Ep. 172: Rookie Mistake, Psych Edition (Part 2)

In this episode, Jazmin shares how much she's been enjoying her psychiatry rotation—including the valuable lessons learned from a few rookie mistakes! She breaks down the benefits of training across different clinical sites and how exposure to various teaching styles and unique learning opportunities can shape her growth as a future healthcare provider.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

You're now listening to a potent dose of three with your hosts Linda, Jasmine, and Kathy. And we're here to bring you your weekly dose. Hey guys, welcome back. This is a continuation of last week's episode.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

And so one of the things I like I took seriously was making sure that I was really listening to the residents ask their questions, see their flow, kind of see how they ask questions and even seeing how they respond to agitated patients. But you know, um, I personally feel like I do have a really good way of staying calm and keeping patients calm. But you know, you can always learn something from someone, especially a resident in their fourth year. They've they've learned a lot, they know a lot, they've seen a lot. So I just wanted to make sure that I was paying attention to his questions, uh, his flow, and and, you know, maybe some questions I may not have thought about. And so because it was really loud and I wasn't even in the room because the patient was agitated, um, the the resident was in the room and I decided to turn my head away from them and and have my ear closer to them so I could actually hear. Because I wasn't able to hear. And so I'm trying to hear, so I turn my head so that I'm able to hear, so that my ear is basically in line of kind of like the communication. And within a second, that's why it was a rookie mistake, because I know that this happened. I know this, but I did it anyways. Within a second, all I see is somehow the resident ends up behind me. So he was in front of me. Now he's behind me. And I see him and I turn now. I'm actually like, wait, why is he behind me all of a sudden? Like that was so quick. So then I turn my head back to kind of like um where the patient was, right? And I see, and now the patient's charging towards me with um with like a cup of, I don't know, it looked like coffee. I know it wasn't hot, I I would assume it wasn't hot. I it was probably like lukewarm coffee, but now the patient is charging towards me with the cup. And I'm like, oh no. Like I was like, oh no. I was like, oh no. And so like I like scurry away. I I mean, I don't know if it was a run, I don't know what you want to call it, but I like definitely moved fast out the way. And um, I was like, wow, Jasmine, you knew that you knew you're not supposed to turn your head away from you know the patient. Um, so yeah, learning lesson right there, first week. Um, make sure you're always paying attention to what's going on in front of you.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

I bet you won't do that again because again, learning lesson. It was a learning lesson that happened to you. Speaking of that, speaking of safety, speaking on, I know like psych, there's always just so many different rules and everything to keep the provider safe and to also keep the patient safe. When you're on the floor, are you partnered up with someone or can are you able to go into the rooms by yourself? Because I know when I did my psych rotation, we always had to at least go in pairs. We never we can never go into the room by ourselves.

SPEAKER_02 3:15

Yeah, that's a uh good question. Um, I haven't been at a point where they've left me by myself, but I don't think they're gonna leave me by myself because every everything I'm gonna be doing now, they're going to be kind of seeing how I progress, right? So, like this this is gonna be my first week of patience. So now they're gonna wanna see like how I ask my questions, what my flows are and things like that. So they're I'm pretty sure a resident will always be with me. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Yeah, I think for me it was like the question was more so like say you see, safety wise, yes, say like if you see a call light on, it was like, oh, let me go in here by myself to check to see like what the patient wants, or you hear a patient um like screaming, like, are you able to go in a room by yourself or would you just get go and get someone?

SPEAKER_02 4:00

I will say, I don't know, but I will say that a lot pretty much pretty much every patient that we've seen thus far has had a sitter. So um I at this point, now that I think about it, I don't even know, like I don't even like because I know like this my my my thought process is I'm not really gonna go into the rooms. I'll like walk up to the door and you know talk to them from there. Um I think if I needed to go into the room, I would want the resident with me, you know. So but no, I I I would assume that no, I'm probably not allowed to go in by myself because it's probably a safety hazard, you know?

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Okay, that makes sense. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Yeah, yeah. Pretty much every patient we saw had a sitter or someone sitting with them. Now that I'm I'm thinking about it, which I don't know how I just noticed that.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Quick question. So you said the rotation is a month or is it longer than a month?

