Annie Abbott

Mr. Ratliff

ISM 1

10 January 2018

Mentor Visit #1

My first mentor visit of the year reassured me that the class ISM was worth sticking

through. While the first semester seemed like a little bit of a beat down with all of the research

that went into it, this mentor visit exceeded all of my hopes that I could have for the class.

During my mentor visit, I saw two different patients. The first patient I saw was a nine

month old. He had gotten a sinus infection a few weeks ago and was coming in for a well-visit to

make sure that everything was functioning properly again. This patient was very giddy and loved

to smile. While I was just simply observing everything going on, it was a great first patient to

visit. During the visit, the mom asked about a part on his nose which occasionally flared up and

got very hot. She was pretty concerned about it; however, Dr. Baker told her that she just needs

to make sure that she scrubs extra on that part of his nose when she bathes him every night.

Additionally, we looked at all of the graphs which showed his length, weight, and head

circumference. For his length, he was in the 93rd percentile, close behind with his weight and

head circumference. This just means that he is a pretty large infant, but nothing to be concerned

about. What was important to note was that this was a stable consistency from his previous

visits; therefore, everything was good to go.

While I really enjoyed this visit, I would have to say, the second patient I saw was

definitely my favorite. This patient was a two-month-old baby girl coming in for her two-month
check. For this appointment, she was scheduled to get three shots, as well as an oral vaccine.

This girl was the cutest girl I have ever seen. Her mom described her as a “ham” and I would

definitely agree. She was also in a pretty good mood for most of the appointment, only getting

fussy when Dr. Baker put her on her stomach to see how much “tummy time” she was getting.

This visit was a lot more interactive with me, as the mom was super cool and wanted me to be

able to get the full experience. I got to listen to the patient's heartbeat, which was much more

rapid than adults heartbeats. Furthermore, infants all have a small indent in their skull called the

anterior fontanelle. This patient still had a small indention, so Dr. Baker let me touch it. After

touching it, we talked more about the different types of developmental cranial conditions. I asked

him about babies wearing helmets and what I found interesting was that he said about 90 percent

of the time, babies who wear helmets do not actually need to be wearing helmets because they

will grow out of the condition as their development continues. The mother also said that her baby

is starting daycare tomorrow and that she ended up going back to work about two and a half

weeks after she had the baby. Dr. Baker reaffirmed her that some people are meant to be

stay-at-home moms; however, it is not for everyone. Dr. Baker’s wife was the same way when

she had her children, and it was apparent that this put the mother much more at ease, knowing

that a doctor’s wife went back to work after having children as well. Overall, this was a very

successful mentor visit and I am very excited to have more in the future!