8 Questions to Ask Your OB/GYN at Your Next Visit

Happy Hump Day!

Below is a post I did for Mode that I wanted to share on the blog. Enjoy!

Check out 8 Questions to Ask Your OB/GYN at Your Next Visit
by Jasmine Johnson at Mode

The Home Stretch...

I am once again a creature of the night. I just finished week three of four on my second (and final) nights rotation of intern year. It is hard to believe that one year ago we were just moving down to North Carolina, and in a few more weeks I will be a second year resident. It has been a difficult year to say the least. As always, I am amazed at how much I have learned. I think, over the last few weeks, I have felt more like a legit doctor than ever, and it feels great.

When it's almost second year, you postpartum round like a BOSS!

I must admit, I am definitely feeling emotionally, mentally, and physically fatigued. I have done little to nothing in the self care department. On May 1, I finally decided to stop eating all the junk that has led to my intern year weight gain. I refuse to look like what I am going through...ugh

The littles are doing great! Per usual.

Natey graduated from kindergarten last week. Being on nights finally was a plus and I got to go to his award ceremony. I was beaming when he was presented with the Principal's award for all A's all year, excellence in music, excellence in technology, excellence in Bible verses, and excellence in math.*** his most recent accomplishment, besides growing up too fast, is riding a bike without training wheels! I feel like just yesterday he and I were best buddies in Indy - me studying for the MCAT and he, a sleeping baby, laying in the middle of my books.

Isabelle continues to blossom. When I am on nights, I really do not see the family from Monday-Thursday, and when I finally see her again she seems so much older. She is definitely in that in-between-baby-and-wants-to-be-big phase that involves lots of crying and fall-outs, but she is also so sweet! I love to hear her try out new words, or when she does her big-eyed "I'm so excited!" Pure joy.

 

My little brother graduated from college this month so had a *really* quick getaway back home to Indiana, and it was great to see my fam. We hadn't all been together since my med school graduation. It was so great to have that time together and hopefully, once second year comes along, I can do it more than once a year :-/ 

We spent Easter weekend in Wilmington, NC. It is a little piece of heaven only 2.5 hours away by car. I absolutely love being by the water. It was the perfect recharge to get me through this last leg of the year....

 

Well, I think that's all of an update I have for now! xoxo

Status Check...

Every time I sit down to write a post, I realize I would rather be playing with the kids...or sleeping.

But alas, I don't want to abandon my one hobby (lol), so here are some quick updates...

I am halfway done with my second block and I have delivered over 50 babies in four weeks. 

This includes a handful of c-sections as primary surgeon. Which feels pretty amazing!

The hours are bananas and I am SO tired. Like all. the. time. *yawn*

The children are wonderful. 

Natey started Kindergarten in mid-August. And he has since then lost both of his front teeth. I cannot deal with all this big kid stuff! What a difference a year makes...

Isabelle has developed a very independent and sassy personality. You can find her walking around the house pretending to talk on the phone, playing with her brother's toys, or standing in the window spying on the neighbors... 

I am still trying to find my balance in our new, intensely fast-paced life. It's so hard being away from the littles so much, but we are taking it a day at a time and trying to make the best of it. 

Thank you everyone for your prayers, emails, calls, texts, and posts checking on me. All of your love means so much, and I am going to do my best to post more regularly!

Reflecting on My Clerkship Experience: Obstetrics & Gynecology

This is looooong overdue, but better late than never ;-) Since I did an additional month of OBGYN in June, I am going to include the details of that too...

From the AAMC Careers in Medicine Clinical Evaluation 

1. Name and Location of Clinical Rotation: 

• Indiana University Hospital High Risk Obstetrics & Benign Gynecology 
• Ambulatory Obstetrics & Gynecology: IU Hospital & Wishard Hospital 

2. What did I like most about this specialty?

• The patient population. Women's health is awesome and all women patients is definitely my favorite...sorry guys!
• The variety. It is a great balance of ambulatory care, surgery, and even inpatient management.  
• The longterm patient relationship. I love the idea of keeping up with my patient's lives and having them remain a part of my practice for years...
• Being a part of such an intimate and unforgettable moment in a family's life. Delivering a baby is an experience that has not compared to anything I have experienced during my clinical years.
• The subject matter. Being an extrovert can really help you in the medical field, but I think that my openness with sexual health and subjects that others may be less comfortable discussing is another big reason why I love this field. 
• The hours. OBGYN has such a bad reputation historically with not being family-friendly and not having time for a life outside of the hospital - which used to be true. I really obsessed about speaking with all of the moms that I worked with during my rotation (and thankfully, there were many!). Each physician was very candid about how balance can be a challenge, but they also had great insight on how they made their hours work for them. 

