Last Wednesday (10/1) I had my second shadowing experience with the same physician assistant. Again, I walked away from the day having learned so much! The main topic was over diabetes regulation and the different kinds of insulin on the market. I have pages upon pages of notes that I still have yet to transcribe into the notebook I have been keeping on all the things I have learned in my volunteering/shadowing experience.

One of the biggest things that I have learned about for the past couple of months or so is the care of our elderly population. At first I couldn’t believe how many older patients came into the ER and didn’t have anyone there to support them. Many of them have family in the area, but no one comes to see them because they are working, and often we have to call a cab or other transportation service to bring them home after they are discharged. I’ve heard about the neglect of the elderly in the media, but I have no problem saying that I was naïve to the brevity of the problem until I started working in health care. To me it just doesn’t make sense--these people have survived some of life’s greatest trials and have contributed so much to our society, but they seem to be the forgotten generation. I don’t think many people realize how lonely an elderly person can get…does loneliness lead to boredom, which contributes to mental decline? That just a guess for me

I think that one of my strengths as a health care provider is that I relate and get along well with the elderly. I think it’s because I enjoy the little things in life and don’t take things for granted, which I see often among my patients. I don’t think however that I would ever specialize in geriatrics just because I want to be able to see a variety of the population.

Another thing that my health care experience has helped me develop is my ability to exchange in friendly banter with patients. I try to be as lighthearted as is appropriate while in the ER, just because of the stress level (and the wait time). My last time in the ER I had spent a lot of time with an older couple who had been there for five or six hours. I was able to develop a good rapport with them, enough so that when the patient was finally sent off for a CT scan, I jokingly said “YES! We are finally getting rid of you! To which he smiled, leaned up in his stretcher and hit me with his patient passport;) I am still pretty gullible though, and I have a hard time telling if a patient is joking or not. I always take them so seriously!