A good day

I had a great day today.

I mentioned to my family doctor a few weeks ago that I was considering switching my career to medicine while I was seeing him to get my flu shot and I asked if there as anything I could do with him (like shadow). I was pleasantly surprised to hear him not only encourage me but also said he thinks I would be a great doctor and ask would I be interested in working in his clinic to get some experience?

Well, I jumped the at the opportunity. One of the things he does is clinical trials of certain drugs and said I could help out with that. He also said I can join the nurses in his practice when they admit patients and later, will be able to do it myself.

So today was my first day. I wasn't quite sure what to expect though...it was my first day there and I know next to nothing about clinical trials - everyone else doing the clinical trials is either a science grad or a doctor (well, two people are doctors from other countries who aren't licensed to practice in Canada, but still).

Anyway, it was a very eventful day and got going very quickly. I saw a patient get injected with the trial drug, had a patient come in with genital herpes, a guy with severe migraines and...the best was I got to watch the doctor do a minor surgery!

I have to admit, I did get a bit faint while watching the surgery, even though I thought it was so cool (the doctor had to remove a sebaceous cyst from a woman's head). I tried to hide it by leaning against the counter and dropping my head a bit, but the nurse saw me after as was like "Uh, are you ok? You look like you are going to pass out." Great. I laughed it off (she didn't believe me) and said I was fine (I was). But I am a little worried about this reaction and hope that its something that wears off. God, what kind of doctor would I be if I can't deal with blood and cuts? And its weird, I can't help the reaction. The whole thing really fascinated me - but its like my brain just did not like the sight of the doctor slicing into this lady's head and made me feel like I would faint. Hopefully I'll get over it though.

I think what made the day so great was that I really got a feel for what its like to be a family doctor. I really enjoyed talking to the patients, I liked seeing how directly the doctor was helping them. But not only did I love it (I can't wait till next Wednesday when I get to go back!) but also I felt so relieved at the end of the day - because it reaffirmed my desire to do this.

The only problem is that now it will be that much more crushing if I don't get in to med school. But I'll try not to think about it just yet.