Gill

Name: Amanda Gill

Guiding Question: Do I want to pursue a career in pediatric medicine with a focus on oncology?

(optional) Use this space to list possible activities, tasks, experiences. Remember everything you do should help you answer your Guiding Question.

(Required) This plan is a “best guess” as to what you and your mentor think you will be doing. It is not meant to be a hard and fast schedule for your Exploration. The plan should illustrate how you intend to complete a minimum of 80 hours.

Shadow a doctor through daily rounds/routines, exams, activities ||= 30 || doctor/patient interactions ||= 30 || conditions I encounter ||= 20 ||
 * = Date ||= Location/Activity ||= Number of Hours ||
 * = May 23rd -- May 27th ||= Hematology/Oncology Department:
 * = May 30th -- June 3rd ||= Observe patient contact &
 * =  ||= Daily research on diseases and
 * =  ||> Total Number of Hours ||= 80 ||
 * =  ||> Total Number of Hours ||= 80 ||
 * =  ||> Total Number of Hours ||= 80 ||
 * =  ||> Total Number of Hours ||= 80 ||
 * =  ||> Total Number of Hours ||= 80 ||

Journal:
5/23/2011 Today I began my exploration at the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and it went according to plan. After I arrived, I entered the Hematology/Oncology department and received my volunteer badge, then I began shadowing my mentor, Dr. Andrew Walter, on his patient rounds. We went to visit a young girl receiving platelets for leukemia and I found this particularly touching because although she was weak from the treatment, she wore one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. Then I was able to observe the conversation he had with two parents of a baby girl only eight weeks old with a possible rare genetic condition called Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), which I then researched in preparation for a presentation I will give tomorrow. I have met quite a few other doctors and assistants within the office and I have already learned much about the daily life of a pediatrician specializing in oncology. So far, I have found that Nemours is a really exciting and inspiring place for both children and doctors.

5/30/2011 Last week I spent my hours shadowing Dr. Walter (and Dr. Frantz for a few days) through patient interactions, emergencies in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit), MRI/CT scan viewings to help diagnose cancers, brain tumor board meetings discussing patients with difficult cancer cases, and patient overview meetings discussing all the patients in the Hematology/Oncology department and their courses of treatment. I encountered diseases and conditions such as ITP (Idiopathic/Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura), a disorder in which the body produces antibodies that bind with its own platelets, Alpha-Thalassemia, a disease that results in the reduced rate of synthesis of the alpha globin chains in hemoglobin, and Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis, a very rare disease which involves abnormal clonal proliferation of Langerhans cells. I spent some of my hours researching these outside of the hospital in preparation for presentations that I would give to my mentor.

6/3/2011 Overall, my exploration went completely according to my plan of action. I spent last week continuing to shadow Dr. Walter (and also Dr. Miller this time). I had a chance to discuss medicine with some residents (recent graduates from medical school who now work at Nemours). I met a very bright, adorable little girl who unfortunately had a huge tumor growing in the center of her brain. I sat through patient rounds in which the doctors discuss the treatment courses for each patient with the nurses responsible for the care.

I learned that oncology is a bittersweet field/profession because these doctors can treat but never ever cure a patient. With the fear of metastasis and reoccurrence always in mind, I think it would be very difficult for me to get much satisfaction. And thus, I do not think I would like to pursue a career in pediatric medicine with a focus on oncology, perhaps I would like to study immunology or another field that uses vaccines, antibiotics, and cures, and not chemotherapy, radiation, and experiments. Or I think I might find it more rewarding to go into research so I can find the cure and not just hope for it.