My First Two Weeks!

Whoever said time flies was not kidding! I am already in the middle of my second week in my community rotation and it is incredible. But first, let's rewind a bit to what you all missed.

Orientation was awesome. The drive to campus was boring as ever (I hate the Western Kentucky parkway) but the three other Louisville interns and I drove up together so it made it more enjoyable. Speaking of those interns, we are all so grateful to be in it together. And living with two of them is awesome--we were lucky to get paired with each other! So anyway, the three days of orientation was very helpful. Our directors gave us our three-(yes, three)-inch binders which they referred to as our "best friend" that literally had everything we needed to do and how to accomplish it during this 10-month internship. It was extremely organized and just awesome to have. We all left on the last day of orientation pretty comfortable with the competencies we have to complete and what to expect during the internship.

Now to the good stuff...THE EXPERIENCE.
Remember: Every internship is different. So some rotations may be longer than others and approached in different orders. My community rotation is 4 weeks, followed by food service rotation for 6 weeks, and then 22 weeks clinical rotation.

The first week (last week) was awesome. The first day we met with our preceptor and she told us about what we would be doing for the next month and then handed us our jam-packed schedules. Some days we were with another intern and sometimes we were by ourselves. And she has us going all over Louisville which is amazing. We get to go to diabetes education classes, cardiac rehabilitation centers, bariatric surgery centers, wellness programs, and we even did screenings for cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. at the Kentucky State fair this week and last.

What I like most about this whole experience so far is the variety that we are getting. Our preceptor and internship director communicated really well with each other about what was expected before the internship even started so I think that really ensured that we would get an array of experience.

The best thing I did was actually today in bariatrics! I had the opportunity to watch three LAP-band surgeries. If you aren't familiar with that, it's a weight loss surgery that involves placing an adjustable band around the top of the stomach that helps with restriction when eating by making the person feel fuller faster. It is extremely successful when the patient follows the rules. The main reason patients choose this weight loss surgery over gastric bypass or the sleeve is because it is statistically safer and reversible if ever needed (although usually not likely).

So that's my experience so far. The workload has not been too bad. All of the activities we have to do for certain competencies are projects that you do a little of each week and then it all comes together so the amount of work per week is very manageable. My roommates and I are enjoying this as much as we can because we know as soon as our community rotation is over it'll only get more intense!

I'll update more next week! Have a great rest of the week everyone :)