Infectious Disease

In the last two weeks, I had a short consult rotation in infectious disease at the VA. It was really awesome, and I wish I had a longer rotation. I think it is a specialty where a little investment in understanding antibiotics pays off a lot. Furthermore, it is the specialty with the most unique diseases - parasites and pathogens endemic to far-away places and unusual animals. I love it because the medical trivia is endless - and I'm the kind of person who likes learning useless but cool information.

The pace wasn't bad; we got a consult a day and saw a wide range of cases from standard osteomyelitis to unusual and scary organisms such as vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus. It was amazing to have the time to really delve into the case, read the latest literature, and synthesize a coherent plan. When I am on wards and admitting a handful of patients, it's impossible to do that, but here, we have enough time to put together all the pieces. Some of the notes I wrote were the longest I had written since med school and tried to incorporate teaching as well as recommendations. Conferences covered diverse topics from leprosy to the effect of restricting antibiotics (such that they require ID approval for use) to a review of all the gram negative agents. It was a fantastic two weeks.