For my first surgery evaluation I met with Professor Melendez in the OBGYN clinic. First, I presented my H&P and 5 pharm cards, and then we went on to talk about the plan I had chosen for the patient. I had seen the patient during rounds that morning, so we discussed how the patient  responded to the treatment. Then we spoke about my experience at the rotation itself, the different cases I had had since the start of my rotation, and what I expected to do during the upcoming weeks. Before I left, he collected my H&P and pharm cards, and explained what was expected of me at the next evaluation.

For the second evaluation, I came prepared with my two H&P’s, pharm cards, and journal article. I presented my patient’s case and explained how I would manage the patient, only looking back at my H&P for exact lab values. He agreed with my plan and stated I did very well. I then presented a summary of the article I chose, and we spoke a little about the debates over the management of diverticulitis. After presenting the article went over the 5 pharm cards and I very briefly presented my last H&P. What I liked the most about this evaluation was my presentation style was more similar to how the residents would present during rounds. I only presented the most important information on the patient such as pertinent history finings, labs, imaging, what I suspected, and my plan for the patient. This was great practice for me being that we are so close to graduation, and soon will be required to present patients in a more focused way. I was very grateful to Professor Melendez for giving us this chance to practice this important skill.

After the discussing the patients cases we went on to talk about my experience at the rotation itself. Professor Melendez was a little surprised that I had a very pleasant experience at the rotation and asked me my thoughts on why I felt it was a good rotation. I explained how kind the residents had been and how the med students had included us as being part of their team during the time we were there (both Phapia and I). I also mentioned what I thought was the best part of the rotation, which was not having to fight for a chance to go to the OR and assist with surgeries. On OR days a list was sent out on a group chat, and everyone was given and equal opportunity to choose a surgery of their choice, which was great. Over all Professor Melendez was a wonderful evaluator who helped me become stronger in presenting patients and provided great feedback to me, which I plan to incorporate into all my future rotations.

This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.