Aspire to Inspire

Throughout this past week in ISM, I have gained an abundance of information from creating mentor visit assessments, updating the mentor log, attending mentor visits, and researching more about pediatrics, overall. Continuously updating my digital and paper portfolio is something that I must keep in mind in order to lessen the amount of work that must be done at the last minute.

One main portion that I would like to focus on is my mentor visit this past week. The initial patient I observed was thought to have a stomach bug but the mom was not sure. As Dr. Dickschat further examined him and went through her clinical process of asking the parent questions relative and nonrelative to the illness, she began inspecting him. Instead of suspecting a stomachache, she found that he possessed a terrible ear infection in the left ear. From a student standpoint, that made me realize that the doctor has to view the patient in a holistic sense. Even though the parent may have certain concerns, a pediatrician has to cover all of his/her bases to make sure that there is no underlying or extra issue. That, to me, is something that is most likely acquired with experience and practice in performing medical duties. Additionally, the most interesting case was a young girl who had busted her lip at school whilst attempting to reach for something. Dr. Dickschat displayed the torn portion of her lip and explained that depending on which part of her lip experienced the bruising would result in the equating level of soreness and torn tissue. She even explained how it was unusual for a five year old to be more hyper than tantrum-y, as the child was quite curious and loved exploring the clinic. All in all, I acquired some valuable medical information on how to recognize any possible missing teeth or teeth that may have gotten pushed up further into the roof of the mouth. I am sure that I will continue gaining even more knowledge with Dr. Dickschat as my mentor.

In conclusion, I feel as if I am learning a great amount through assessments and mentor visits, especially. I hope to continue to acquire information concerning pediatrics through meeting with professionals and my final product.