Sarah Hecker

Dr. Lidstone/Dr. Kaninjing

Spring 2019 Internship

Journal Week Twelve

4/3/19 9:00-4, 7 hours; 4/4/19 9:00-3, 6 Total hours worked for the week: 13 Total hours

cumulative: 334 hours

I started this week late, because I was in Wisconsin the weekend before attending the

memorial for my grandmother. I am going to work days that I do not usually work this week in

order to make up the hours and stay on track after missing the beginning of the week at Roswell

urgent care. We are seeing the same type of things as usual, a lot of sore throats and coughing.

Allergy season is in full swing, so many people are coming in with colds related to or caused by

seasonal allergies.

We had a few patients come in this week for chest x-rays. We do chest x-rays when

someone tests positive for tuberculosis. Usually TB tests are done because of an order from their

employer. We have seen a lot of these throughout the semester. I am also very comfortable

reading a TB test. If between 48 and 72 hours they come back to get their test read and it is a

bump or rash, they are positive. If there is a smooth, flat surface where the shot was

administered, it is negative.

We are out of flu season, and now into allergy season. A lot of people have been coming

in with allergy related symptoms. Some of the common things we see associated with allergies

are sore throats from post nasal drip, sticky eyes and crust in the mornings, coughing, sneezing,
and trouble breathing. There isn’t usually much that we can do regarding allergies, so we often

recommend over the counter allergy medication. People usually come in to find out what allergy

medication they can take with the medications that they are currently on.

We have also been seeing an increase in the number of patients that come in with urinary

tract infections, or UTI’s. The increase to this is that people tend to be sweatier and wearing tight

clothes or bathing suits longer. Advice that the doctors have been giving to patients is to change

out of wet bathing suits or sweaty clothes as fast as possible, and to shower frequently. Often, the

doctors at our office would prescribe antibiotics to get rid of the UTI along with the suggestions.

If it wasn’t a UTI the doctors would often suggest the patient get probiotics until the sent-out lab

culture comes back with further results. An issue that we would run into would be that patients

would take over the counter UTI relief medication before coming in, and that means that we

must send the lab results out to a facility instead of getting the results in clinic in a few minutes.

The UTI medication in the urine would ruin our machines if we sent it through. It is easy to spot

if the patient is on the medication, because it makes urine neon orange.

I am now in a solid routine here at the urgent care. I am familiar with the entire staff,

even the part time staff who may only be here only once a week or every other week. The

connections and experience I have gained here will help me tremendously in the outside world,

as I have already seen it happen. Earlier this week I had my interview for the radiation therapy

program at Augusta University, and during the interview process I used many examples that

rooted from my experience here at the urgent care.