My psychiatry rotation was a great experience. I was in the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Room or CPEP, I got to see a wide variety of patients and work with a variety of providers. I saw domestic violence, postpartum depression, cocaine abuse, insomnia, barbiturate abuse, adjustment disorder, panic disorder, suicidal ideation and sucide attempts, schizoaffective disorder, polysubstance abuse, schizophrenia, acute psychotic disorder, malingering, substance induced psychosis, PTSD, ADHD, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, borderline personality disorder, drug overdose, homicidal ideation, autism and dementia. 

I was able to  practice my interviewing and counseling skills on this rotation. I was able to perform a mental status exam as I was interviewing patients. I performed a mini mental status exam to evaluate cognitive status on some of the older patients. I saw patients of all ages. It was especially interesting to see how different disorders presented differently in pediatric and adult patients. 

Prior to this rotation I was not comfortable speaking to family members of patients on the phone to provide information to them about the patient and to obtain collateral history. Every day I had to speak with family members or caregivers of patients, and I became comfortable with this aspect of the job. Additionally I became more comfortable presenting assessments and plans to the preceptor I was working with that day. 

On my final rotation in internal medicine I will use the interviewing, assessment and planning skills I learned on this rotation. In the psychiatric ER there were not many opportunities to use my clinical skills, so I am looking forward to utilizing those skills on my next rotation. 

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