Objective: Understand the role of disease prevention and health promotion in relation to individual patients and/or patient populations and utilize these principles in clinical encounters.
Objective: Appropriately use system resources and assist patients in accessing health care that is safe, effective, and patient-centered, timely, efficient and equitable.
The month I spent on my family medicine rotation in New Albany was much unlike the first two years of my longitudinal practice at care point east. I had a stronger medical knowledge foundation which helped me to understand the needs of my patients better. However, I also realized that I was able to gain a variety of different perspectives on the approach to patient care. This included inter-practitioner differences to longitudinal care and maximizing the use of individualized adjunctive services.
Each practitioner had a different approach but how they used their time with patients was very interesting. I worked with a sports medicine doctor who was very efficient and had a very formulaic way of addressing patient needs without diving too deep into extraneous details of their lives or mental health issues. This seemed robotic, at the time, but I soon realized that his patients appreciated his professionalism and directness. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I worked with a practitioner who would always go above and beyond to address every need that the patient had, including social issues, marital problems, mental health, and most surprisingly very thorough patient education. These patients were also appreciative but seemed to have a better understanding of their health conditions and how to care for themselves. While, far more time was spent, often exceeding the allotted appointment time, much less time was spent answering questions from patients through my chart. The more efficient practitioner spent significantly more time addressing patient questions in my chart. This contrast, for me, highlighted the importance of being thorough and prudently ensuring communication of what was discussed with the patient was communicated. My instructors commended my development in this area.
PWP Instructor Feedback
PWP Instructor Feedback
Patient education was further addressed with other services within the clinic. One such service was individualized diabetes education. I was fortunate enough to spend time with a pharmacist who took me through all the patient education and care plans given to diabetic patients. The service was very thorough and was much like health coaching but with far more attention to detail. One exciting aspect was the introduction of wireless glucose monitors that could be accessed in the office to see how often patients are checking their glucose levels and trending their data to make adjustments without necessarily having to come in for an appointment.
I am blessed to have had the opportunity to see many aspects of longitudinal patient care and the differences that taking the appropriate time for patient education can make. In turn, collecting the appropriate resources to educate and individualize management will be important in my practice.