The Clinic

I had an interesting experience at the student health clinic today. For seventh quarter, we have to observe 4 patient visits and write a brief synopsis about what we observed. My two patient observations were interesting clinically but the conversation during my second visit sparked some strategic planning for the future.

The patient of my second observation today was a 10th term student. He sat and chatted with me about what it was like going from 7th quarter to 10th. My impression of him was that he was legit in what he was sharing with me and completely honest in how to deal with it all. To better outline what it is I am talking about, first I must talk about what the expectations are for us to graduate on time.

We are required to get over 250 visits between now and when we graduate next fall. This falls on our shoulders, in that, we have to find patients and retain them. On top of regular classes and busy work given by professors, we have to drum up our own business. This is daunting.

My new acquaintance from the clinic today told me there are few who graduate on time because they can't get the required visits. Yikes!

So, what will it take to get there and stay on track? Many are taking what is called the split. This is where they split 8th and 9th terms into 3 terms versus 2. The advantage is you'll have more time to get visits and retain patients. You'll have more time overall to get the requirements fulfilled as well. Others are taking the summer off. This might be the wisest choice because the class size this fall will be smaller for 8th quarter students.

In a traditional medical school, your patient visits are guaranteed. I believe this is why medical schools are so difficult to get into. The competition is fierce during the clinic phase due to limited off-campus clinic space at our school. These positions are selected randomly supposedly. My hunch is that it is very political and based on the students academic prowess during their time at Western States.

I guess the best thing to do is to strategize versus stress out. The only way through this is to head straight in and figure things out.

All for now