SPEAKER_02 5:02

It's six weeks. So the way Yeah, so the way it'll work for all the rotations is they're all six weeks, but within six weeks it's split into two different blocks, so you'll be at a different site every block. So you'll get to experience different things. But a total of six weeks, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Okay. And then um I just want to see like how how does it work? Like when they give you a patient, does the resident or when did they say that when they give you a patient, did the resident go in with you, or do you go and then get report from the patient, give report to the resident, have an assessment and plan? Do you plan that or how how is how is it gonna work?

SPEAKER_02 5:42

Uh, from my understanding, is they're going to assign me patients and I will pre-chart and then we will do rounds together. So the the resident will go in with me. Um, I will interview, I will then step out and discuss with the resident what we think the assessment and plan will be. Um, so yeah, I'm pr I'm pretty much just working with the resident. Um, like I guess um trying to figure out how how to best tailor the care for the patient. And I think the resident will be with me, guiding me, teaching me. Good question. I remember, you know, always wanting to come to medical, but always having a little fear. Um, and that fear was just feeling like one, I didn't belong, maybe I wasn't gonna be good at my job, or just kind of like imposter syndrome and just having a lot of anxiety about working as a provider. And I've definitely seen a lot of progress in kind of the way I think. And it's made me I think honestly it's it's giving me a lot of peace because now instead of like having anxiety and having fear about am I gonna be good enough? Am I gonna do this right? I don't focus on that and it allows me to just learn and like actually it just gives me like space to learn and I'm not so much focused on what if, what if, you know? And I really like that. It's taken a lot of time and I've and I noticed that I think one of the most recent times that I've noticed like my shift in change, my change in thinking is um I went to where was it? I went to Jumba juice and there's this girl there who wants to go to medical school, and um she was talking to me about um wanting to go to med school, and she's like, Aren't you nervous? Aren't you, you know, aren't you nervous? Like, are you not nervous? And I was like, I used to be, I used to be a lot. Um and you know, I talked to her about how every step of my education, like each step, like like learning, all the learning that I'm doing has made me feel more comfortable in myself. Um and another time that we talked about this was actually on the orientation, um, they asked us what our expectations were. Um, and I said one of my expectations was to just give myself grace because I know I'm not gonna know everything perfectly. I know I'm not, I know I'm gonna make mistakes, right? Such as turning my head when I probably shouldn't. Um, and you know, she she gave me a really good example, which I thought was hilarious, but she was talking about how, you know, she w she had a patient and her patient was constantly late to every to all the appointments and she would forget those appointments and and um and she mentioned how um her, the provider, had uh forgot to go to one of the to forgot to go to one of the appointments or to one of their meetings and the patient actually thanked her. Uh, she said, because it allowed her to feel like she was working with, you know, a human and not like a robot. Um, and so that was a really good example for her to give me because it kind of solidified, you know, the the thought, the thought process I have now. It's you know, I'm gonna make mistakes and that's okay. And sometimes patients do appreciate that, not all the time, but sometimes they do. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

