Written by: c2023 Student at McMaster University Medical School, Hamilton Campus Where was your placement and what specialty was it in?
I did a 2-week clerkship elective in general internal medicine at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. How did you get to your placement? 25 minute drive from Hamilton; not Mac-Care funded. Parking is $50/month, park in garage on first day and buy pass from desk in the main entrance. Describe a typical day at your elective. In Oakville, hospitalists generally manage patients on the wards. The internal medicine team is responsible for consults in emerge, and is MRP for admitted patients until the hospitalist assumes care the next day. The internist on call was also responsible for patients in the CCU overnight and for responding to code blues throughout the hospital. Shift were spent mostly in the ER, managing consults. Occasionally we were called to see patients in other locations such as the PACU, or to respond to code blues. The preceptors are all excellent, and provide great teaching around cases. The IM team also includes 2 nurse practitioners, who were also great to work with. What level of responsibility did you have as a medical student? I saw consults independently, reviewing with staff afterward. Depending on the stability of the patient, sometimes the staff internist would see them briefly to ensure urgent intervention was not required. There plenty of time to review the patient chart, see the patient, write the consult note, and review with staff. Lots of opportunity to write the admission orders, as well. Very little pressure to see high volume of patients, staff were more concerned with my learning than anything. What are some common conditions you saw? Do you have any resource suggestions? Abdominal pain, diarrhea, cirrhosis, chest pain, arrhythmia, shortness of breath, stroke, delirium. The red book is good, but I found Mass Gen's Pocket Medicine more informative in the ER. Uptodate and McMaster textbook of IM for reading around cases. What is your most memorable experience from this elective? Observing in the management of a pre-code situation for one of our patients in the ER. Was great to see the whole team work together and to observe the leadership skills of my preceptor. Participating in discussions with the patient's spouse during this evolving situation was also a great example of the humanistic side of medicine. What was one thing you didn’t like? Honestly not much. Some shifts were busier than others, so there was time to read around cases (especially on day shift). Do you have any recommendations for things to try in the local area? The waterfront in Oakville/Bronte is super nice! Would you recommend this elective to other students? Absolutely! Anything else you would like to add about the experience? Great preceptors, great learning opportunities, beautiful hospital!
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Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital Lobby, background credit: Ian C Whitworth Photography via pinterest.com
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