I had the opportunity to rotate at Woodhull Medical Center for my Obstetrics and Gynecology rotation. Woodhull for this particular rotation has somewhat of a reputation of not being the best when it comes to students. I had previously rotated in Woodhull for my surgery rotation and I could say I had polar difference of a rotation. My surgical rotation was very hands on, where I was pushed into procedures even if I did not want to go ( which was a great experience), where as my women’s health rotation at Woodhull was not as hands on. Professor Melendez, which is our Women’s Health instructor at York, also works at Woodhull and it was a pleasure being able to work with him.

Professor Melendez allowed students that worked with him to be very hands on, which was totally cool. I was given the opportunity to preform so many pelvic exams and transvaginal ultrasounds, I honestly started to like it (Gynecology was my last choice in specialty).  The very first time I preformed a pelvic exam in the clinic was with Professor Melendez, and for some reason the speculum kept slipping out, and I was obviously hurting the patient. Professor Melendez showed me how to use the speculum properly, so it would not slip out and hurt the patient. Once he taught the mechanism, no other speculums slipped out. Professor Melendez also showed me the significant structures to look for in an ultrasound, and I believe by my fourth to fifth patient, I knew what I was looking at. Other instructors that I was with, did not really allow me to preform many task, but I guess I should not feel too bad because none of the students had to opportunity to preform any procedures. From this experience I have learned that even though ultrasounds might be horrifying in the beginning, the more you practice with it, the more you will be able to understand, and maybe it is not a bad idea that I take an ultrasound course afterwards.

There was another physician assistant who is known for being extremely sweet. Her name is PA Chow, and she is honestly, the most thoughtful, educated oriented, student friendly physician assistant I know. I had shadowed physician assistant Chow the first day of my clinic and she was so interested in my learning, If I had any questions, she would help me understand. On my last day at the rotation site PA Chow went out of her way to find me to tell me that she has staples for me on Thursday. I was so happy to her showing such a great interest in my learning and I hope that I would take just as much interest in my students learning once I am able to.

I thought when I was rotating for my surgical rotation, there were too many medical school students, but this rotation definitely had more. I got along very well with these group of medical students, and it might have been because they had just started their third year, while my classmate and I were pretty much done. I do think that the medical students were surprised at how much we really have to know, which is pretty much as much as they need to know. What I have learned from this experience is that, even though sometimes medical students may give off a vibe that they think they are better than physician assistant students, it is still worth while to make friends with them. You never know when you might need them, or if you end up working together in the future. I got to know some very great medical school students during this rotation, and I hope to see them again soon.

Overall, I thought I had a great rotation at Woodhull for ObGYN. It would not say it was my favorite, but I would say it was very interesting one. Maybe after a couple of years, I might think about specializing into GYN and I can take it from there.

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