Shadowing
I started my shadowing session with Dr. Pike on Thursday, 4/14. Dr. Pike is an emergency room doctor.
(Emergency room doctors are also a part of a trauma team, however, they are not the same as trauma surgeons. Emergency room doctors focus on treating the initial injuries of the patient and stabilizing them. In a trauma center, emergency room doctors and trauma surgeons talk to each other to discuss the plans for the patient.)
I came in at the beginning of his shift, however, I could only stay for the designated four hours. Dr. Pike was assigned to the East side, which I think is the calmer part of the emergency room. However, Thursday was a busy day and there were a lot of patients in vertical beds. I’ll give a quick rundown of the type of patients we saw, which I’m excited about as I understood what was happening.
The first patient we saw was a young lady who had bowel issues. In the end, we found that the bismuth in pepto bismol was turning her stool black and not blood. The second patient came in with difficulty of breathing and, after getting an x-ray of her chest, we determined she had pneumonia. The third patient came in with new found numbness on his right side after experiencing a work injury. The fourth patient had crushed her foot on an immobile bike, causing a piece to go through her right foot. She was put into surgery as the amount her bones had shifted was excessive. Patient five came in with high blood pressure before her physical therapy session. Patient six was thrown off a horse and fractured her left hand. Patient seven came in with abdominal pain. Patient eight was unable to move their left leg.
The second day of shadowing was Saturday, 4/16. I came in during the middle of his shift, so the amount of patients I saw during their initial arrival was a small amount. However, we still visited some of the patients he had checked in earlier. Also, most of the patients he received were level 2 patients, so they took more care.
Patient one came in thinking that he had a hernia. After examination, Dr. Pike determined that they were lymph nodes. Patient two didn’t know why he was there and was very unresponsive to Dr. Pike’s questions. Patient three came in with a possible brain attack. There was no sign after some scans, which was good. After looking through her lab results, she was determined to be septic. Patient four came in with shortness of breath and was given a breathing treatment. Patient five was having an allergic reaction and was given the proper medicine. Patient six was a cancer patient in need of a blood transfusion. Patient seven came in with a bad headache, but I was unable to stay to see what the diagnosis was.
The third day of shadowing was Sunday, 4/17. I also came in the middle of his shift, but nonetheless, it was still busy.
Patient one was brought in by the EMS with low blood pressure and possible dehydration. After some labs, we found that she was septic with UTI. Patient two was also brought in by the EMS after a GI bleed. Patient three came in as the foot that had been run over on the 7th started to swell.
Meeting
I met with Dr. Rhee on Monday, as scheduled. We started our talk off with my trip to Korea. We went through the questions that I had, had prepared. One of my questions asked how the funding from the government was going. He gave me one of his very well distinguished papers to read, which I will do this week. I also asked the very important question of how I, as a student, could help the situation. He said that the biggest thing would be to educate the public about his profession and how important trauma care is. I hope to be able to do this during the presentations.
In the middle of discussion, he received two text messages about incoming trauma patients. He told me that he would take me down to the second incoming patient, who was a motorcycle accident. (Now, imagine my excitement. Other than incoming stroke patients, I hadn’t seen any other sort of trauma patients. Plus, I was in a real trauma center.) We made our way down the stairs and into the trauma center. What’s cool is that the two are completely separated. The trauma center has seven bays in which to take patients in that are fully equipped with technology to stabilize the patient and send them off to surgery if need be. The emergency room was huge and was divided into three sections, each with twenty rooms, all of which were private rooms.
Before the patient came in, the team of doctors and nurses were already gathered around the room. There was also a group of people standing by to see if the patient would need to be sent off to surgery. Each person that was there had a specific job and they were ready to take it on. Once the patient came in, they got to work and it was like a well-oiled machine. One person was shouting out their observations. Another was getting the x-ray set. Another taking the patient’s labs. And on and on. I was both amazed and fascinated at how much was being done and how fast it was being done.
Afterwards, we went back up and bid farewell.
Interesting Fact of the Day
Emergency room doctors finish residency in 3 years. Trauma surgeons finish residency in 7 years.
*Pictures will be added later