I could not be happier with my choice of Infectious Disease for an elective. I would highly recommend it to anyone with any interest in ID. A little fun fact background info for you all, I spent a year prior to PA school working in ID in antibiotic resistance research so everything is SO COOL to me!

About this Rotation:

I worked with a group of Infectious Disease consultants who cover a majority of the hospitals within the surrounding area. We were asked to consult a variety of inpatient cases and as long as the case was infection related we were allowed to be involved! We saw anything from bacteremia, non-healing infected wounds and ulcers, pneumonias, intractable fevers, peritonitis, bowel perforations, HIV, TB… you name it – we did it! We typically rotated through several hospitals a day, usually throughout the different floors and the ICU. We also worked a few days in an outpatient clinic to follow up with patients once they were discharged from the hospital.

My preceptor was also AWESOME and let me be as hands-on as I wanted. She let me see the patient’s on my own, write my own notes, make phone calls, help dress wounds, remove PICC lines, and pack wounds and abscesses.

Another thing that has made this rotation entirely invaluable was learning how and when to use the right antimicrobials. It was definitely challenging, but I feel so much better about my antibiotics now! I feel that this is an excellent rotation option if this is something that you struggle with.

Highlights:

Some interesting cases that I had the privilege to be involved in include recurrent brain abscess, pulmonary artery pseudoaneurysm, multiple epidural abscesses, rare bacteremia infections, new HIV diagnosis, facial abscess, hidradenitis suppurativa, and bacterial meningitis. I was also able to scrub into surgery for what we originally thought was necrotizing fasciitis, and I was able to follow my patient throughout their treatment course even after discharge.

Image 1: Brain Abscess. Image 2: Epidural Abscess. Note: These images are from google and not of actual patients. They are very similar to cases that we encountered. Click on the images to bring up more information regarding these conditions.

Resources:

Since it was an elective I slacked a bit in the studying department and focused more on studying topics that interested me, but here are some resources that I have found were helpful during this rotation:

• Book: A Comprehensive Review for Certification and Recertification Examinations for Physician Assistants by Claire Babcock O’Connell, Pance Prep Pearls by Dwayne C Williams
• Antimicrobial Resource: The Sanford Guide To Antimicrobial Therapy
• Apps and Websites: UptoDate, Medscape
• Notes from school (PSA to take good notes in class haha)
• Antibiotic Classes Sheet
• Antibiotic Coverage Chart
• White Coat Essentials *Coming soon

And of course I can never go without making a chart. A quick guide to carry in your pocket if you need to determine what antibiotic to use *Coming soon