So many have been asking how my first rotation is going in Augusta, GA. I started with OBGYN and am about half way through. For anyone interested in Augusta rotations, the rotations are through Trinity usually but we work mostly in clinics. I am paired with one other UMHS student and we both follow our preceptor around.
Monday mornings are our surgery days and so far the only surgeries we've done are bilateral tubal ligations but we have hysterectomies and other surgeries so I'm excited! I'm usually first assist and get to hold the camera, assist in other ways and close at the end! The rest of the days are clinic days and we see about 25 patients a day. If deliveries are occuring during clinic hours we have to reschedule clinic patients and run to either Trinity or University Hospital to deliver. The other UMHS student and I rotate for deliveries but in the last 3 weeks I've gotten to assist in vaginal deliveries and C-sections. Thursday afternoons are our procedure day so we do insertion of IUDs, colposcopies and any other in-office procedure.
About to deliver some babies! Lucky to be apart of their first moment on earth!
To be honest, I was not looking forward to my OBGYN rotation. I thought I knew that this was something I didn't want to go into but after the last 3 weeks I think this may be what I want to do! It goes to show that you should go into every rotation with an open mind!
Augusta, GA is a great location. I live in Evans, which is a little north of Augusta and it takes me about 20-25 min to get to my clinic. I live in a 5 bedroom house with 4 other guys. One of the guys goes to UMHS but the others are mostly in the military as there is a large army base here. The rooms are nice, completely furnished and we all basically have our own bathroom in the room! It's nice and cheap. I will be leaving Augusta in May so if anyone is rotating here, make sure to email me and I'll give you the details.
Other recommendations for housing: I found mine on craigslist but he was catering specifically to UMHS, AUA and Ross students so I felt a little bit better about it than just a random craigslist ad. I would recommend looking at airbnb if you don't mind renting a room in someone's house. I orginally found my place in Atlanta on airbnb but unfortunately they emailed me and said they were moving. It's hard to find locations that are short term and furnished and airbnb is great for that!
Books: I bought FirstAid for the Wards. This book has a section for each rotation and gives you the high yield topics as well as sample admission notes and what to expect. I think its super helpful.
For OBGYN, I'm using CaseFiles. I like the format it is set up in but others prefer Blueprints. I think you will be ok with CaseFiles or Blueprints. Here is a link to a document which is nice that we found online that is a summary of topics. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7aP9Ft3g9drNjJKU1A1WnIzYTVzNkwzZlh0WGQ1eW04QnNF/view?usp=sharing
I also have been doing some questions out of an online PreTest OBGYN book. Don't go overboard buying books for rotations because you won't get to read all of them. I forgot how tiring it was to work all day and then have to study.
Talk to you soon!
Laura
Hello Laura. I am in the ARP program at UMHS. Did you do EBS or MED? I love your blog, it has me anticipating (Behavior, sorry got done with that class a few weeks ago, I can't help it. lol) for what's to come. I am very excited for you. I pray all goes well with your rotations. The Lord did not bring you this far to not make it. Hang in there. I am also from the Midwest. I am from the South Suburbs of Chicago. I also did 2 years of undergrad at the U of M in Minnesota before I transferred.
ReplyDeleteMarlesa, I have been meaning to reply to you! Sorry I'm a few weeks late! I did MED, I have also been meaning to write a post on that whole process and how it was for me. I did not start with ARP so I can't offer much insight into that. Keep working! It will all be worth it!
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