Capstone Log 5

Today: 2.5 hours
Running Total: 6.5 hours

Tiring, tiring day indeed. But in the end it's all worth it and I absolutely love going to the office and learning new things and seeing the children. When I arrived, Dr. Kelly and I discussed the milestones I read about for last weeks homework. We talked about the development a bit and how children constantly mimic and learn from everything that's around them. He described how neurological development starts at the very top and works its way down. When infants are brought into this world, they use only their eyes to look around, then they slowly start turning their heads, and then their torsos. They discover their hands and fingers, their belly-buttons and their feet and toes, then they crawl and walk and then run. However, they later on become aware of their genital parts, which is why they start to potty-train at an older age instead.
After our small discussion, we saw a girl who was sick; wheezing with stomach aches and headaches and a temperature of 102.7 degrees, which is relatively high body temperature. After the regular process, Dr. Kelly told me to look at the bottom of her eyelids, which showed a red/pinkish color, different than normal. That color indicated that she did indeed have a viral infection, most likely the flu. Interesting to see how simple symptoms, like discolored eyelids, can pose as signs of an infection.
After seeing the girl, Dr. Pickering had a question about a boy with reoccurring hip pains. They did tests however, and it showed that nothing was wrong. Dr. Kelly said he was normal and it was fine, no signs of inflammation. What he did explain to me however, was that children usually get muscle pains here and there or maybe a painful infection. It then goes away. But when a small pain comes back within the same vicinity of the previous ache or pain, then they perceive it to be the same thing that was there before, so it's half psychological that they feel that way. They can scream in agony, claiming that something hurts, but in reality, it's perfectly healthy. Their past experiences heighten their sense to feel what it was before, when it's really nothing at all. (I also think it's an attention-grabbing technique), but I'll still spot some sympathy.
I met another adorable little boy(similar to last week) who is allergic to amoxicillin, but that doesn't matter because he gave me a flying kiss when he left. However, Dr. Kelly did say that although people may be allergic to a specific medicine, they'll still prescribe it if it's absolutely necessary, which concerns me a bit. Wouldn't that only make things worse? But I trust the Ph.D.
A boy later came in with a wart on his knee. I was given the joy of sitting in the room as Dr. Kelly shaved the wart with a scalpel and then froze it with liquid nitrogen. Dirty work in the office, but somebody has to do the job.
After that, we met with two boys whose growth charts were compromised. It showed that they completely stopped growing and were actually shrinking. And the way it was shown is supposed to say that they were losing weight as well as not growing any taller, which is impossible unless there is a serious condition they have. But they were both perfectly normal, just a bit rowdy. Goes to show that nobody is perfect, and somebody messed up the growth chart from a previous checkup.
To end the day, Dr. Kelly told me a story of a very inspirational woman who, with her team, discovered the ultrasound technique to produce images. Amazing lady.
For next week, I have to read up asthma and everything about it. Please excuse the length of this post, I got slightly carried away.

Capstone Log 4

Today: 2 hours
Running Total: 4 hours

Great day in kiddie land. When I got there, Dr. Kelly and I talked a bit about influenza and the different types. He then had a physical with a 16 year old male so I wasn't allowed to go, but instead I went with Dr. Pickering because she had a patient with headaches in the back of her head, which isn't too common. Reminds me when I used to get terrible migraines and had to take an x-ray because they couldn't figure out what was wrong. I never really did know what was wrong. No mass growing in the little girl though! Just some bad fever headaches. She was happy that the ER did the MRI already and that the girl was able to sit through the whole process. Dr. Pickering also talked with me a little bit about influenza, which is actually a very interesting topic and a lot more serious than people perceive it to be.
I went with Dr. Kelly to see his next patient which was a 15 month old little boy named Quin and let me just say that he was absolutely adorable. He was sick last week but is getting better now and he's healthy and he's so cute and I want to steal him.
We then saw a little boy who fell on his arm a couple days ago, and it's been hurting so they took an x-ray and he unfortunately fractured his wrist :/ I felt so bad for him because when Dr. Kelly touched it and bent his arm a certain way then he started crying and screaming because it hurt so much. And I know how he feels too because I broke my arm in 6th grade.
To close the day Dr. Kelly talked about the different things doctors look for in exams - in both toddlers and adolescents, and certain milestones they expect at certain ages. He lent me a book called "What To Expect The First Year" and told me to read some of it. I'll try to really get in depth with knowing those milestones and know what doctors actually look for when physicals are performed.

I was going down the elevator and a lady saw me holding that book and gave me a dirty look. I hope she didn't think I was pregnant or anything.

Capstone Log 3

Today: 2 hours

Running Total: 2 hours 

First day on the job(shadow)! I actually learned a lot more than I expected for the first day and it was a very hands-on experience. Pediatricians have quite the busy schedule, so I jumped right in and we were running back and forth for the most part. I was allowed to see patients with him and observe the things that the children came in for, ranging from stomach aches to burned fingers to superficial staph infections and so much more. I did small errands for the doctor and I worked with a nurse for a bit. I was able to behold and partake in the evaluation of a urine test and a strep throat test, both of which are easily conducted. A boy with phimosis was prescribed a steroid antibiotic and a few children were given flu shots and whooping cough shots. Several parents called stating their child has a fever with such-and-such symptoms, which I learned, helps to evaluate whether the fever will go away soon, or whether there is an infection. It was very interesting to see what happens behind closed doors. Since it's flu season, my mentor requests that I read up a bit on influenza to broaden my knowledge about it and we can talk in depth next week. 

Hope I don't get sick.

Fiscal Cliff Response

Regarding the Fiscal Cliff Policy, the Republicans and Democrats have very different views. The Fiscal Cliff is the policy taken in order to decrease the nation's deficit. The congressional Republicans are not pleased and do not want to enforce several spending cuts and increases on taxes. They want to only increase taxes  for limiting tax breaks, like income tax deductions. However, the Democrats are strong supporters and are willing to work hard on the crisis.

The way I conducted my research included using appropriate and formal terms, using key words, and checking to see if sources are reliable. I used the "advanced search" option and typed in the most important words. I avoided websites that didn't seem reliable and used sites such as Huffington Post and CNN. I also made sure the dates were recent and the people who wrote the articles weren't random people with biased opinions. Using key words was the most helpful and gave me several and more reliable sources.

http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2012/12/13/poll-americans-support-gop-position-fiscal-cliff/

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/04/politics/obama-congress/index.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/13/fiscal-cliff-poll-pew_n_2292151.html

Capstone Log 2

Finally found a mentor! Slight change of topics however; the dance teacher I asked to shadow declined my request and very inconveniently did so 3 weeks later than I expected. My options were narrowed, but now it's all okay! Last minute mentor-hunting was a thrill, yay. I am now going to shadow a pediatrician at the doctor's office starting next Wednesday. Can't wait to start!