I observed three pap smear tests today. In short, a pap smear is a test on the woman’s cervix to test for cervix cancer and any other abnormalities. The D.O. I am shadowing, Dr. McWilliams had me stand behind a curtain while she is performed the test, but I still had a view of her using all the instruments. I felt awkward just standing there.
Those well women exams are important, but as a male, I don’t think I am on the same level as a female patient. I just cannot relate to them physically of how things may be. I am not sure if anything can teach me the physical connection that a woman has to her body parts. I might read about it as much as I can, but still will not know the true feeling of how it is preformed. Another Internal Medicine doctor, who is a male, has requested that he does not do well women exams. I am sure I will have to do them at some point in medical school, maybe my awkwardness will be gone by then.
So far this summer I have rotated in: Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Radiology. I have Family Practice and Battlefield Surgery left to do. The hospital I am at, Bassett Army Community Hospital has been hammered by deployments, so my rotation options are limited. What I have done so far is really enjoyable and I have yet to see anything that makes me not want to become a doctor. Just like any workplace, there are internal jokes and they always try to fill me in when they are talking, so it really makes my internship adjusting great.
Dr. McWilliams has offered to help me set up a meeting with the dean of one the medical schools I am interested in. That would be great for me and I would be very thankful. She is a doctor, so I won’t try and push it from her, but so far she’s been very helpful in answering my questions about doctor life and medical school life.
I plan on doing a medical school tour with Brittany while we drive my car up from New Mexico to Alaska during spring break. I also have a free flight with Southwest and I am thinking of using it to see a school in Washington D.C.
