies by.
How did doing a month of research skew your opinions about medicine?
That was a poor choice of words on my part. I was just trying to note the stark contrast between my experiences in the lab versus my time on the wards. If anything, this past month gave me another angle from which to view the vast landscape of medicine. I’ve modified the post accordingly. Thanks for the comment! 🙂
Good luck with your psych rotation!