Week 3:
GeriPsych Rocks!

July 1, 2017

This week had a good change of pace. It started off with a lot of scoring which is what we spend the bulk of our days doing. On Monday, Dr. St. Louis came into the lab and asked us to come with him. He brought us into the room of a patient who had been diagnosed with RBD and Parkinson’s disease. This was a very educational experience for me, because I was able to see all of the symptoms and attributes of Parkinson’s that I have been reading about so tirelessly for the past three weeks. I was even able to move the patient’s arm around the feel that rigidity in his movements. This was very eye opening for me, as I have been researching RBD and Parkinson’s for three weeks, but this was the first time I was able to associate these diseases with a living human being. I feel that sometimes when we read about diseases, we lose track that these are real people whose lives are being greatly affected. This experience helped me to realign the reasons for performing this research, and how important research is to making medical advancements.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I had the incredible experience of shadowing Dr. Leal, a geriatric psychiatrist at Mayo’s adult psychiatry unit. I was able to sit in on the morning conference with consultants, social workers, pharmacists, nurses and physician’s assistants while they discussed each patient individually. They discussed improvements, set-backs, and goals for the day. After the morning conference, I was able to shadow the patient care tea, as they rounded on all of the patients. I met some very delightful patients who were willing to let me observe and learn. After rounding on the patients, Dr. Leal brought me to where the electro convulsion therapy (ECT) takes place. ECT is very readily used to treat major depressive disorder when trials of medication were not effective. ECT is not what the movies make it out to be, it is not scary or painful for the patient, and it is very effective in treating depression. On Wednesday, I was able to see the patients after their ECT treatment. In some of the patients, I saw incredible transformations. One of that patients had a complete turn-around and was willing to talk about their worries about leaving the unit and going home. Overall, the ECT treatment seemed very beneficial, and I am grateful to have been able to see this treatment and the immediate results.

I had a very eye-opening moment on Wednesday during the morning conference. The physicians and patient care team were discussing the discharge of a patient, and what their needs will be once at home. The patient’s family had expressed that they were looking for a new outpatient psychiatrist, but the team seemed concerned about this. They expressed that it would be very difficult to find a new psychiatrist, and to get an appointment in a timely matter. This rang a bell for me. I saw first had how in need our society is for psychiatrists. I have also tossed around the idea of becoming a psychiatrist, but was afraid the medicine would take over and there would be a lack of connection with my patients. Dr. Leal proved my fears wrong. She was able to connect with her patients, hear and talk about their concerns, talk to and plan with their families, and make them as happy and comfortable as she possibly could. I am so excited about the field of psychiatry, and all the wonderful things that I will be able to do in the future. I cannot wait to help people in such a special way.

I’m off the Chicago for the weekend to celebrate the Fourth of July and my dad’s 50^th birthday, but will be back in the lab on Wednesday. Let’s see what adventures this next week brings!