Hillary Bell

September 7, 2012
Practicum 301
WVU Student Health
I had the opportunity to observe at WVU Student Health. While I
was able to interact with a few patients I received most of the information
in this paper from reviewing cases the physician had observed during the
day or during my time there. This was because I unfortunately was left
alone in a room while the physicians attended to their patients.
Patient 1
I was able to see a college aged female who initially complained of
inner ear pain. The physician determined that she had otitis media, a
severe ear infection that is common in children and rare in adults. This
condition presents with what looks like ground beef in the ear canal. A
healthy canal would reflect the light in a continuous cone form, where as
an inflamed canal would show infected, blotchy, red patches. The fluid
behind the membrane may also be bubbly.
For inflammation such as this that seems to be allergy related the
physician recommends an antihistamine such as Claritin D. For this the
treatment would include 3 continuous days of taking the antihistamine
followed by a week without taking it, this cycle repeats as a preventative
measure to further allergic reactions.
Patient 2
I was able to see was a wonderful opportunity for me to use the
orthopedic evaluation skills Ive learned in prior classes. A college aged
male presented with an already healed interarticular spiral fracture. The

fracture occurred in April and the patient remained splinted until May. The
patient complained of weakness and limited range of motion as well as
pain. Observation revealed a deformation of a calcification over the 5th
metacarpal joint with point tenderness over the proximal metacarpal.
Lever test was negative and he seemed to be structurally intact. There
was some discoloration, but no radiating pain and no pain proximal or
distal to the injury. The patient also displayed good capillary refill.
For treatment I recommended ice and rehabilitation exercises that would
increase his strength and range of motion. Ultrasound could also be used
to break up the calcification. With this removed the bone has the ability to
heal properly which will increase movement and reduce the amount of
scar tissue and adhesions, which are likely reducing the range of motion
the joint has and increasing the pain with in it.
Patient 3
I was unable to see another patient during my time there however
the physician discussed one of her cases with me. In this instance the
patient was a 21 year old female that was 15-16 weeks pregnant. She
reported with cramping accompanied by bleeding that was following a few
days of spotting. She also was reporting with a sore throat and malaise.
The physician referred this patient to the emergency department for
further testing which would include checking for viable pregnancy, a CBC,
urine testing, and the presence of Rh factor in the blood. Her outcome was
unknown to the physician.