I really enjoyed the time I spent in psychiatry at QHC CPEP. Having an undergraduate degree in psychology and being exposed to “emotionally disturbed patients” when I did EMS, I had a vague idea of what I was going into. I was both exposed to new techniques and treatment strategies at this rotation. One of the main skills that I had to grasp quickly was a different style of interview, performing mental status exam on every patient, and obtaining collateral information. I think overall, I was able to grasp the interviewing process fairly quickly, and I always tried to improve from constructive criticism.

Additionally, in psychiatry, especially at CPEP, I always had to be extra vigilant. I was told my several providers to stay an arm’s length from the pt and to exit immediately if the pt was to get especially agitated. I heard from one of my classmates that one of the PAs was assaulted on the job when the student was there, and so bearing that in mind I was always aware of my surroundings.

The knowledge that I have gained from this rotation will definitely be applicable in other rotations/specialties. Mental illness is frequently disregarded, while this field can provide an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of patients. While past psychiatric treatments have been bizarre, we live in the era of understating and further development of the knowledge of the workings of the brain. In fact, one pt kept refusing a psychiatric consult because she is a scientologist, and after looking it up, scientologists are actually against psychiatry due to past harsh “treatment” methods. Overall, mental health is just as important as medical conditions, and in this field, there is an opportunity to help pts for them to lead a satisfactory functioning lifestyle.

I definitely had interesting patients during this rotation, but the most memorable and the saddest patients that I saw were pediatric patients. Many of them had difficult upbringings, and I was once again reminded how fortunate I was to have supporting parents and the opportunity to receive education. Many of these kids were going through way too many issues at their age, and I did my best to always contain my composure and to relate to them. I give a lot of credit to Dr. Fana at CPEP, a child psychiatrist, for trying to help so many children and adolescents going through hardship and still remaining positive every day.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time at QHC CPEP where I was able to do both day and night shifts, getting an experience from both sides. Additionally, the preceptors were very nice and helpful, eager to teach, and it was nice to be in the environment with so many past York graduates.

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