My first clerkship was in psychiatry, and the setting was a public hospital. I was on one of the inpatient teams. Our team was led by an attending. We also had a PA, and half of the time we had a resident. There were two students on my team, a 3rd year Med student and myself!
We saw psychosis, mood disorders, eating disorders, along with complications from TBI and/or substance use. I learned about medications and also about CBT, DBT, and other therapies.
I really enjoyed this rotation. I was able to start interviewing patients on the 2nd day of my rotation. I wrote progress notes, interim summaries, and discharge summaries on my patients. The Med student and I chose a couple of patients each for those tasks, and we split up tasks for other patients, like obtaining collateral or getting referrals, etc.
I had an opportunity to visit one of the state mental hospitals. The most eye-opening part for me was visiting the area that housed only children. The forensic area was also interesting. I also witnessed patients receiving ECT treatment. It's very benign these days, nothing like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, if you even know what that is. It's not barbaric at all. It's a very good treatment for certain conditions, including major depression, and very safe for pregnant women!
I went to lunch conferences twice weekly and to didactics also once or twice a week, which were always informative and helpful. I learned so much in this rotation.
I would like working in psychiatry, but I know for sure that in most every discipline, a knowledge of psychiatry will be essential to treating our patients to the best of our abilities! And also knowing when to refer!
A helpful book for your psych rotation: First Aid Psychiatry clerkship. https://www.amazon.com/First-Aid-Psychiatry-Clerkship-Fourth/dp/0071841741/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476657629&sr=8-1&keywords=first+aid+psychiatry+4th+edition
During my psych rotation
