About Me

Senior Headshots

   

Scrubbed in at the Georgetown University
Summer Medical Immersion

Hi! I’m Julia Gaumond, a senior at BASIS Scottsdale. I'm an adventurous and always-hungry student who loves chemistry and biology a little too much (labs are the highlight of my week). Outside the classroom, I pursue my other passion: dance. I've traveled all over the country to take workshops, complete auditions, and compete. In the fall, I will continue to study both the hard sciences and the performing arts at Northwestern University, where I am double majoring in biological sciences and neuroscience on a pre-medicine track. Go 'Cats!

In my free time, I love binge-watching Friends, The Office, and Parks and Recreation. On a more productive note, I love to travel. The week I spent in Paris sophomore year was one of the best of my life; the food, gardens, palaces, lights and atmosphere all amazed me. I also loved Italy, a place I am lucky enough to have been to twice.

This past summer, my traveling did not bring me abroad, but to Georgetown University in Washington D.C. I completed a Summer Medical Immersion program, where I learned skills like taking vitals, venipuncture, suturing, making splints, scrubbing in (pictured above where I am second from the right), childbirth procedures, and more. We also were able to work in cadaver labs, an amazing experience that enhances the anatomy class I take this year.

Most importantly, we also learned how to talk to and empathize with patients. This information is critical now, as I began an internship with a Doctor of Osteopathy this year. Some of you may ask: What is a Doctor of Osteopathy? Is that the same as a “normal doctor” that I visit? Is that just some herbal guru who isn’t actually licensed to practice medicine?

To answer these and more, an Osteopath is defined as a medical practitioner who emphasizes the treatment of conditions through manipulation of muscles, bones, and joints. However, their scope of practice is not limited to this! They take a holistic view to health often not found in other healthcare providers. They can treat all the same conditions allopaths can, as well as hold all the same jobs (i.e. pediatricians, oncologists, gynecologists, ER physicians, and more!). Osteopaths go to specialized medical schools, but receive all the same training M.D.s (“normal doctors”) do, and more! They complete boards and residencies like M.D.s and are just as qualified (if not more so) to help you. I have linked the website for the American Osteopathic Association if anyone has questions, and feel free to comment questions if they come up!


My project (described in greater detail in the linked proposal), Straightening Out the Facts: An In-Depth Look at Patient Response to Osteopathy, aims to analyze how patients respond to Osteopathy. I will be specifically looking at patients who have a long-standing condition or illness, as these patients tend to have regular interactions with healthcare providers. I will be posting weekly about patients, how the surveying is going, and more!

Week 10

Hi all! I can’t believe this was the last week on site-- it is crazy to think I have been out of school for 10 weeks, learning so much for 10 weeks, researching for 10 weeks. This is my last weekly post! I have some very exciting updates about patients, research, my continued work at Scottsdale Medical Center, and life in general.

In my 10 weeks, I was able to see visits for over 50 chronic conditions that would require primary care treatment. These range from osteoporosis to hypertension to polycystic ovary syndrome to anxiety to Grave’s disease. I was able to experience the joy in telling patients they were pregnant, but also the hardship in telling one they have cancer. I saw patients ranging in age from 14 to 92, of all backgrounds and lifestyles.

One of my favorite parts of this project was the amazing variety of people and visits I saw. This experience is definitely one that will stick with me for life, as it also confirmed my desire to follow the path of medicine, and showed me how amazing of a field it can be.

On the research front, I am glad to say I got some fantastic results from the surveys, and was able to confirm that primary care is indeed a great place for Osteopaths. I’ll have exact statistics and details in my presentation on May 6th! Any and all are welcome to come, as that is the day all the final presentations are.

Additionally, I will be continuing working at Scottsdale Medical Center through the summer! I will be working as a scribe and patient scheduler part time; I am glad I get to continue my exposure to medicine! I am also glad I get to keep working in the same environment and see more patients.

Lastly, life updates! I am going to Hawaii on Thursday and I could not be more excited. Between SRPs, dance, and tutoring my life has been a little crazy the last couple weeks, and I am excited to relax in paradise. I love to travel as I mentioned in my very first blog post, and Hawaii is definitely no exception to that.

