Shadowing an Internal Med resident

Royal Oak Beaumont pharmacy has PGY-1 and PGY-2 programs available, and I had the fortune to see a "day-in-the-life" of PGY-1 resident on their Internal Medicine rotation. 

The day started at 8:00am with us looking up patient profiles for about 10 patients, varying from those in the intensive care unit to patients awaiting discharge. Since the resident had been tracking the patients for a few days, she reviewed each profile for medication changes and lab results that were previously pending. We were able to cover a few medication profiles of the patients in depth, discussing why antibiotic changes were necessary, or what pertinent lab results would warrant a change in therapy. 

When it was time for rounds, the resident paged the resident doctors and attending physician. Rounds started with the resident doctors presenting the case to the attending physician, and with the pharmacy resident offering suggestions to change medications. With each patient visit, the pharmacy resident was able to interact with the patient directly, counseling them on proper medication use (patient questions included what the difference between rescue and maintenance inhalers, why a whole course of medication was necessary to complete, what side effects were normal to experience, and how to time taking medications in relation to food). Once a patient was counseled, the team moved to the next patient, discussing the following case while walking to the floor. This experience made me realize that it is essential to have a comprehensive work up readily available on hand for each patient, since it can often be difficult to remember all the details when on the floors.

After rounding, the pharmacy resident made a plan of action for the following day, noting which patients required closer monitoring. The rest of the day was devoted to working other residency tasks, such as making handouts for the physicians on medication dosing, creating presentations for the pharmacy department, and manuscript editing. 

Residents are certainly busy with a variety of activities to complete before they are done, but according the resident I shadowed, the experience of a residency is invaluable and truly rewarding!