A good week!

This week was nice and (relatively) laid back. There were some interesting cases, too! Granted, there were a lot of appointments for checkups/medication refills and upper respiratory infections, but we also saw a couple cases of mono and some other things. One patient was particularly interesting...her appointment slot just said she was there for medication refills, but once we were in there talking to her she started talking about how she'd been losing her balance over the past few months. Later, she mentioned that she'd been having some trouble holding lightweight objects (like a piece of paper) in her hands, because her grip "wasn't strong enough." On exam, she had a positive Romberg (balance test), ataxic gait, slightly weakened grip strength, and couldn't perform some of the cerebellar function tests. Needless to say, she got a referral to a neurologist. My preceptor and I both couldn't come up with a good idea behind why she was having these symptoms...we have a few ideas, but nothing seems to fit perfectly. I'm glad I'm here for another 8 weeks still so I'll be able to find out what happens!

And on Thursday, I got to hang out with a radiologist all day. I realize that most normal, non-medical people wouldn't think that's very exciting, but it was! Thursdays are my preceptor's days off, so he sent me out to this other town (90 miles away, or a "hop, skip, and a jump" to Montanans) to learn some radiology skills with the radiologist who reads all the X-rays and CTs from our facility and others. He was so nice and such a great teacher! I learned a lot, and I'm really excited to develop a skill set that most PA students probably don't have the opportunity to develop. Plus, it was nice to drive around Montana a little more. Even though the part of Montana that I'm in (north central) is pretty much flat, it's still beautiful. I'm hoping to explore a little more tomorrow!