Sam Parmelee (first year PA student, Class of 2019) shares her experience at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center within the Gynecology-Oncology Clinic for one of her longitudinal placements.
What LP did you do? I did an LP with Sandy Vuong, a Physician Assistant who works in the gynecology-oncology clinic at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. How did you go about contacting and arranging the LP? Sandy is one of the many working PA’s who acts as an advisor to PA students at McMaster. One of my classmates has Sandy as her advisor and gave me her email, I contacted her and picked two Fridays that worked for both of us. Full day placements worked better for this LP because of the travel time from Hamilton to Toronto. What did you learn from the LP? I learned so many things on this LP! At the time of the LP, we had not started our reproduction or oncology units in tutorial so I was really going in with not much knowledge. I learned a lot about gynecological cancers – how and when you would get referred to the gyne-onc clinic, common presenting symptoms, investigations performed and treatment options, as well as guidelines for screening for cancers. I also got to see and assist in physical exams and pelvic exams. I gained knowledge about what types of history questions are relevant to ask in this setting, as well as how to deliver information and treatment options to patients who are going through an emotional diagnosis. What do you wish you had known before hand to help in your LP? I wish I had known how (and was comfortable with) performing pelvic exams beforehand so I could have used this LP as an opportunity to practice, instead of a first exposure to it. General information about cancer screening guidelines would’ve been helpful to know. Sandy suggested I read the gynecology-oncology section of Toronto Notes beforehand which was helpful to understand the different types of cancer I would be seeing. How has this experience helped you clinically, in class and/or in career decision-making? I now have some knowledge and clinical skills around topics we have not yet covered in class, which is always helpful when we start new units. In terms of career decisions– this was a great opportunity to see a PA work in a specialty that has a narrow scope in comparison to a family practice PA (which I have shadowed in as well). It has made me contemplate if I myself would prefer to have a broad or narrow scope of practice and patient cases– I still am unsure because I like aspects of both! I chose this placement because of my interest in gynecology and women’s health and it confirmed that it is something I really do enjoy. I found the oncology aspect very interesting as well and am looking forward to this unit in MF3. Comments are closed.
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