I love that for you. I love it. And I just love how you're not overwhelmed or strickened with anxiety, which allow you to like, I guess, like just focus and take everything, like like you said, give yourself grace. Um, and I do want to go back more to on your clinical experiences, like your your rotations that you're currently um in, your psycho rotation, and how much like you're speaking so positively about the environment, and then also about your I'm gonna call him your preceptor, because I forgot what you call them. Um residence. It's attending, attending, your attending. Um that all of that is very important when you're first entering like the field and you're learning that that that person make that environment welcoming and allow you to ask quote unquote like dumb questions, because you know they say there's never a dumb question, but make that environment not so overwhelming. Um, because for me, listeners, as you may know, um, like last year when I was a clinical student, I remember waking up with anxiety, um, having to go to clinicals um because like my preceptor, she was like very, very strict on just she was like strict um as a preceptor. She wanted things certain way uh done a certain way, and it wasn't that way. Um, like she would just give us like give us a hard time. But the fact that you know, you on the other hand, like you can see like the differences between preceptors, like one who comes off as like approachable, make it like a work environment, and then versus the other one who's who's who know who's very passionate about the field, but her delivery and everything was like completely different. And again, that makes the experience. Um, so it's giving me just like just like in retro, like it just like flashbacks of like my my experience versus your experience. And I just wish like my experience was more just like a welcoming environment where it made me like feel comfortable with asking questions because it's like I didn't want to ask questions, like what about it's a dumb question? And she'll look at me like, girl, you should have known this question and and stuff like that. So I'm happy to hear that you actually have someone who is like patient and who's um who's given you space to like grow and learn as a as a student.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Yeah, no, I'm I'm really sorry you went through that. I do remember you talking about that. And I know some people may have the false perception where it's like, oh, well, you know, you have to be hard on them so that they learn like that. And that's not necessarily the case. And and I want to bring an example up. I want to bring an example up. Um the attending had mentioned, like, oh yeah, you're not gonna present this week, you're just gonna be observing, you know, kind of like like dipping your feet, um, just observe, see the flow of questions, and just see, you know, just learn, right? And um the resident, um, since it was like their her second day, um, she had um she she asked me to go and and uh basically interview the patient and the patient was Spanish speaking. So um one, I do want to add, like I although Spanish was my first language, um it's very different when you're using it in the medical context, right? And two, like I have not keep in mind, like I have been out of school for a while, and I say out of school because I've been home studying first app. So like I haven't been, I haven't been in a clinical environment for a long time for months. So I'm rusty. And so if you take into context one, I've been out of the clinical environment for a long time, and two, like I I am not using my Spanish and medical Spanish is very different. When she had asked me to um interview the patient, you know, I wasn't hesitant and I was like, okay, I'm just gonna do my best. And I went for it, and then that's I was I was that that's all I was expecting. And so when we went to go meet up with the um attending and other residents and the rest of the care team, as I was sitting down, as I was sitting down, she tells me you will present this patient. And I wasn't ready because one, like you tell me as we're about to present. So I wasn't ready. I I like I didn't write anything down. All I did was interview the patient. So I thought like she would be doing it. Um, and then and then um I was like, okay, well then can I go last? I would like to go last because obviously I'm not ready and I'm not ready to present in front of all these doctors and and the care plan team. I would like I want to like prep. And of course they go, you're going first. And I was like, great, okay. So obviously, I you know I went for it and it didn't go as planned. And even though they were, they were, they were really, um, they were really understanding. They were like, it's okay, don't worry. Uh, we weren't expecting really anything from you. Even though they were so gentle about it, that gave me the um desire to be better. Even though um they weren't hard on me, I wanted to be better for myself, you know, because I don't want to be in that situation again. Um, and so what did I do? I came home and I um saw where my gaps were, which was the mental status examination, and I came up with a chart and I started taking notes on maybe what to include, what not to include, um, the flow of it. And so hopefully I'm gonna be better prepared next time. And so that whole notion of yeah, if you're if you're like if you're rough, or I don't, I don't know, I don't know, my my words aren't coming out the way I wanted to, but if you're rough on them, they'll learn better. That's not always necessarily the case.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Everyone learns really different, so yeah, yeah, and I love that for you, but I what you were trying to say was also what I was trying to say is like someone who's like hard on you, they care more like that tough love type of things, like, oh, because they they give you tough love because they see something in you you may not see for your see in yourself, so like they push you and tough love, but that don't work for everybody. I said it's it's it's good to, in my opinion, to read the room. Um, if you're trying tough love because that's what you're used to. But if you see the students like withheld with held with holding and going backwards, it's like maybe not, maybe no tough love probably don't work for that for that student. And I feel like maybe that's where I was, where it's like it was a whole lot of tough love. And it for me, it wasn't it wasn't it didn't encourage growth, it just basically made me feel like oh, like too again, too afraid to ask questions. But I did grow as a person because like you said, like if they point something out, I would try to go home and like let me figure this out so I don't, you know, so I won't, you know, get yelled at or whatever the case may have been. But yeah, I love that for you. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

Yeah, yeah. It I I think there's definitely a balance, you know, that would be good in that. Like it should be a balance. But toughness with a little bit of yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Yeah, it should definitely be a balance. Some lack the balance, but it definitely should be a balance in everything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:01

It's low-key kind of like raising a child. I had a conversation with someone and they were mentioning, um, yeah, so I realized that, you know, I have one child who's, you know, who has a different temperament than this child. This child is a lot more rough, you know, and the other child's a lot more sensitive. And I was trying to parent the children the same way when I realized it doesn't work that way. One child needed had different needs and the other child had different needs. That's kind of how I see teaching. It's like you kind of have to tailor your teaching to your student in a sense.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Exactly. And I love that you gave that little metaphor, that little because I've heard that before as well, and I think it's so true. Everyone works differently. Differently, what works for one person may not work for the other. Um, and if you're in in the field of teaching, um, again, every everybody works differently.