Thank you all for reading-- this post AND all the others ones! I am so grateful to have had the experience I did, and can’t wait to share my final results with you all.

Week 9

Hi all! This week is my week off :) Dr. Barker is in Jamaica and I meanwhile have started Game of Thrones, which has now taken over my life. I'll be back next week! (No doubt having finished all 6 seasons because I cannot stop.)

Week 8

Hello all! Welcome once again to my weekly posting on my SRP. It was another exciting week on site, with lots of new cases and interesting visits (per usual)! This week’s post however, will be centered around something I have not yet written about: difficult patients. Although I have definitely encountered a fair share of patients before this week, a particular person this week encompassed all possible characteristics of a “difficult patients” into one.

This patient was from Italy, spoke broken English, had mislabeled prescriptions, was set in her ways, could not focus, did not consistently take important medicines, relied heavily on the internet for medicine, and was was convinced she knew what to do. All of these problems individually can complicate a patient visit. Combined? The visit is not only incredibly frustrating but takes over an hour.

However, despite these frustrations and lengths, doctors must stay patient, calm, persistent and thorough with those in their care. And that is something I really respect in Dr. Barker and all doctors. No matter the field, there will always be patients who are convinced they know better than the doctor. But the providers deal with this, remaining professional.

We first had to one-by-one talk through all our patient’s medicines. As we confirmed dosages and which meds were taken daily, our patient would interject how she had not taken it consistently or read something online about negatives side effects. However, side effects are not actually at fault of a drug unless they are taken as directed, and the internet is a terrible doctor (for those of you who have never been on sites like Web MD pretty much every diagnosis is pregnancy or cancer; it is hilariously awful).

Constantly reminding the patient to focus on certain drugs that we were discussing at the moment was not only difficult, but critical. For example, pills to manage diabetes and high blood pressure must be taken in exact doses and timings. If the patient is sidetracked by side-effects (that are uncommon anyways) or other topics, it is hard to ensure as a provider the patient knows what they must do to remain in good health.

After going through medicines, another common issue with patients like these is them over-reporting issues that are not medical problems. They discuss EVERY issue they recognize, even if it is as simple as not being able to fall asleep the night before. With this, it is important to find a good balance between respecting the patients and demonstrating what are and are not reasons to be concerned. This is another skill Dr. Barker has demonstrated time and time again.

We talked through the actual issues which were rather limited, and were finally able to bring the visit to a close.  This visit taught me more than most visits, as I learned some the dire importance of certain communication skills, something I am glad I learned now.

Next week I am off for break as Dr. Barker is headed to Jamaica, but thanks for reading!

Week 7

Hello again! Week 7 has come to a close, and as always, I have learned so so much. This week I saw multiple patients we had seen before, and had the interesting experience of offering them the survey and them saying no, as they already completed it!

An interesting visit I haven’t written about yet that we had this week was a pre-operative visit. The exact content of these vary based on the type of surgery it precedes, but the gist stays the same. We review an EKG, order labs, run a urinalysis (UA), review current medications and discuss the procedure.

EKGs are run to make sure the patient’s heart is stable and healthy enough to handle anesthesia. The labs check liver and kidney function (by measuring levels of compounds like creatine) to make sure these organs can as well can function properly with anesthesia. Labs also ensure the patient has the proper amount of blood cells, hemoglobin, iron and more (and thus won’t bleed out or clot on the table). The UA checks for any signs of current infection, as any standing infection puts the patient at risk for sepsis (a surgical complication that causes a severe infection of the bloodstream).  Then medications are checked as some need to be stopped a week before surgery, especially those that thin or thicken the blood (i.e. Aspirin).

And finally, perhaps the most important part of the visit: we discuss the surgery with the patient. We reviewed the physical procedure, as well as preparation for and recovery from surgery. As someone who just had surgery a couple months ago, I can confirm being able to ask questions and have them fully answered is the most important part of pre-op. It makes a daunting medical procedure manageable. This is just another time Dr. Barker’s fantastic bedside manner and ability to communicate with patients comes into play.

Although our patient this week was calm going into her procedure (as she had had it before and it was low risk), lots of patients are not. This is a crucial time when being a down-to-earth, empathetic human-being is critical. Interactions like these are another that so strongly draw me to the medical field.

