My Internal Medicine at NYPQ was my favorite rotation I’ve had so far. I learned a lot this rotation and can see myself working in this type of setting as well. The schedule consisted of 3 12-hour day shifts along with a week of nights and a week with the stroke team. I learned about the management of various diseases in the in-patient setting beginning with admitting the patient to their course of stay in the hospital leading to the discharge. I believe as a student I benefitted the most from the admitting portion because it allows you to go through the chief complaint develop differential diagnoses and come up with a diagnosis as to why the patient is being admitted. This allows you to also review the patient’s medication list and see which will continue/discontinue during the hospital stay.

I was able to do various procedures during my rotation such as placement of an NG tube as well as removing it. I also was able to perform IVs, ABGs, and assist in 2 lumbar punctures. Along with procedures I was also able to learn in more depth and perform physical exams using the NIHSS to rule out strokes. This helped me refresh my knowledge in completing a comprehensive Neuro exam. In addition to performing physical exams, the PAs that I was rotating under also allowed me to give my plan for the patients who were presenting with a suspected stroke which further allowed me to learn more about the management of stroke patients.

Overall, this rotation was a great learning experience. I learned that something that I need to continue improving/working on is drug-to-drug interactions for patients who are either being admitted or are already admitted. This is something that is really important because when ordering medications for patients who have developed acute issues during their stay in the hospital, ordering the correct medication that may not further worsen the condition is crucial. I look forwarding to using the knowledge I gained while in this rotation to when I begin practicing as a PA.