In March 2023, part of my Internal Medicine practice was held in the Hepatology department at Keck School of Medicine.
In March 2023, part of my Internal Medicine practice was held in the Hepatology department at Keck School of Medicine. I was in the liver transplant clinic, where patients were being evaluated or waiting for liver transplants, or came after transplant surgery due to rejection or abnormal reactions. The day typically started with morning rounds at 8-8:30am (sometimes 7:30am) which ended around 12pm. In addition, there were individual consultations from other departments and new inpatients arriving. There were usually around 15-20 patients in the ward every day. I usually followed 1-2 patients from the ward and presented them during rounds, as well as patients from consultations and new inpatients on occasion.
The team mainly consisted of 1 attending, 1 fellow, 4 residents, and 1 transplant coordinator. My supervisor was the fellow, but whenever I had any questions, all of them were ready to help me. In the beginning, everything was very tough for me due to the new environment, new system, and complicated diseases. (Patients awaiting liver transplants or undergoing evaluation were already quite sick, with a lot of decompensation occurring in their bodies.) Additionally, it was my first time in an inpatient setting. However, as time went on and the team guided me, I was able to follow up on patients (history taking, physical examination, discussing diagnosis and treatment plans). Inpatients had a lot of decompensation from cirrhosis, and the involvement of many other systems in their condition gave me a better understanding of the human body. From consultations, I could see how liver injury could happen in other diseases, and learned to weigh the risks and benefits.
There were transplant selection committee meetings and board meetings, as well as academic sessions that I could attend. On my last day, I gained experience in outpatient settings with the attending.
Weekends were different each week; sometimes I stayed home, and other times I went out. There were many places to discover in LA, such as the Getty Center and the Broad for art lovers, beaches along the coastline that offer unique ambiances, amusement parks like Disneyland, and diverse food cultures to explore. On top of that, I visited Hollywood and Las Vegas nearby.
Overall, my experience at Keck Hospital of USC was very fulfilling. It allowed me to experience life in the United States as a medical doctor, and provided realistic education. I learned a lot from the people working in the hospital whom I met in the US. This was a memory I will never forget, and I am grateful that I could enjoy this journey through Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical School, University of Szeged.