So that’s this week’s highlight! I’ll be back for Week 8 on Monday, ready to learn more and keep reading surveys. Thank you all for reading as usual, and have a great week!

Week 6

Hello all and welcome to Week 6!

I was on site for a full 3 days this week, and saw such a variety of patients and cases. Although we saw so many, I’ll be focusing on 2 visits in this post: one for diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and a well woman exam.

\Osteoporosis is screened for in a bone density test, which is basically a series of detailed x-rays taken of the wrist, femoral head, pelvis, and spine. These tests are compared to bone strength at the epitome of density: age 30 (a different strength is used for each gender). The patient is given T scores, with -1 being one standard deviation less dense than the average density at age 30, -2 being two standard deviations less dense, and so on. Patients with a T score of -1 or less are healthy, a T score of -1.1 to -2.4 are osteopenic (a milder, pre-osteoporotic condition), and a T score of -2.5 or less are osteoporotic.  

Once a patient is diagnosed with osteoporosis, there are three main courses of action to be taken: Vitamin D and calcium supplements, prescriptions (such as Prolia or Fosamax that stimulate osteocyte growth), and weight-bearing exercise. Each of these strengthen bones back to a healthy density, so that in case of a fall, bones are not broken so easily!  We treat lots of osteoporotic patients, and help move them back to healthy densities, through combinations of these aforementioned treatments.

The other major visit we had this week was well woman exams-- a visit I had not seen yet. This is a comprehensive wellness visit focused around women’s health, much like those at a gynecologist. Not all primary care offices offer visits like these, but it’s just another speciality Dr. Barker has tucked under her belt.

In these visits, we covered preventative home care such as self-breast exams, as well as running in office screenings like pelvic exams and pap smears (which I mentioned in the last post!). I also got to watch an IUD insertion, another experience I honestly never would have had without this internship. Opening my eyes to another field of medicine, these visits were beyond interesting.

So that’s this week’s update!  Additionally, I know some of my peers have been taking spring breaks; my week off will be the first week of April! A little while longer. Thanks for reading, and see you next week!

Week 5

Hello once again! I can’t believe that this is Week 5, and that we’re already halfway through! I’ve slowly been coming back to full energy, and was on site for the full time this week. It was a very busy week, and I saw more than 15 patients.

But this week when I shadowed Dr. Barker, I was not alone. She had a student (named Heather) from Western Osteopathic Medical School completing a short clinical rotation at the practice as well! Whenever we entered a patient room, Dr. Barker introduced us as her “entourage”, as 4 people fill up a small visit room quite easily.

Getting to talk to and learn alongside Heather was so fascinating, as she is just a week away from Match Day (March 17th, the day around the world where 4th year medical students are told where they will be completing their residencies), and I’m just starting this whole journey as a pre-med undergrad student. Seeing her interact with patients was interesting as well. Even though every doctor has their own “bedside manner”, I could still recognize Heather’s Osteopathic training in her approach to care.

She gave me so much amazing advice, from how to survive pre-med undergrad, finish 9 hour board exams first year (yay testing), or stand through 6 hour surgeries without passing out (a lesson she learned the hard way after hitting the floor after about 4). Heather applied for Pediatric Residencies, and starts them in June. I can’t wait to hear where she’s headed, and was so grateful to have this little glimpse to my own future.

Except not 3 years more like 10

This week I also began to read some of the papers from the Women’s Health Convention! I only just started though, and have much more to go. I started with the recommended preventative screening standards this year, and the major one that’s changed is the screening test for cervical cancer, a pap smear. It was previously recommended annually from age 21-30, and then from age 31-65, every 3 years. Now, it is recommended every 3 years from age 21-65.

A possible reason for this decrease in screening is the fact that the presence of the HPV (the virus that causes cervical cancer) virus has severely decreased in the last several years due to the use of the Gardasil (HPV virus) vaccine. Thus the incidence of cervical cancer has also decreased (aka the vaccine is working and we are making great progress towards completing preventing cervical cancer!!)

So those are my highlights from this week. Thanks for reading; I’ll be back soon with more!