I spent my 5 weeks at Metropolitan Hospital’s outpatient geriatrics clinic. During these 5 weeks I was able to see a variety of different patients with different diagnoses and physical exam findings. In my previous rotations, I had seen a lot of “normal” physical exam findings so it was interesting to finally begin to see more “abnormal” findings and work to figure out what they were if I was unsure at first. I was able to hear different murmurs, see different eye conditions, lung sounds, see different grades of peripheral edema, etc.

This rotation was different than my previous rotations for the length of time that was spent with each patient. These visits were at least 30 minutes, with some being up to 2 hours. Full and thorough physical exams, geriatric assessments, ROS questioning and social histories were collected. I enjoyed really getting to know the patients and their backgrounds during these longer visits.

One thing I especially enjoyed about this rotation was the emphasis placed on patient education. The providers I worked had conversations with me about how to counsel patients regarding various topics such as sleep hygiene, incontinence, anxiety, etc. The teach back method was used through out the office, and the nurses would have discharge meetings with the patients to make sure the patient understood the plan going forward. I was also able to learn the importance of medication reconciliation in this population, as patients were encouraged to always bring the bottles of medication with them to their visits.

I was given a topic to present during my rotation and during my last week I was able to present it to the attendings. I presented on sickle cell disease and how it can be considered an accelerated aging syndrome. I enjoyed doing further research and since hematology was one of my weaker points prior to this rotation, I think I have a better understanding of not only sickle cell disease but other commonly seen anemias (IDA, b12/folate deficiency, chronic disease).

One thing that was a bit more difficult this rotation was doing procedures. There were not many procedures done in office, as typically patients were referred to other floors for specific procedures such as for venipuncture, covid vaccines, etc. However, I was able to do breast exams, injections, ekgs, etc. However, since I had previous experience with these procedures I did enjoy being able to spend more time in the exam room with the patient than on focusing on trying to complete procedures.

My next rotation is pediatrics, and while these two populations are opposite in terms of age, I will be able to carry a lot of the things I learned on this rotation into my next. For example, growth and development is important in both the geriatrics population and pediatrics, however from different perspectives. I am looking forward to being exposed to a different population setting.