I am glad that the internal medicine rotation was my last rotation as it combined all of my past experiences from clinical rotations together. I was able to learn new skills by being on the stroke team and completing an online course on the NIH Stroke Scale from the American Heart Association. I was able to assess patients to rule out stroke as they came into the ED and if there were any consults placed. Being part of the stroke team is not offered on every internal medicine rotation, and it was also an extension of what I had learned about stroke assessment from the time I did EMS.
Additionally, this rotation provided me with an opportunity to practice clinical skills, especially ABGs. I did not have many opportunities to practice ABGs in the past, as my past ED site favored VBGs. One of the PAs, Mr. Donovan King (from the FIRST graduation York PA class), taught me his ABG technique, and I was able to successfully accomplish it on the first stick! Needless to say, after several successful ABGs later, my self-confidence shot up.
Furthermore, I found managing patients during this rotation to be challenging, as they had a lot of underlying chronic issues to begin with. It was important to look at these chronic issues together, and to focus on those acute problems that were posing the greatest risks to the patient’s health. This is one the reasons I preferred to have this rotation last, because I was able to use my knowledge from past clinical rotations to interview the patient, assess their chart, and to come up with an appropriate assessment and plan.
Lastly, two of my classmates have shared with me that they preferred doing night shifts during this rotation as it provided them with an opportunity to perform more procedures, which is why I requested to do 3 weeks of nights. The first week of night shifts was definitely rough, especially my drive back home in the morning, forcing me to pull over several times to nap because I was starting to be a danger on the road. However, it was amazing how my body had adjusted to the night schedule by the third week. I learned that the human body can get accustomed to anything, as long as you choose to be persistent to continue working in achieving your goals. Here is to the end of my PA clinical journey and to a fresh new start waiting for me ahead!
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