Primary Care Otolaryngology

chapter 1

Introduction to Clinical Rotation

The goals of this book are to make good clinicians out of medical students and to teach the basics of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. Sometimes individuals have trouble transitioning from being second-year medical students, where they are truly students, to becoming healthcare professionals. This metamorphosis over the third and fourth years of med- ical school involves learning how to carry yourself and act as a healthcare professional. To meet this first goal and become a good clinician, it is helpful for stu- dents to be carefully observant of their professors in important but unno- ticed aspects, such as their demeanor, comments, and interaction with house staff and patients. Students learn a lot through observing care of patients. The process starts with the student’s appearance (clothing and grooming), punctuality, composure, acceptance of responsibility, and interactions with patients and other healthcare team members. You need to really listen to patients. It can be difficult to understand a medical student’s role in the healthcare team. Work to become an active member of the team. Interns, residents, and attendings are overworked and spread quite thin. However, medical students frequently have extra time to spend with their patients, talking to the patients about their past medical problems, family, and social history as they pertain to their disease process. Most important, work toward establishing a true patient-physician relationship. This type of relationship establishes the medical student as an important part of the healthcare team, beneficial to the overall care provided to the patient. For the medical student, it also establishes long-term behaviors that translate into the development of an excellent future physician. A few basic rules will help you to become a good clinician. During the third year, there may be conflicting responsibilities, such as being at a lec- ture while needing to draw a patient’s blood. In general, the priority

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Primary Care Otolaryngology