PSYCHIATRY
06/27/2020
4 weeks
SCHEDULE: Monday through Friday. no call.
8:00 am - 4:00pm: sit in on sessions with my preceptor.
- Appointments were 1 hour long each. My preceptor used a lot of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
- Patients mostly needed an outlet to express themselves.
- Not aloud to sit in 3-4 times total
SETTING: outpatient facility connected to hospital. scheduled appointments.
MOST COMMON DIAGNOSES:
- PTSD
- OCD
- DEPRESSION
- ANXIETY
- SCHIZOPHRENIA
OVERALL IMPRESSION: My original thoughts were focusing on the lack of medical procedures and convenient clinical hours - 7am to 4pm - only 9 hours. In medicine, that's a short day. What I didn't anticipate was the emotional exhaustion I would experience. Some patient histories are beyond horrible, and I would most likely be in their same state of mind if we traded places. The psychiatric component to medicine is present in all specialties (an important lesson!!), and I feel guilty for assuming I would not be affected by the people I have become to understand in this short time frame. I was very emotional quite often, because of circumstances I cannot disclose (HIPAA), and it was rough. I would go home and sit in silence or just walk around and take deep breaths. The world and its people can be cruel to one another. What I choose to focus on, once again, is being thankful for the priceless tools I have learned and all the ways I can hopefully help my future patients.
TIPS FOR THE SHELF EXAM: Comquest was very similar to the shelf
- MDD vs Depressive Disorder
- Psychotic disorders - Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective, Bipolar types, etc.
- Anxiety Disorders
- Pharmacology indications and side effect profiles
- Malignant Hyperthermia vs. Serotonin Syndrome vs. Neuroleptic Malignant syndrome