Patients are interesting..

even the ones that just have a lame cough and runny nose you've already seen a hundred times. It's amazing what you can learn from people if only we had the time to listen. As a student I get extra time with patients cause I'm still a little slow. I ask a lot more questions and do a much more though job than other practitioner's which is good and bad at the same time for everyone involved. Good for me cause I need to practice honing my skills at decision making, which answers to follow up on which one's are a rabbit trail and the stuff that is just random bits of information that I don't even know why their mentioning it to me. It's those random bits that sometimes are the most interesting and occasionally yield a pearl. I'm liking Family practice in part because now that I've been here 3weeks I'm starting to see some of the regular patients for a second time and getting to know these people is a wonderful part of the experience. Some of the elderly patients are a bit feisty but I'm amazed at the good humor most of them share with you. There are a few people my supervising PA has mentioned "I remember when that one was only a week old... now look at 'em all grown up and having one of their own" I think one of the greatest assets health care can have is investing in Family Physician's. Some one who knows you, is invested in making sure your treated with the care that everyone deserves... (even if they are a pain in the tookus) Keeping people healthy should be the goal not waiting until their sick and then spending a ton of money to just manage what could have been prevented or pull them back from the grave. I'll probably end up saying this about every rotation but I'm thinkin' Family Med looks like it's pretty rewarding... might this be it for me?