Last week I completed the 7th week of my inpatient clinical rotations, which was actually my first week of staff relief. My rotation didn’t really change much from regular inpatient to staff relief since the whole idea of rotations is to progress to a point where you can do things on your own anyway. That said, I’m starting to feel pretty comfortable with clinicals. I would feel pretty confident trying to find a job in a hospital at this point.
The highlight of this week was helping my preceptor with a presentation for a cancer support group. She did the actual presentation but then I came up with some nutrition myths about cancer. This was the main project I have done for my preceptor since being at the hospital and it felt good to be able to do something extra other than the day-to-day stuff.
One thing I realized from doing this project is how inaccurate information on the internet can be. I had to look up information on artificial sweeteners, organic foods, plastic water bottles, and regular diets (ie not a low carb diet) causing cancer. I could not believe how many websites I found making certain nutrition claims yet found absolutely no scientific evidence to back it up. It really taught me to never believe stuff I read on the internet (even on Wikipedia) unless it comes from a scientific journal with studies to support the claims.
Another thing that really hit home to me is that obesity and drinking are things that are scientifically proven to be risk factors for cancer, yet we put so much focus on other controversial topics, like artificial sweeteners and non-organic foods. So it’s a little ironic when an overweight patient tells me they only drink regular soda because artificial sweeteners will give them cancer. The whole process of researching for this presentation was very interesting and enlightening.
So this week is my last week at the hospital and that is definitely bittersweet. I have learned SO much but I’m also ready to move on to my next rotation. Here’s to week 8 :)