Linda Scheider: Reading Charts BACK

Published by AFAR

This is Linda Scheider's second entry. Read her first MSTAR diary to learn how she began her MSTAR experience.

This is about the midpoint of my time here working for the Geriatrics department under MSTAR. I have truly enjoyed my experience so far. As of the beginning of this week, I finished going through my list of 500 charts for the chart review. This was somewhat dull work but I got faster and faster at it. Some of the patients are very interesting and the more charts I read, the more familiar with Geriatric medicine I became. Now I know some of the common problems that Geriatric patients face after a trauma or surgery and what things can be done to combat them. I am in the process of analyzing the data which I pulled out of the charts for some initial trends. I have another set of data which is monstrous, 200,000 + patients. This data set will be used for my control patients and to provide some more demographic data for the chart reviewed patients. I am focusing on looking at all the parameters I have been given in this large set to see what analysis my team wants to complete. I will hopeful be running analysis and statistics on all the data in the next few weeks to create some summaries and conclusions for the project.

To break up my days of chart reviewing, I have been attending the Geriatric consult service rounds for inpatients. This has been a very rewarding experience especially after reading so many similar charts. I actually knew more than the new residents who came in because I have been reading the charts. I am much more able to keep up with the discussions of care now than when I first started the program. Part of this program that might get taken for granted is simply the experience of just working in a hospital everyday and starting to understand the flow and organization involved. I believe this experience will make my transition into third year much easier.

Linda Scheider
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

 

"Diary of an MSTAR Student" follows scholars in the 2011 Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Program, highlighting their summer experiences. As they continue their path of research, training and clinical practice, read their daily thoughts at www.afar.org/mstarblog. New diary entries are posted every day, so check back soon.