Brentwood Inpatient Psychiatry

The housing is provided by RVU and the house itself is actually pretty nice and the neighborhood is quiet and mostly full of families, a lot of whom are also in healthcare it seems. The address we stayed at was 2943 E. Cavett Drive Shrevport, LA 71104. You can view it on Zillow if you want an idea of what the area and the house look like. I texted the owners of the house about a 1.5 wk prior to arrival to see what kinds of things I needed to bring and to set a door code for entry. Some things to note:

1) The house gets hot during the day, there is A/C, but for whatever reason in the middle of the day and into the night it gets really hot, but the mornings and during bedtime are cool. I brought a little fan to place by my bed which helped a lot.

2) The house is organized into 3 bedrooms each with 2 twin sized beds. The room at the far back of the house has its own bathroom and shower, while the other two bedrooms have to share a bathroom and shower (however this bathroom is much larger than the one in the back of the house)

3) The rooms closer to the entrance of the house seem cooler in temperature than the one at the back of the house, but this is negligible during bedtime.

4) There are two dining room tables set up near the kitchen, the one in the living room is decent and the chairs aren’t terribly uncomfortable, so if you need to study at home or log patients etc… this is the best place to do it since there are no office spaces/desks. The dining room table has uncomfortable chairs and is really only good for having a meal at.

5) The house comes with plenty of cooking utensils, supplies, and some small tuber ware. I was able to meal prep fine with what they provided, however, I did bring some tuber ware to pack meals and leftovers into because the ones they have are fairly small.

6) There is an oven, microwave, freezer, fridge, and gas stove top. Everything works fine. Of note: there is NO DISHWASHER, so be prepared to hand wash all your dishes. There are sponges and dish soap provided as well as a small drying rack. There are NO CLEANING SUPPLIES provided, so buy some Lysol wipes or spray and some paper towels because they require you to give the place a thorough clean before checking out of the house.

7) The house has keypad entry on the front door, you must contact the owners of the house in order to set a 4 digit code that allows you to enter. When you leave, hold down the lock button the keypad for 3 secs then let go and it will lock automatically. DON’T FORGET TO LOCK THE DOOR. I haven’t witnessed any crime personally, but the owner of the house made a point to say that its frequent enough to be concerned.

8) The TV in the living room has access to Netflix and some basic channels if you are looking to chill. If you need to access Netflix, click the 3D cube symbol at the top of the remote, then click ok on Netflix when the menu pops up. Login to the farthest left account. Then press shift to allow you to scroll through Netflix with the remote.

9) Bring your own towels (hand towels, drying towels for dishes, and showering towels) these are not provided. Bedding, pillows, and a fleece blanket are provided. I would recommend bringing an extra blanket and your own pillow however because it does get cold at night with the A/C and the pillows provided are not great.

I would venture to say that this is probably the easiest schedule you will have all year. Most of the doctors you will work with will start at 6-7am and be done by 2-4pm. You will essentially be a glorified MA, doing charting, dictations, grabbing patients, and observing. Occasionally, doctors will discuss your thoughts on a new patient and potential treatment options and will ask you to present briefly on certain topics that they assign you the day before. Every doctor I worked with was incredibly nice and all the staff at the hospital are also nice and willing to help.

On your first day, buzz into the main lobby and sign in. Then wait for Shelley to come grab you. She will take you through the facility and tell you what to expect for the rotation. You will likely be done by 12pm that day and your doctor won’t meet you until the next day because they will already be done rounding on patients (unless you are with Dr. Feeney, then you will start the same day as orientation). On the second day, get there early to account for getting lost and wait for another student or your doctor to grab you from wherever they tell you to meet them (Shelley provides you their phone number so just text them and ask where to go). After this, expectations from each doctor vary, but just try to be as helpful as possible and you will be fine. Come prepared with questions and know some of the common diagnoses and treatments for things that might land you in an inpatient hospital (psychotic break from schizophrenia, suicidal ideation in depression, PTSD, bipolar etc… are all very common).

Most of the time you won’t need to bring lunch, except maybe on Thursdays. There are didactic sessions at the hospital for 1.5-2 hrs in the afternoon this day. Lunch is free in the cafeteria on Thursdays, but sometimes you won’t have time to grab it, so it may be better to bring your own. Shelley will explain more about these didactic sessions in orientation. Honestly, not really worth taking notes on this stuff, its really basic, but stay engaged because sometimes Dr. Smith will give a lecture and she is the upcoming residency director for the program at Brentwood, so her opinion of you will matter potentially. You must stay for the whole time allotted for these lectures unless you get an email stating otherwise from Shelley, don’t leave early or you will get reprimanded. On another note, when rounding on patients it is a good idea to have a pen and a notepad to write down observations for your logs and such later, because lugging around an Ipad all day is probably not the move and is probably not safe.