Lauren Feld, MD Student, Class of 2015, reflects on her participation in the Interclerkship Ambulatory Care Track (InterACT). InterACT is a 13-week integrated clerkship which provides select third-year medical students with a longitudinal clinical experience grounded in the foundations of ambulatory medicine, chronic illness care and care for vulnerable persons. (more…)
(Continued from Part 1)
After spending a few minutes discussing the impacts of caregiving on those enrolled in the training session, we transitioned to the meat of the course: what to do when a patient exhibits certain signs and symptoms at home and when to make the call to send the patient to a health care facility. Most of the information shared was very basic and quite frankly, would be beneficial to anyone, not specifically just to this group of individuals who were caring for the very sick.
My research project culminated in a training session held for caregivers of cancer patients. In preceding weeks, my team of two medical students and I had conducted a needs assessment in order to determine what these caregivers felt they needed in order to provide optimal care to their patients. The goal was to create a training module that would be useful to them and that could be continued by the department even after my departure. The results of the needs assessment showed that caregivers could benefit from training sessions that focused on any of the following:
Jillian Nickerson discusses ISMMS’s Medical Student Research Office and the support she’s received from them during medical school.
Jillian Nickerson is in ISMMS’s PORTAL program, as a MD/MSCR Candidate, Class of 2015.
Tuesday
This afternoon, I went to the Tower building to meet Dr. Cardinale Smith, an oncologist with palliative care training who focuses on lung cancers. I had the pleasure of hearing her speak to members of my class last semester about her experience in dealing with cancer patients, but I wanted to find out more about how she decided on her specialty. We had, what was for me, a very enlightening chat that piqued my interest in oncology. I am looking forward to exploring this more.
This week was a little unusual for two reasons. First, we did not have an exam. Second, I was away at a conference the previous week, presenting my research. Therefore, I spent a lot of time catching up on things (e.g. sleep, errands etc.).
Monday
11:30AM: Wake up and walk my dog
12PM: Eat breakfast/lunch and answer emails
