Written by: McMaster Medical School c2023 Student 1. Where and how long was your placement? How did you get to the elective and did you get any funding?
2 week elective in Emergency Medicine at Joseph Brant Hospital. I commuted to this elective from Hamilton, it was about a 15/20 minute drive. I didn't get any funding from MacCare as Burlington is within 35km of Hamilton. [First clerkship elective] 2. Describe a typical day at your elective. My shift times were scheduled for 7am-3pm, 1-9pm, 4-11pm or 11pm-7am. Though the shifts are scheduled for 8 hours the docs starting at those shift times work 7 hour shifts and dismiss you when they leave as well (except for the 11pm-7am shift which is 8 hours long). I would try to show up at least 10 minutes early to get settled in. 3. What level of responsibility/exposure did you have as a medical student? My preceptor would let me see a patient by myself, come up with an assessment/plan and suggest a management plan. They'd approve this and put in the orders. Some preceptors also let me tell the patients the management plan. There were also some more hands-on opportunities like suturing, helping to put in a chest tube and managing shoulder dislocations. 4. What is your most memorable experience from this elective? There was a patient who presented with classic symptoms/signs of appendicitis. Every question I asked kept cluing me in to this diagnosis. At the end I did a quick review of systems during which, to my surprise, the patient revealed that they had been self-harming and also had passive suicidal ideations. In addition to managing the patient's appendicitis we also ensured that they spoke to the psych team and had additional support setup for the future. I kept thinking afterwards that if I had left the room thinking it was a classic appendicitis case this patient's other needs could easily have been missed. I also saw that my preceptor went the extra mile to make sure this patient had all the extra support they required. This made me realize that it's possible to be efficient and empathetic at the same time to make sure your patient is cared for. 5. What was one thing you didn’t like about the elective? Though this wasn't a downside for me, there was very minimal exposure to trauma. If this is important to you it might be better to go to a trauma centre. 6. Do you have any recommendations for things to do/explore/eat in the local area? There's an amazing donut store across the street from the hospital called Sunshine Donuts (please get me one if you go) and a beautiful lakeshore walkway/park near the hospital. 7. What’s one thing you wish you knew before doing this elective/future advice you have for students doing an elective here? Burlington EM had a good number of pediatric patients every shift! It's a great way to practice differentials and physical assessments for pediatric patients. Common pediatric complaints were abdominal pain, nausea, fever and headache. Also I found that a lot of opportunities arose when I asked questions or asked for more opportunities so don't be afraid to do this! For example if there is downtime you can ask the nurses if they need help placing IVs or taking ECGs 8. Would you recommend this elective to current students? Absolutely! The emerg at Joseph Brant is has the perfect balance of being busy enough for you to see a lot of patients every shift but also get in some teaching. 9. Anything else you want people to know/would like to add about the experience? Generally it'll be helpful to know differentials for commonly presenting complaints such as abdominal pain, headache, chest pain etc. Knowing imaging rules such as the Canadian CT head rule, Ottawa Ankle rules etc. can make your presentation better (MDCalc is useful for this!) The preceptors at this site were amazing teachers and would make sure I was comfortable with my learning experience.
0 Comments
|
Joseph Brant Hospital, background credits: infrastructureontario.ca
|