Written by: McMaster Medical School c2023 Student, Hamilton Campus 1. Where and how long was your placement? How did you get to the elective and did you need a car?
Fergus OB/GYN - Post MF4 elective for 1 week. I drove to the elective from an AirBnb in Guelph, it took about 30 minutes. You definitely need a car at this location. At the clinic I parked using a staff badge and parking was free at the hospital! 3. What were your accommodations like? Did you get any funding from the school (MacCare etc?) I didn't get any funding from the school because this was a post-MF4 elective. Although I couldn't find an Airbnb in Fergus for my dates, there was one close-by in Guelph that worked well. 4. Describe a typical day at your elective. My rotation was actually 4 days long since one day was a holiday. I spent 2 days in the clinic and 2 days in the OR. The clinic visits were varied and included a lot of prenatal visits, postpartum visits as well as gynecologic presentations (stress incontinence was really common). The clinic started around 8am and went until 3/4pm. The OR days would start earlier around 7:30am and end around 3pm. The cases ranged from C-sections to hysterectomies and surgeries for stress incontinence. There were many gynecologic surgeries at this site. 5. What level of responsibility/exposure did you have as a medical student? On the first day in clinic I shadowed my preceptor/the upper year clerk for a few visits before they let me start seeing patients by myself. I would take notes on their EMR (very easy to use), present it to the attending and then we would go back and see the patient together. I learned a lot this way and felt like I got a lot of independence. I would measure the fundal heights and fetal heart rates for the prenatal visits. In the OR the other medical student and I took turns scrubbing in. There were no residents at this site which gave us more opportunity. 6. What is your most memorable experience? The first vaginal birth I ever saw was definitely the most memorable experience for me! I was lucky to have such an amazing preceptor who explained every step to me, it was a great learning opportunity! 7. What was one thing you didn’t like? Many of the vaginal births are managed by the family doctors in the region- if you are interested in seeing this you should ask the preceptor! 8. What’s one thing you wish you knew before doing this elective? I was surprised by the amount of gynecologic conditions that people presented with. There was a ton of urogynecology that I wasn't too familiar with at the time that I wish I reviewed beforehand. Overall I'd also suggest asking questions and speaking up whenever you have any doubts because the preceptors are phenomenal teachers! 9. Would you recommend this elective/core to current students? Yes for sure! There was a lot of one-on-one time with the attendings and I felt like I got to know them pretty well even though I only spent 4 days there. Try to find somewhere close-by to stay for the OR days as they start pretty early. The attendings are also amazing teachers and tried to cater the week to my interests. There was a ton of opportunity and independence given in the clinic and OR which I thought was great for learning.
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Groves Memorial Community Hospital, background credit: wellingtonadvertiser.com
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