Medicine – Page 2 – CA Work Experience Program

cysts, accutane

Today was only a half-day so I only worked from 8-12 because of Memorial Day weekend. That being said the day wasn’t as busy and many of the patients that came in today were teenagers pursuing Accutane. I learned that Accutane had several side effects such as dry flaky skin, mood changes, depression, and could lead to birth defects if pregnant on the medication. Many of the appointments that involved Accutane required pregnancy’s tests and discussions of birth control due to the severity of birth defects from Accutane. At the end of the day we removed a cyst in the arm and it was cool because the sac in the cyst was satisfyingly removed in one piece.

Keloids, lip fillers, and atopic dermatitis

Today was an interesting day full of a variety of different cases. Primarily today there were a couple patients diagnosed with keloids. A keloid is a thick raised scar that is caused by excess protein in the skin during healing. Most often, keloids hang from the ear and surgical incision is used to remove them. Todays patients had them in their ears and in the gluteal regions. I helped Dr. Boyse through applying pressure to the surgical area using a medical gauze and holding the areas firmly in place with sterile gloves. We also put in lip fillers and captured before/after pictures. Finally, Dr. Boyse explained atopic dermatitis which was seen in a lot of patients and is known as a more drastic form of eczema in conditions of itchy inflammation of the skin. Today was also my first day wearing scrubs!

Pediatric Optometry Day 2 – Dr. Grace

On Friday (5/27/22), I visited Dr. Grace again; however, I went to her Cary office instead of her NORTH DURHAM office (very far from my house)! Today was very similar to yesterday in terms of seeing young kids with eyes problems. Some cases that stuck out to me were a few where the parents seemed to be uneasy about glasses and treatment as a whole. These few parents seemed to be unfamiliar with medicine in the US and Dr. Grace explained that many of these people will not come back if they feel uneasy by an appointment. Therefore, she says with certain patients, she has to take a slower approach in order to ease their nerves.

Eye Anatomy and How the Eye Works

Pediatric Optometry – Dr. Grace

On Thursday (5/26/22), I visited Dr. Grace and had a transformative experience. Not only did she work with smaller kids, she also brought me to a hospital to help with eye exams on premature babies. This experience will be with me forever as she let me hold the babies in place while she checked their eyes. It gave me a very special perspective on medicine and allowed me to narrow down a possible future career pathway as well. Again, this was truly a special moment for me!

Saving MaKenna: Born 4 months early, an odyssey to survival

Cardiovascular Clinic – Dr. Lewis

On Wednesday (5/25/22), I shadowed Dr. Lewis in Lillington. She is a general cardiovascular doctor and does not operate (only does clinic and sends patients to surgeon). She helped review my knowledge on the basic functions and parts of the heart. A major takeaway from this visit was honestly the surprising amount of writing and documentation that doctors have to do. She stated, “If it is not documented, it was not done.” If anybody wants to become and doctor or surgeon, they better know how to type quickly! 🙂

heart | Structure, Function, Diagram, Anatomy, & Facts | Britannica

ENT, Ortho, Cardiovascular Surgery – Dr. Dorfman and more

On Tuesday (5/24/22), I met with Dr. Dorfman and many of his colleagues and observed first hand many different types of surgeries. I put scrubs on for the first time and saw surgery up close for the first time as well. While observing the surgeons, I saw many tube surgeries on small kids (for ear infections), an ankle fracture surgery, and also a gallbladder removal. The gallbladder removal was my favorite as they have a non-invasive technique to take it out. In short, they fill up the stomach with a gas and then make a few holes in the stomach to carefully burn the gallbladder and separate it from the other internal organs (use screen to navigate through body).

GALLBLADDER REMOVAL Stock Photo - Alamy

Orthopedics – Dr. Schweitzer

On Monday (5/23/22), I visited Dr. Karl Schweitzer. I shadowed him for about 6 hours and gained wonderful insight on orthopedic clinic and procedures as a whole. I was exposed to many different, unique cases and also that human bones are often made artificially for replacements. They create these by 3-D printing or using lasers to sculpt a metal alloy based replica.

3D Printed Metal Ankle Bone is a Step Forward for Orthopedics

Day 3- Surgeries and Fillers

Today I worked with Dr. Stephanie and Dr. Chalgren in the pm and am respectively. In the morning, Dr.Chalgren let me in on some of the Moh’s sugaries he performed on patients to get rid of skin cancers. After each surgery, we went to the lab to look at microscopic images of the cell he removed and detected whether the patient still had remaining positve results for further procedure. He showed me the different layers of the dermis, mitosis, and cancer in basal cells. In the afternoon, Dr. Stephanie performed fillers on a patient’s cheeks to give more volume as well as showed the process of laser hair removal. Dr. Stephanie is really great at patient communications and it was super fun to see her interact with them. It was really eye-opening to see the multi faceted procedures and surgeries that different dermatologists specialize in. Below is a picture of a basal cell carcinoma under microscopic imaging.

Day 2- UNC dental visit

Today was a unique day as a few students interested in dentistry went together on a dental visit to UNC. In the morning, Dr. Frazier taught us some basic skills on removing and inserting rubber bands on braces and the mechanics of orthodontists using YouTube videos. It was interesting to note that the a titanium wire is used accordingly to adjust to bodily temperatures which decreases flexibility as temperature rises. Later we went to a research facility and talked to students on a research study on the impact of early stress on teeth formation with the use of Zebrafish. We were able to look in a microscope of a zebrafish sample and see the growth dental growth of Zebrafish and how similar it was to humans. Finally, we took a tour of Adams school of dentistry with a couple of the dental students and they guided us through the different centers in the building. Although I wasn’t able to go into the dermatologist office today it was really informative to talk with dental students about their experiences! Below is a picture of Maris and I at Adams school of dentistry at UNC.

Day 1- Cases of Dr. Boyse’s patients

I started my work experience at around 8 am in the morning at Southern Dermatology and we right off the bat looked at some of the different cases of the day. It was really interesting to see the multitude of skin diseases that many people had and the solutions Dr. Boyse had to solve the diagnosis. For instance, many of the patients were on Accutane to fix their acne or required injections in the hair to help with Alopecia. Dr. Boyse showed me an image explaining how acutane works to shrink oil glands and reduce acne. Some of the patients were also interested in Botox procedures and it was really cool to see the immediate effects of the injections. The techs were really cool to talk to in between appointments and I am super excited to work with Dr. Boyse again later this week! Below is a picture of the effects on oil glands that Dr. Boyse described following accutane treatments.

Effects on Oil Glands after Accutane