Internal Medicine

Today was my first day shadowing! I got to shadow Dr. Chilcote, a resident, at the internal medicine clinic at Prisma! I was very nervous yesterday but once I met Dr. Chilcote, all my nervousness went away. He was so awesome to work with and was so relatable. He told me about his family and how residency was going. He told me that yes it is hard, but I could do whatever I set my mind to. We had four patients today and every one of them had diabetes. I learned that managing your weight, eating healthy meals, and having an overall healthy lifestyle can truly make all your pains go away.

After the first couple of patients, I realized how important a healthy diet is and my dad came to mind. My dad was diagnosed with being pre-diabetic. So, he was on the line of having diabetes. In India, rice is a staple food so at my home, my dad would eat rice every day because it is normal in the culture I grew up in. Although rice tastes good it has it's bad components. It is a high-carb food that's had most of its fiber removed. It also contains lots of sugar. Ever since my dad got those results from the doctor, he has exercised everyday, has cut sugar from his diet, drinks a gallon of water every day, and has incorporated fresh fruit and vegetables into his diet.

I saw as Dr. Chilcote urged the patients to eat better or get a walk in. Some of them refused and some of them were not able to afford a healthy diet. Many patients want to eat better in order to better their health, but they simply are unable to do so because they either do not have access to those resources or cannot afford it. He also explained to me that sometimes it does get hard to believe if the patients are telling him the truth and are being honest with quitting certain things like smoking. However, you have to trust the patients and what they say about their personal lives while also advising them to take good care of their health.

I had a really good first day of clinicals! I ended my day by being featured in a senior residents roast video. Dr. Chilecote and another resident made a video for a resident that was graduating and I was able to be in it. It was so funny and so fun to be in!