Week 9:
See you later, Iowa City!

August 7, 2017

This week led off with the opportunity to shadow a physician’s assistant. I decided it would be important for me to see another healthcare career. Physcian’s assistant is a career I have not explored much yet, but could be something I am interested in. So, I followed a PA in urology (I also have interest in urology). The urology aspect of it was fairly interesting, but I actually wasn’t too captivated by it. Gastroenterology and geriatric psychiatry were more exciting to me. But, it was incredibly helpful for me to look at the career. What I gathered from the PA was that she was able to have more time with her family compared to most doctors she works with, and of course she got to start practicing so much sooner. This has made me realize the this career is something I should consider more. I am not as completely career-focused as I once was, and so I might want a career that allows me more family time and time for other activities. However there is a lot of positives and negatives to both the MD and the PA track.

Later in the week I was able to shadow a family physician at his geriatric clinic. Let me tell you, I think it was my favorite shadowing experience. Seeing all the geriatric patients literally brightened my week. I was so focused on them that I didn’t have time to worry about my own worries (doctors appointments, moving out stress). My favorite was a patient who was having auditory hallucinations that got referred in. It turns out the patient was on a couple medications that could be causing the hallucinations. The doctor decided to start a flush out of these medications, but it will take weeks because there are several of them and some have to be decreased over time. The doctor also gave the patient a quiz or ‘game’ that gives insight on the potential for dementia. The doctor really wasn’t thinking dementia, because the patient was really with it. However, they ended up not doing well on this test. Not awful, but somewhere in between good and bad. The physician ended up thinking it was probably a bit of both contributing to their hallucinations. But, hopefully taking off some medications will help them, and dementia won’t be what is behind. You could tell the patient was scared of that possibility, and it kind of breaks your heart. I think I liked this visit, though, because I work with many dementia and Alzheimer’s patients as a hospice volunteer and seeing how it begins and how it is screened for really interests me. Those diseases also just particularly interest me, especially in how those affected by them are cared for. Another interesting patient was a man that was losing his partner. It really opened my eyes to the fact that a big part of life for geriatric patients is losing the ones they love. It’s really important to keep an eye on it, because depression is already very prevalent in geriatric populations. As sad as all these circumstances are, I just see how important it is to be there for this age group. I feel like so often they get overlooked or tossed to the side. But their lives still matter and they still deserve the best care. Even though the doctor said many rising physicians turn away from geriatrics because it is a lot to learn and complicated (as disease tends to present itself differently in older age) I just don’t want to turn away from it. I can feel my passion for advocating for and working with the older population, and I think ultimately it is what will drive me and bring me to my future career as a health professional. This was a great way for me to start to wrap up my last week here.

We had a lab pizza party to celebrate my last day, which was really kind of Dr. Fiedorowicz. The little things like this make you feel really appreciated, and like you were able to leave a positive mark. It was nice to get a chance to say goodbye to my coworkers who all helped me so much- teaching me the ropes and letting me follow them around for participant visits. I’ll miss the lab, and I know this summer with them is exactly where I was meant to be. I really learned more than I thought I could, not just about psychiatry research, but about careers and my life and my future. There is a lot I am taking away from the experience, and I have Cornell and Dr. Fiedorowicz to thank for this outstanding opportunity. Hopefully I will be back at UIHC in a few years for the next steps in my education.