Rotation Block 1: Cardiology

Life is good now. Boards are finally over, though I am still awaiting results, and I have no more didactic training for medical school! I just finished my second week of my first third year medical rotation, and it is awesome! This first rotation is cardiology, and I have great preceptor, Dr. Fred Cucher at Phoenix Heart. It's been really challenging jumping right into a sub-specialty like cardiology because I have no other clinical background yet. So basically I've felt like an idiot that doesn't know anything. It's frustrating that I spent the past two years reading and learning about all aspects of medicine, and often, the patient presentations are not classic like in the textbook. But on the bright side, I have learned a ton! First, I have become extremely proficient at the basics, like blood pressure and heart sounds. I also have heard many abnormalities, which makes the process much easier to know what's normal and what isn't. Also, I have seen the pharmacological side of cardiology, and I am picking up patterns of what to do in different situations. It is a relief to see just how subjective medicine is. Everyone has their own way of approaching a given scenario, there's not typically a stringent black and white answer like we were trained with countless multiple choice tests.

Another thing about a cardiology specialty I learned is that the elderly population loves me! True, some thought and asked if I was indeed as young as I looked. But overall, they trust you and have been very nice to me during my time at Phoenix Heart! Although I don't have too many inklings to specialize in cardiology at this time, it has been a very good experience for me to gain so many skills that I can apply to every facet of medicine.

The biggest thing I gleaned from Dr. Cucher was just how special the humanistic component of medicine truly is. In many cases, he has long term doctor-patient relationships and has known his patients for a long time. I see how big of a role that plays in the medical care they receive. They trust him and respect everything he has to say. The reason that he has such good relationships with his patients is that he really cares for them. He takes the extra time to talk to them and listen to them. He asks them about how aspects of their loves are going and takes a vested interest in them as a person, not just a patient. I liked how he did all the blood pressure measurements himself, something I have never seen a doctor do. On my last day of the rotation, he wrote on his prescription pad to me "primum non nocere," and gave it to me. He told me to never forget it, and to always remember the patient first. I later translated the phrase as, "First, do no harm." I am truly grateful for the opportunity I have had to learn from Dr. Cucher.