Finished With Neonatology

I don’t think I’ve ever said “awwwww” so many times before. Who knew that the sight of a newborn yawning, sneezing, or even hiccuping could be so cute? If anything, the last two weeks made me a big time softie. Neonatology at Texas Children’s new Pavilion for Women was indescribably wonderful and made me a spoiled medical student: coffee/tea with assorted snacks throughout the day, an amazing cafeteria, Olive Garden catered conferences, and getting to play with babies all day. Life is good. :mrgreen:

There’s something unusually powerful about examining a newborn. Many patients I saw were literally hours old. The last time they urinated or defecated was… never. Knowing I was the first person to examine these newborns from head-to-toe was beyond amazing, especially with first time parents. Having to explain the normalcy of truncal skin rashes, oddly shaped heads, and bluish hands/feet became routine, but the parents seemed to always appreciate it.

View of the Pavilion for Women from the resident’s gym.

In addition to the adorable babies and their parents, I was privileged to work with a great colleague, two incredibly sweet PAs, and a very laid back attending who frequently went out of her way to teach us about topics pertaining to our interests.

For the next two weeks, I’ll be working with inpatient pediatric hospital medicine (PHM) and reverting back to my Internal Medicine days of seeing patients, writing H&Ps, and expanding my differential diagnoses. Only one month left till I’m finished with all my core rotations. Gotta conclude on a strong note. 🙂

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2 COMMENTS

    • I outlined a few things on a post I made prior to starting my clinical rotations last January (link to post) which have served me very well. I think the most important thing is to stay engaged on all your rotations – not too many people get to deliver a baby, discuss suicidal ideations, scrub in on a heart transplant, or gain the breadth of experiences we do in such a short time.

      As far as doing well on rotations, be a team player and listen to your superiors (upperclassmen medical students included) for advice regarding your oral/written presentations, studying for shelf exams, etc. Enjoy the ride!

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