Day in the Life: Endocrinology

Happy Monday, and welcome toĀ Medical Mondays! Come join me for a day in the life on my third rotation of my second year as a family medicine resident–endocrinology!

My days were either entirely spent at the outpatient office where I work, at the outpatient endocrinology office where I was doing my rotation, or with a 50/50 split where I’d be in my office in the morning and endocrinology in the afternoon, or vice versa!

Day in the Life:Ā Endocrinology

A Sleepy Muffin Day in the Life on Endocrinology

I unfortunately don’t have any endocrinology-related photos to share with you, so that’s why you’re getting a photo of Muffin instead. :D…

8 a.m.-12/12:15 p.m.

I’ve really only had 3 rotations thus far in my 2nd year, but this has been one of my favorite rotations as of yet! All the attendings I worked with were super, super nice and it definitely also helped that they were all really great at teaching! I learned a lot from each of them and could actually see improvement when I was doing my practice questions!

I am officially 2 weeks away from taking COMLEX 3, aka “Step 3” in the MD world and the last part of my boards licensing exam aside from the one that I need to take for family medicine next year…and possibly sports medicine the following year if I do end up doing a sports medicine fellowship. (It never ends, does it?!)

Each attending had a different specialty, so I worked with them and their patients on a variety of conditions, including…

  • Diabetes (type I and type II)
  • Hyperthyroidism
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Thyroid nodules
  • Thyroid cancer
  • Hypogonadism
  • Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
  • Pituitary tumors
  • Hyperaldosteronism

I guess this list kinda tells me what Medical Mondays posts I should write next, perhaps!?

I actually met a patient who had Prader-Willi syndrome!Ā It’s a pretty rare disease that causes a person to be constantly hungry, which is thought to be due to high ghrelin levels (known as the “hunger” hormone). There is no cure available, so treatment is focused mainly on very strict food supervision and preventive measures to avoid medical conditions like obesity, type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, osteoporosis, etc. It’s also often accompanied by intelluctual disability and infertility.

12 p.m.-1 p.m.

If I was on Endocrinology in the morning, I’d usually have time to grab lunch at the hospital cafeteria before running off to our Family Medicine outpatient office (a <10 minute walk from the hospital). I’ve only ever driven there once since I prefer walking whenever possible, and this will likely continue because we now have to pay for parking as senior residents (wut).

1 p.m.-5 p.m.

Our office visits have definitely ramped up in intensity–I still much prefer it to inpatient service though! Working 50-60 hours per week instead of 70-80 gave me a chance to do actually have somewhat of a life (part of the reasoning why I wasn’t blogging as much over the past couple weeks) and do fun things, like catching up with friends over dinner!


(These enchiladas were so good!)

The weekend before last, I also (unexpectedly) got to see one of my friends from California because she happened to be visiting for the weekend! I didn’t think we’d get to hang out again until April of next year, so you better bet we were excited about it! We found a cool brunch place halfway between where she was staying and where I currently live and went to town on the food. :D…


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16 comments

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  1. I love that you write these posts because, while I’m not one to ever be interested in going into medicine, I find it all unbelievably fascinatinG.
    Carla. recently posted…Overcoming discouragement: a 4 step process.My Profile

    1. Aww, thanks so much, Carla! :D I’m glad you find em’ interesting! I’m really looking forward to this year’s rotations!

  2. I think endocrinology would be so interesting! Last week I saw a new patient, a 6 month old baby who is not growing. She’s “syndromic” looking but saw genetics and they said she is normal. There are some renal anomalies, though. I’m going to send her to endo to let them explore why she’s not growing. Since my clinic is a teaching clinic, we see a lot of fascinating cases.
    Wendy@Taking the Long Way Home recently posted…Juggling the Weekly Workout RoutineMy Profile

    1. Teaching clinics definitely get to see a lot of really interesting cases! I hope they find out what’s going on with her! Endo definitely gets a ton of fascinating ones–I’m really glad I got to do that rotation! :]

  3. As a Dietitian I work with many of those routines consistently. I think if I had gone the medical route (instead of Dietitian) I would have gone into endocrinology, it’s so fascinating! Glad you had a second to catch up!
    Kelli @ Hungry Hobby recently posted…Crustless Quiche LorraineMy Profile

    1. That definitely makes sense–diet has such a huge huge role in health, but especially so in endocrinology! This was definitely a fun/interesting rotation!

  4. I’ve never heard of Prader-Willi syndrome. So interesting! I would be a wreck if I had that because I’m already always hungry. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to live with that! And, um, those enchiladas look pretty amazing!
    Jennifer @ Fit Nana recently posted…A REST DAY IS NOT A COP OUTMy Profile

    1. I never thought I’d actually see a case of it! I can really only imagine too, but he had such an amazing handle on it! Family support definitely helps–the cravings can get super intense so the fridge/freezer usually had to be locked down!

  5. I don’t think I’ve heard of Prader-Willi syndrome, but it sounds miserable! I’ve only encountered run-of-the-mill disorders — for better or worse!
    Coco recently posted…Wrapping Up After The Solar EclipseMy Profile

    1. It definitely sounds miserable. :[ I’m glad he’s managing it as well as can be tolerated though!

      Getting to know the super common disorders/conditions gives you a lot more bang for your buck!

    • Ricardo on August 28, 2017 at 11:06 pm
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    I couldn’t say that name five times fast.

    Also nothing wrong with princess muffin.

    1. I’m convinced she’s actually a dog! :O

  6. Prader-Willi Syndrome sounds fascinating! I’d love to just talk with someone who has that disease because I can’t imagine being physically hungry all the time. I know some people joke about being hungry all the time…but I didn’t know there was an actual disease for it. Just fascinating. I’m glad your latest rotation went well!

    1. It’s definitely an interesting (and unfortunate) condition. He has to stay on a super super strict regimen and the hunger cravings tend to be super intense, so family members usually have to lock up the fridge/freezer to prevent him from breaking into it to get more food. :[

  7. What an interesting rotation!

    My sister has Wegener’s Granulomatosis which is a form of Vasculitis – or that’s what she was diagnosed with at least. She is really lucky in that she has gone into remission and is off all medication and doesn’t have any symptoms – but when she was diagnosed she was incredibly sick!
    Kristy from Southern In Law recently posted…From Spare Bedroom to Home Office: The “Before” and How to Choose a Tradesperson on AirtaskerMy Profile

    1. Oo, I definitely remember learning about Wegener’s. I’m really glad your sister’s doing better now!!

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