SPEAKER_02 17:52

And I will say that's the one thing I it's like a love-hate relationship, right? Because and that was one of the things I was scared about rotations was um I'm a creature of habit. I love like comfort, but I also know that you don't grow in that right. And so as much as I hate the fact that I have to switch rotations, like sites every three weeks, it also, you know, will be good for me because I'll learn like, okay, like I'm not always gonna have a very supportive um attending or resident. And so um learning just different, learning to be not not, yeah, learning to be comfortable with different styles of teaching it will probably be, you know, beneficial for me because I'm not always gonna have that, you know. I might have that that preceptor that you had where they might give me that tough love and I'm a sensitive girly, so I'll have to learn how to deal with that, you know.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Yep, and that's the best way to look at it.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Yeah, and learning how to deal with different personalities is a must, especially in the world of healthcare, because you're gonna be interacting with so many different people.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

So many, so many different yeah, and then that's all like I'm like let me look at it that way when I was in the trenches. Uh but yeah, I'm I'm glad that you're looking at it that way because that's all you can do. You can learn different types of personality so you can work with everyone.

SPEAKER_02 19:16

Yeah, and then also like learning different, you know, they might have a different way that they go about, I don't know, for example, just like an example of pre-charting that I might might be like, wow, I never thought about it that way. That's a great way to do it. So yeah, I guess that's the pros of switching, you know, um rotations often is you do get to experience a lot of different um ways of doing things.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

That's one thing I wish that my university did, like every, I guess it was like a sh uh no, we had we had um clinicals for for the whole year. So I wish like every rotation, and maybe every like three months or so, or even four months, it'll like switch with different preceptors because one because I was with one the whole year, the way of her way of thinking is I thought that was like the right way. And then when I did my fellowship, and then I had another doctor that I was following, and his way was completely different. I was like, wow, you know, what they say both can be true, but if he you know he had a different approach, and I'm like, well, that would have been good if I would have had like a little mixture so I can see is that it wasn't, you know, her way wasn't the only way or the the right way. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

So now that you went in with maybe some type of because I feel like we all go in to these clinicals with some type of expectations and fears, and it's kind of like, okay, um, I think this is how it's going to look. And then now that you I know it's only like a short um period of time, which is like only a week. Uh, but now that you've been there for a week, um, what are some things that excite you that excite you? What are some things that you're like, okay, I might need to work on it? Like, how how are you feeling now that you have already been a weekend?

SPEAKER_02 21:07

What are some things that excite me? I think some of the things that excite me are I guess learning how to communicate with different people, you know. I'm gonna be communicating with people that have different um um backgrounds and different lived experiences that that have different that have maybe like ill illnesses that I've never come across. And so kind of learning how to, you know, learning how to handle those situations. Um because it it it's it's easier said than done. Like you you can you can have certain questions that you want to ask someone, but if they are in psychosis, i it might not go the way you expected. And so I I'm excited to just learn. Honestly, I'm just really excited to learn how to handle these situations. Um, for example, like I I've been in AMT and I've handled patients uh with some degree of psychosis, um, but there's different degrees of psychosis. And so um I may be like, yeah, no, I know I can handle that, but in reality, everyone's so different and they react so so differently. And so just kind of learning how to interact with different patients. Um, I totally forgot your second question. You said, what?

SPEAKER_01 22:36

What are you excited about? Uh, now that you're a week in, uh, was it like what you expected? Was it better?

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Hold that thought and stay tuned for next week's episode.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Thanks for listening to this episode of PD3 with your hosts Linda, Jasmine, and Kathy. Make sure you like, comment, and subscribe at a put in dose of three so that you never miss an episode and your weekly dose.