Perinatology Elective

Life gets a little busy when you're doing rotations and I completely forgot to write about my first elective that I completed back in May in Augusta for 4 weeks in Perinatology. Perinatology is a subspecialty of obstetrics that focuses on high-risk pregnancies. I really enjoyed my time. We did a ultrasound on every patient mostly because they were usually new patients and being referred to us by their regular OBGYN. I got really good at reading ultrasounds and even scanned some patients myself. I have a new appreciation for sonographers, you wouldn't think but that really hurts your arm after awhile or maybe I'm just a weakling and need to work out a little more...

We had a genetic counselor who worked in our office as well and I got to work with her, counseling patients on genetic conditions etc. Two of my favorite things, genetics and OB! Ever since taking my first genetics course in college, I've been fascinated by it. Maybe because it has math involved which has always been a strong point of mine. The interest in genetic diseases grew when my cousin was born was a severe genetic metabolic disease discovered after he went home but before the newborn screening results came back. I know how important genetic counselors are for families!

I really enjoyed the rotation especially because I'm interested in OBGYN and got to see the more challenging cases that I didn't get to see in my OBGYN core rotation. I would highly recommend this rotation! Not only did my OBGYN clinical skills improve but so did my counseling skills.