Alex Lee (first year PA student, class of 2020), shares her experience in gynecological oncology at Princess Margaret.
What LP did you do? I did an LP in Gynecology Oncology with Sandy Vuong, a PA at Princess Margaret Hospital. How did you go about contacting and arranging the LP? I heard about Sandy through my student advisor, as I was looking for a placement in an oncology-related field. I reached out to Sandy by email and she kindly accepted to have me in for an LP with her over 2 full days. What did you learn from the LP? This LP taught me a lot about patient interactions, and also gave me the opportunity to work on some history-taking and physical exam skills. Since gynecology oncology is such a specialized field and patients are seen on a recurrent basis, healthcare practitioners in this area have the ability to become very connected with patients and provide an exceptional amount of support for them. I really enjoyed this aspect of the placement, as I was able to see the truly caring nature of the relationship between PA and patient. In addition, having the chance to work on some practical skills, including taking a history, presenting a case to a physician, and applying physical exam techniques, was wonderful and really helped me grow as a learner. What do you wish you had known beforehand to help in your LP? I wish that I had done this placement a little later in the year, once we covered and learned about oncology cases in class. I went in with limited clinical knowledge because of this, but did a little bit of reading and research beforehand to help fill in the gap. Sandy was also very helpful and kind, taking extra time to teach me between seeing patients. How has this experience helped you clinically, in class and/or in career decision-making? This placement helped me realize that I would like to go into an area of medicine that provides the opportunity to see patients on a recurrent basis and get to know them well. I really value that connection and special opportunity to provide support to patients in their time of need, and this placement helped me come to this realization. Comments are closed.
|
ARCHIVES
May 2019
Categories
All
|