Emergency Medicine Rotation Reflection

I had an amazing experience on this rotation and learned an incredible amount. It was really enjoyable to be able to rotate with different providers in different areas and levels of the emergency room. During my five weeks there, I was able to practice my suture skills, perform an I&D, give injections, and start IVs. I worked hard on presenting an organized and professional History and Physical and was able to improve my ability to diagnose and treat. I found UpToDate to be an incredible resource to learn more throughout the rotations regarding diseases or treatments that I was unfamiliar with. A specific case that stuck with me from this rotation was a patient who was acutely delirious with Brocas Aphasia. The patient was in the emergency room alone and did not have any family that we could call to understand his history better. According to his chart, he was taking an anti-psychotic medication but otherwise appeared to be normal. Upon interviewing him, I had suggested the idea of medication overdose as well as Brocas encephalopathy which were both further looked into. The patient was subsequently admitted to the hospital and I was unable to find out the ending, however, I came out of that case seeing my growth and how much I had learned on the rotation and during didactics. Being able to assess the patient, although delirious, was something I did not think I would be capable of. However, I proved myself wrong and was able to find possible reasons for his puzzling presentation and presented them to the attending to look into further. It was a great learning experience and a case that will always stick with me for its complexity and for my ability to be of a help to the patient and the provider team I was working with.

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