3. What did I like least about this specialty?

• Miscarriages and loss of term pregnancy. It is so heartbreaking :-( But I will say that I am glad that I feel capable of supporting my patients when they go through such a terrible experience. 

4. Did this clinical rotation give me a good sense of what practice in this specialty would be like? 

Yes, for sure. I got to experience regular obstetrics, maternal fetal medicine (high risk), benign gynecology, night float (5PM-8AM) and even urgent care. I also worked with a lot of different physicians, so I was able to see the different ways one can practice OBGYN as well.

5. Did my interests, values, skills and/or personality "fit" with this specialty? If yes, in what way did they "fit"? If no, why might they not be compatible? 

YES! As far as personality, my attendings and residents have all been very laid-back, open, and approachable. Most days it is a very happy place to be and they celebrate with their patients, and when there is loss, they mourn with their patients too. Regardless of the circumstance, I can see that they love what they do and they love to teach.  I think I would fit in well. The whole time I was on this service I felt like I was with "my people".

And I actually enjoyed studying for this exam because it was all so interesting to me. Even now, with no exam to study for, I find myself reading journals and genuinely interested in learning more and more. Other doctors tell you that you just have that feeling when you know you found your niche and I feel it for sure. I'm so excited!

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6. What are the possible practice settings for specialists in this field? Which of these settings interest me and do I know enough about them? 

All of my exposure has been in the academic field, which I think I would like because I enjoy teaching - even now, it is fun to work with the third year medical students and help teach exam technique. It's funny because that was me like a month ago, but I feel so much more comfortable and capable now. I would like to spend some time in more of private-practice model just so I can see how the two differ.

7. What information do I still need to find out about this specialty? 

How soon can I start? LOL

8. Has my perception of this specialty changed based on my clinical rotation experience? 

Yes, see #2 when I talk about the hours...

9. Did my clinical rotation experience influence the likelihood of choosing a career in this specialty? If yes, how did it influence me? 

For sure. I had a feeling that I would enjoy OBGYN, but I had no idea that I would end up loving it so much!

10. Right now, on a scale of 1-10, how interested am I in this specialty as a career option? 

10!! This is it!

11. Other comments or reflections about this rotation or specialty: 

• This experience has made me seriously consider Maternal Fetal Medicine (high risk obstetrics) as a career option. I enjoy the gynecology part of the specialty, however, so now I need to start figuring out if this is something I would be willing to part with in my pursuit of MFM. 

• Also, as a fourth year I got to participate in Residents' Day - it is the day that fourth year residents graduate, so all the residents have the day off for events. This meant that the MS4s were able to act as the interns (first year residents). I was first assist on a c-section and a vaginal delivery that day. It was nerve wrecking because I was actually in charge, but I loved it! (OK, our attendings were the bosses, but nurses were calling us first...)  Definitely gave me a good taste of what it would be like when things were official :-)  

Night Float & Life Decision Updates...

So I wish I could brag about how that now, after four days on night float, I am a creature of the night. Not so much...but I am increasing my tolerance of staying up late. The fact that I am writing this blog post at 11PM when a month ago I was asleep by 7:30PM is a huge step for me ;-)

3 Years & Counting!

Overall, I have been able to see my family everyday. I get home in time to take Natey to school and talk to the hubby for a bit before he heads out to work. I am usually back at the hospital by the time they get home, so mornings have become precious for family time. Today was kind of a bummer because it is Nate and I's third wedding anniversary, but I only got to spend all of 30 minutes with him. WOMP. I'll just have to make it up this weekend... ;-)

Aside from that being a bummer, I am in LOOOOVE with OB. As soon as our orientation started last week I felt like I was surrounded by my people. My mom told me to at least give it a week LOL. My first day on nights I scrubbed into a C-section and then got to cut the umbilical cord! Maybe it's just me, but I felt like this was a huge deal haha. This was in addition to all the other medical student jobs like holding retractors and cutting suture ties...

I have gotten to triage a few patients coming in for induction and it's such a good feeling to be able to answer questions about labor and help to set some of the anxiety at ease. I think that school has definitely taught me a lot, but I can tell that my words carry a little more weight when I interject a personal note about my own experience with labor into my "Relax. This is totally normal..." talks.

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I am so excited to finally find something that I absolutely think I would be a great fit for. I've literally been waiting all year for this. OB gets a bad reputation for a number of reasons - one of which being hours worked because babies aren't born between the hours of 9am-5pm. My family and personal time is a huge priority to me, so even though all year OB has been in the back of my mind, I tried my hardest to see if there was anything else I could see myself being passionate about.

Nope. Nothing else.

Despite the hours, all of my attendings and residents seem really happy with their chosen field - which says a lot right?

I think there may be more room for flexibility than I initially thought. I just need to maximize my time on service by talking to everyone about how they find balance....