Be the Exception

During the past week in ISM, I have been diligently continuing updating my digital and paper portfolios, creating informative mentor visit assessments, revising previous assessments, and carefully pondering events that I would like to observe in the pediatrician’s office/hospital. Additionally, I am vigorously working on my final product in attempt to have it in completed in a timely manner and in order to clearly portray my ideas that I am trying to convey.

One item that has been the highlight of this past week was my mentor visit. My mentor especially emphasized telling her if there was something specific I wanted to see in the office such as vaccinated a child, seeing how a strep test is performed, observing her in the nursery, etc. Pediatrics is quite interesting because most people consider it a relatively simple medical profession. Comparing it to other vocations such as neurosurgeons or cardiologists or even a specialty, it seems quite harmless. However, throughout my sessions with my mentor, the main item I have learned, which has also been grilled into my mind, is that pediatrics is one of the most challenging and puzzling professions. Not in a negative sense, but in the sense that, many patient cases are, in fact, riddles or mismatched puzzles and the pediatrician must attempt to make sense of those pieces of the puzzle or that riddle. Because being a pediatrician is considered an “all-encompassing” job (a job which requires general knowledge of everything), more is expected from a pediatrician, in terms of treating the patient and answering any questions the parent may have. Alongside that, the stress factor which any daunting job may possess is actually quite high. Dr. Dickschat has the most patients in the clinic which she works at and, in correlation to that, most are newborns or toddlers. This creates an extreme, high-stress environment and displays how overbooked or generally busy pediatricians may be. Furthermore, people tend to forget that most pediatricians are typically on-call during the weekend as well, so it is not just an assumption that pediatricians possess any hours similar to hours an office job may entail. These are some of the common pediatric myths/misconceptions I have acquired information on, just from observing my pediatrician for a short amount of time and have assisted me in growing my interest for pediatrics.

In conclusion, much progress on gaining knowledge pertaining to pediatrics is being made. My final product is coming along well, as I have contacted my friend to help me with the artwork of my children’s book and have continuously been revising and editing book ideas. All in all, I hope to maintain a passion for children and pediatrics as my ISM experience has taught me quite a bit.