So it's official....I want to be a pediatrician!!!! Now I know some of you are rolling your eyes right now just thinking to yourself "Well of course you do Danelle. You have only been telling us this since you were six years old." But some of you know how hard I struggled with this decision. Though I come across as calm, cool, and collected, for the past few months I was panicking inside. I fell in love with Ob/Gyn in October and for a while there I could really see myself doing that forever. Then my pediatric rotation in Texas just confused me more because I didn't
absolutely love every moment of it. I was disappointed that my first day walking into the Children's Hospital a choir of angels didn't light up in the sky singing "Alleluia". I mean I thought my life calling would come with some sort of grand sign. But alas, it didn't. So I spent the last few months making lists, thinking about what I really wanted and how I pictured my life in the future, and doing some serious soul searching. And then I finally had that moment of clarity where a choir of angels dropped from the sky singing. Ok in reality giant stuffed animals dropped off of shelves to the melody of screaming babies. But it was just the sign I was waiting for. And it all happened at a pediatric clinic at home...
I was extremely lucky to complete an elective rotation at home. I lived with my parents for the month of January and worked in Santa Rosa at a general pediatric clinic. Back in October I thought I had a rotation all set up but then it unfortunately fell through due to legality reasons. The amazing doctor I was coordinating with for that rotation then took it upon himself to find me something else in Santa Rosa. He felt that it was unfair for legal reasons to hold me back. That's how I ended up at the best clinic ever. The director there took a chance on me and I will forever be grateful for that. It was there that I fell in love with pediatrics. I never saw myself doing general peds, but I loved everyday in clinic. I have to work with children. They are just amazing little creatures. They are candid and funny and speak whatever is on their mind. You can't help but smile working with them. And they are so smart! I learned so much from the munchkins. One of my favorite interactions was with a little four year old girl who needed her Kindergarten shots. I start every encounter with "So tell me why you're here." She just sighed and said with a very serious and brave face "I need shots." She then continued "I'm ready. I'm prepared." She looked shyly up at me and asked "Do I still get a sticker if I cry? I'm going to try really hard not to but I might cry." I wanted to give her all the stickers at that moment.
I got into a nice routine while home. Every morning at 5 am my parents and I would go to Boot Camp together. After sweating for an hour and questioning "why am I doing this?", we'd come home. It seemed so much easier when I was in high school getting up for 5 am ice time at the rink. Now that I'm all old and stuff my body protests getting up before the sun. But I pushed through telling myself that if my parents could do it without complaint then so could I. Once home, Dad and I would get ready for work while mom made breakfast and packed our lunches. It was like being in school again. I was spoiled for sure. Then dad and I would carpool into work. He would drop me off at the clinic and pick me up to head home. Mom would have dinner ready and then the evening was spent studying with an early bedtime to do it all over again.
This pediatric clinic mostly treats the under-served community and is open until 9 pm five days a week and then until 3 pm on Saturdays. The majority of the families are Spanish speaking only. Challenge number one - learn Spanish, fast. I got this app on my phone to teach me. My dad and I would practice together on our way into work. My favorite was to try speaking with the 5-8 year olds because they thought I sounded funny but would correct me and teach me. The parents were too polite to tell me I was saying things wrong. So I now know many medical words and can ask very personal questions in Spanish like "How long have you had diarrhea?" (cuanto tiempo ha tenido la diarrea?) and "Does it hurt when you pee?" (le duele al orinar?). Wonderful everyday conversation, right? All the providers and MAs were bilingual. The MAs were also super helpful in teaching me Spanish. The key to a successful clinic operation most definitely starts with good MAs. They work hard for very little praise. They were always there to assist the doctors with whatever they needed. The MAs at this clinic totally rocked and were really nice to me. They helped me out several times without making me feel like a complete idiot.
Everyday I would work with a different provider. This clinic has 8 providers but only 4 working at a time and all are ladies. (Girl Power!) And from the moment the doors opened in the morning it was busy! On my busiest day I saw 28 patients! A "light" day had about 20 patients. The rule of the clinic was no walk in was ever turned away. I learned a lot and got to see many different doctoring styles working with the different providers. All the providers are amazing ladies and great doctors and nurse practitioners. After shadowing my first day, I was put to work the next seeing patients by myself and creating a plan. I documented everything I did in the computer. I learned how to prescribe medication and write school notes and send referrals. I almost always felt behind but I loved being that busy. The more I saw the more I learned. All the providers were super friendly and they have connections with pediatric residencies in California so it was a great networking opportunity for me.
They treated me like one of the team and I am super grateful to have met them all. On my last day they even got me a cake and sang "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow". It was so sweet and really touched me that they would go to the trouble! And for the record, it was a delicious cake! (Almond cake with apricot filling and white chocolate butter cream - Yum!) As you can see they also gave a nod to my newly acquired Spanish skills.
Overall this has been my favorite rotation so far. I think it meant just a little bit more to me because I was working in the community that I grew up in. I can't express in words what this rotation meant to me. It made me realize not only my love for pediatrics but my love for my community. I haven't lived in Sonoma County for 7 years now but it will always be my home. And who really knows what the future will hold but as of now I would be very content and honored to come home and work in the community that raised me. It was very special all around. And the best bonus was being able to spend time with my family and friends. The older I get the more I realize how awesome my parents and older brother are. I love them all so much and I cherish this new "adult" relationship we have. And my grade school friends. It was wonderful being able to spend time with them again. It's been so long with all of us leaving for college and now work and grad school. Even though we have spent more time apart than together these last 7 years, our friendship is as strong as ever. The month went by too fast but I am so thankful for everything I experienced!
