Clinical Correlations Reflection
When I first heard of this class, I was a little worried because now I got to apply the knowledge that I have learned in a new manner that I was not used to. It was almost like detective work which I must admit I am not good at. I have always been a test taker and excel at taking exams. Now I have the challenge of establishing a possible diagnosis from a simple statement such as “My stomach hurts”.
Turns out, I actually enjoyed this class, not because I was good at it, but because you can see yourself grow and applying knowledge to help you solve some problems. The countless hours of studying does not mean anything unless you can use that to help your future patients. The professors also noticed how students improved based on the two semesters and would critique us on where we needed some work to even further develop.
I feel that my two areas of weakness currently is dealing with Content/Focus and the Analysis when it came to clinical correlations. If you are not familiar with fine little details of the presenting problem, then it can be a roller coaster ride trying to determine the diagnosis. This is where reviewing pathophysiology and clinical presentations come in handy and is just memorization of how things present and how they do not which can lead you to other diagnoses. Along with content, sometimes it is difficult to identify relationships in regards to how a patient presents [specific age group, PMH, chief complaint, etc]. If you do not see the relationship between all of these things, then determining a diagnosis is going to be difficult.
The best thing to do when you need help is not to sit and sulk but rather ask your peers for their thoughts and opinions because maybe they have a different perspective/differential in their head compared to yours. That is where I think I do well, I am not afraid to ask for help when I need it and I work well with others. I also feel that I am capable of presenting logical arguments in an appropriate fashion. The only thing is getting to that point once you have a set of differentials and diagnostic tests you want to order.
Again, I really liked this class even though I believed I would not at first. Each professor had their own way of coming to a differential and working that differential up which was nice to see. Definitely going to take into consideration being more familiar with content of material for rotations and being able to analyze and create relationships between the HPI and PE findings, etc to be able to create a solid assessment and plan for my patients on rotation.
