MP Resident Bomberg brushes up on OB and NRP Skills

Posted on behalf of MP3 Resident, Eric Bomberg

This has definitely been a crazy week. I drove back to the Cities for graduation events, which was great!  However, on the way back, about 20 miles outside of Shawano, my car hit a deer on the freeway.  Apparently, this happens to almost everyone at some point in Shawano.  In fact, car insurance rates in the county are about $400 dollars a year higher than surrounding areas due to the extensive deer population and the fact this happens so much. Had to get the car towed to Green Bay, where it will be for the next 2 weeks as they fix the extensive damage.

This continues to be a fantastic experience. I am on call tonight, and there was a young mother with type I diabetes who presented with preterm labor at 30 weeks gestation. The heart tones were not fully reassuring. 

My heart was racing a bit as I thought about the possibility of having to resuscitate this 30 week child that would be born to a diabetic mother. There is no NICU here, and no neonatalogist in the near vicinity.

I quickly read up on my neonatal resuscitation and got ready to go. Fortunately, the heart tones stabilized, and we were able to transfer the mother to an acute care hospital with NICU capabilities, as we do not have this here.  The alternative would be to have stabilized the baby and transfer out when available . . . such is life in a rural setting.

Although my residency does not train me to do OB, this whole experience was definitely a great refresher, and definitely got me to read up on my NRP skills!

Plans for later in the week are going on Thursday to see patients in the jail on the reservation.  More updates coming soon!

Bomberg finishes first week at Menominee Tribal Reservation

Posted on behalf of 3rd Year MedPeds Resident Eric Bomberg

Hello all! Eric Bomberg here, just finishing up my first week in Shawano, Wisconsin at the Menominee Tribal Reservation.

The experience here has been fantastic! I work as a Medicine/Pediatric hospitalist in the morning, seeing patients from the Menominee tribe who were admitted.  In the afternoon I go to work at the Menominee Tribal Clinic, where I have my own schedule of patients.

The picture above was taken looking out from the balcony at the home where I am staying.  We're close to the river at home and at the hospital!  We have wireless internet, cable TV, a full kitchen, a laundry machine, and weekly house cleaning services.  They take good care of us here

At the hospital, all of my meals are covered and they even pack me a bag lunch to take with me when I go to clinic.  Because the hospital is small, everyone there knows who you are and they know my food preferences!

The hospital has 25 beds and we take care of everything from newborns to trauma. The patients at the hospital are not all from the Menominee tribe, and there are many other providers there as well.  We admit our own patients from clinic and almost exclusively follow tribal patients while there.

The major things I have taken away so far is what is means to practice in a rural setting (Shawano is the largest town around here with a population of approximately 9,000).  It's not uncommon to see a patient in clinic and then follow them in the hospital.  The experience of practicing medicine in a rural setting first hand is so valuable and I've already learned so much in one week. 

More to come!!! Eric