Clinical correlations has been a great learning experience every single session. I think one of my most improved skill I’m taking away from this class is my ability to form a differential diagnosis. Beginning this class, I was unsure and often would have difficulty coming up with possibilities, let alone realistic ones. I feel much more confident now creating a small list of likely differentials, and being able to tailor my patient questions as well as physical exam and lab findings to rule in or out things. Being able to draft a quick differential as I’m talking with the patient has helped me think of pertinent positives or negatives that may be present that I can ask about, further helping me organize my thoughts. It is a skill that definitely needs to be continuously developed further, but I’m excited at the improvements I have made, especially considering it started as one of the areas I was the least confident in.

Related to forming a solid differential is understanding a disease’s full clinical picture, which I feel correlations has helped me do. It has forced me to apply my knowledge and consider it as it presents in a patient scenario, rather than just as an abstract disease. This class has helped me see different diseases in different scenarios and presentations, rather than just the “classic” presentation from a textbook. This has allowed me to see a fuller picture of patients.

As I have learned to better see a full clinical picture, it has also taught me to develop better treatment plans that are dependent on the patient and attempt to take into consideration their profile and what will provide the best outcome for them overall. It’s forced me to debate different treatment options and work to choose the ones that best fit my current patient and their condition.

There are many more areas I plan to improve during the clinical year. One is a continuation of developing differentials that are solid and quick based on the evidence in front of me. I think it will take a lot of continued work and practice to be able to sort through possibilities based on the presentation, and continue to narrow down those differentials as I work with the patient. 

I need to continue to work on treatments, specifically medications. It is hard for me to take the information I know about drugs in isolation from pharmacology and apply it to a patient, so I’m excited to become more familiar with doing that. I’m also ready to learn better which choices are best for specific groups or populations of patients. 

I want to continue to research things and use up to date information as I treat patients. If I am unfamiliar with something or need more information, I would like to use the research skills and ability to find focused and relevant information from solid sources to provide me with the information I need. 

Lastly, as always, I want to continue to work on recognizing and addressing any implicit bias I may have as it relates to patients or treatment plans or really any aspect of my medical practice. I want to be continuously working to provide equitable care to the patients I treat.