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Rotation #4: Family Medicine (and my future job!)

Time flies when you're doing your clinical rotations and everything that isn't absolutely mandatory goes to the wayside. I've been MIA for a few months from this blog, but alas, that's life as a PA student. Let's get caught up, shall we?

When I had been thinking about my future job, I wanted to end up in some “sexy” specialty like ICU or surgery (assuming I wasn’t the type to pass out in the OR, which luckily, I wasn’t!).

Family medicine had always been at the bottom of my interest list. I went into this rotation thinking, “let’s just get this over with.” Boy, was I wrong about what I thought family medicine was!

I get to build relationships. I can do procedures like toenail removal and cyst removal. I even helped with a few vasectomies! I get to see adorable little babies. I get to know what actually happens in the long run with my patients (rather than discharge and disappear).

And best of all, I am challenged daily. The breadth of things I need to know to care for my patients is wide. It is so much more than just diagnosing the common cold, which I had previously dismissed family medicine as being.

Every specialty has pros and cons. So, keep an open mind and you may be surprised by what appeals to you the most!

The doctor started making remarks about offering me a job. Because it was so far from what I had originally imagined, I wanted to take some time to think about it. 

One day toward the end of my rotation, I was talking with a patient and he asked if I was considering staying. I said yes, but was honest about how it hasn't be what I originally envisioned. And you know what the patient did? He told me to watch a movie. 

This movie was probably made before most of you were born. It's called "Doc Hollywood" and it's a 1991 movie with Michael J. Fox. He plays a young doctor, headed to LA for a fancy surgery job. On the way, he crashes his car in a small rural town, and while he's there waiting for his car to be fixed, the townspeople try to recruit him to be their local provider. 

This is going to sound ridiculous, but this movie helped tip the scales for me. It reminded me about the uniqueness of rural medicine and the importance of building relationships with your patients. 

Of course, not working weekends or holidays or overnights was also part of the decision! And having an amazing group of people to work with, who I really connected well with. So when an official offer came through over my holiday break, I gladly accepted it. You're looking at a future family practice PA!

Over my break, I took a solo trip to LA and got to meet the wonderful @theflowery_pa. 


P.S. During this rotation, I got to work in a rural women’s health clinic and it was awesome! Vaginal ultrasound to measure cervical length (and see some baby legs kicking mom in the bladder), endometrial biopsy, annual exams, and lots of prenatal exams. I measured fundal height and checked fetal heart times. 


Yes, those are speculum reindeer!


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