Today I shadowed Dr. Christine Wu at Knightdale Pediatrics. I got to see and experience what a typical day in the life of a Pediatrician is like. I got to sit in on sick visits and well visits and hear what kinds of questions Dr. Wu asked the parents. I also got to see the complex system Dr. Wu and the nurses and other people at her office use to communicate about patients with each other. It was very interesting to see her send orders for medications and make notes on patients. She also let me know that if a parent has a concern they must address it in their notes even if there is nothing specifically wrong with their child.
There were 4 newborns checkups that I witnessed and it was very interesting to see the difference in the parent’s stress when it was their first child versus their second. Most of them had a lot of questions and Dr. Wu had tremendous patience and thoroughly answered each of their questions.
I also got to see the lab where the nurses take blood, urine, and saliva samples and test them for certain viruses and diseases. I thought that was very cool to see. I also got to see where they put all the vaccines (most in a large refrigerator and the rest in a large freezer)!
Dr. Wu also used a large cabinet that was locked and had things like formula and food for impoverished families that could not afford formula. The WIC (women infant and children) program only covers Gerber formula, which Dr. Wu told me was not favored by families these days. She would give them free boxes of formula powder (the favorable type).
There was this really nice lady, who had 10 kids, and told me to keep it up and that she’d hope to see me in the future. That honestly touched me.