Author: Benji Ho

When to Think About Temporal Arteritis

When an older patient comes in for a headache, besides the common headaches like migraine, cluster, and tension headaches, it is also very important to consider Temporal Arteritis. Here, I will explain to you what this is. What is it? In summary, temporal arteritis, also known as Giant Cell Arteritis, is a systemic vasculitis of medium and large arteries. While… Continue reading

Family Medicine at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital

It’s amazing how time flies. I’m already a little more than half-way through this rotation! The family medicine rotation at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital is 6 weeks total and during this time, we are assigned to 3 weeks of inpatient shifts and 3 weeks of outpatient shifts. This past week, I just finished my outpatient portion, and have started my inpatient portion.… Continue reading

Pediatric Rotation in Miami

Yet again, I have finished another rotation… pediatrics is DONE! I just took my NBME shelf exam for pediatrics on Friday in Miami, and now as I write this, I am in the middle of New York City, about to start my next rotation in family medicine at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital for the next 6 weeks. I am going to miss… Continue reading

Closing the Gap

Ever since leaving the island, I’ve been joining the Facebook groups of different incoming classes at AUC to update myself as of what’s going on on campus, and to be of use here and there and participate in discussions. I’m probably the only clinical student that still participate in the groups, which were originally created for the student orientation advisors… Continue reading

The Game

“We’re going to play a game” Dr. Vuong said to Erin and me.”I’d like you to go into the next room and ask the patient’s mother everything about the patient but the age. I’ll tell the mother not to reveal to you her baby’s age. Then, I’d like you to come back to me, then using the clues you’ve gathered,… Continue reading

Tower of Babel

Being multilingual opens up tons of opportunities for doctors to communicate better with patients. By far, Spanish is the second most common language spoken in the United States (and the world) and it is growing. Some places in the US, Spanish first-language speakers are the majority. Here in Miami, Spanish is the language of the streets and the workplace, and… Continue reading

Books for Clinical Rotations

In Basic Sciences, we learned about what the normal body is and how diseases can make it abnormal. However, in Clinical Sciences, the emphasis is more on diagnosis, treatment, and decision-making, particularly what the next best step in the management of an individual patient is.  Deciding what the “next best step” is for a patient is a challenge and may… Continue reading

Smell

After rotating in internal medicine for the past two months, it’s clear to me that medicine is an art that requires the awareness of all the senses… Through vision we can detect any lesions, changes of color, and general health of our patients. Through touch we can determine the location, size, shape, and texture of an abnormal mass or organ.… Continue reading