My first day at this rotation went much better than anticipated! I fell right back into the groove and did totally fine at talking to patients. It definitely helped that my preceptor is incredibly laid-back and funny. He's not pretentious or uptight at all, and he seems to treat students like people and not idiots, which is refreshing (even if I still feel like an idiot at times and still, obviously, have a lot to learn!).
He gives us a lot of autonomy, which is both awesome and terrifying. We (me and the two other students) bring patients back, take their vitals, and see them on our own. Then we jot down a brief SOAP note on the back of their intake sheet, and give it to the doctor (or present it briefly if we have time! He moves fast!). Then, he goes in to see them for about one minute, and basically just chats. Most patients are there for their three-month follow-up visits just for medication refills, but I did do one annual physical today. Then, he uses our opinion and our note to dictate the actual note! Seriously, I heard him doing one of mine and it was essentially exactly what I had written down. Even though it's scary to think that I'm essentially having the last word in terms of how a person is doing, it's also good because it makes you actually assume responsibility for the patients, instead of just relying on the fact that someone with more experience is going to go right in after you and double-check. So, it's closer to real life, and I like that.
Oh, and the content of the visits is very similar to family practice - medication refills and urgent care-type stuff like colds, joint or back pain, etc. Nothing I can't handle. :)
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