Week in the Life: PRG-2

Can you briefly describe “a week in the life” on your current rotation?

"I’m on the ED Psych consults rotation right now (this rotation is currently evolving), and we pretty much work like the day psych consult team except on the evening shift (3-11 pm) and we staff consults with the on-call attending over the phone. It’s really neat to see patients when they first present, determine the differential dx, make a plan and run it by the attending before making recommendations to the ED team. You have a lot more independence and can practice decision-making and management."

"I am currently in a unique position where I am on the inpatient unit in second year. On inpatient psychiatry, you go into work around 7:15 and chart review new patients. You pick up interesting cases then you see the new patients with the attending so you get great feedback on your interviews. You discuss the patient and the plan together and he takes the opportunity to teach during this time. You see the follow up patients independently and staff them with the attending. The rest of the time is spent calling collateral, calling pharmacies, and writing notes."

"As the main resident on the consult service my work week runs from Monday-Friday, typically 8am-4 or 5pm. There are usually 2-3 medical students on the service, so I try to get them involved in patient care by assigning them patients, and if there is any free time I try to do small lectures throughout the day. My typical day starts with chart review on whatever consults came in overnight. Currently we are doing all telehealth consults, so I schedule them throughout the day, and spend time on the phone discussing the cases with the primary team. I have more autonomy as a 2nd year, seeing patients on my own and then staffing them with whichever attending is covering the service for the day. Some days are more hectic than others, but the wide variety of consults is a great learning experience."

"I typically leave from my apartment in Riverside to get to Gateway around 7:45 to start detox at 8:00. I see 5-6 patients in the morning and get them started on the appropriate taper or protocol to help them with withdrawal. I'll also triage their medical and psychiatric conditions. I then grab some lunch and either stay at Gateway for psychiatric evaluations and MAT clinic or go to UF for consults depending on the day. There, I rejoin with a co-resident to finish up the consults and teach the students. We stop taking consults at 4:00 and then I'm free to head home!"