Robyn Panchaud, MD

My name is Robyn Panchaud, MD, and I am a PGY-1 psychiatry resident here at LVHN. I am on my first four-week block of the year working on the resident-run consultation-liaison psychiatry service at LVH–Muhlenberg. On a typical workday I usually wake up by 6:15 a.m., which allows me to ease into the day by making myself a cup of coffee, packing myself a light breakfast and lunch for the day and completing my personal care routine. My commute to work is less than 15 minutes as there is not a lot of traffic along my route early in the morning. I arrive at the hospital by 7 a.m., at which time I receive a secure communication from my chief resident telling me which patients I am assigned to see for the day. I’m joined in the consultation liaison office by my co-residents which include a PGY-4, PGY-2 and a fellow PGY-1. The last two weeks, our team has included a PGY-4 neurology resident as well. Each week this month we also have had one to two third-year medical students rotating with us, and for this entire month we have had a fourth-year medical student join us for an acting internship. I have enjoyed working with such a collaborative and dynamic team as we have had ample opportunities to engage in teaching and learning together over the month.

After briefly catching up with my co-residents, I settle in to start working. I do chart review on my patients while eating breakfast and drinking my coffee. This month our service has received a plethora of consults. I’ve been assigned to see patients for a range of reasons including adjusting the psychiatric medications of medically complex patients, evaluating patients experiencing delirium, managing agitation, assessing capacity for medical decision-making and offering treatment to patients for substance-use disorders and withdrawal.

After seeing my patients throughout the hospital, I return to the consultation liaison office. I then obtain collateral information from patients’ family members as needed or I write my notes in preparation for table rounds with my attending physician. Our team usually meets by 10:30 a.m. to discuss patients and develop a tentative treatment plan for each patient before breaking for lunch. This format gives everyone on the team a chance to learn about each case, ask further questions, make suggestions and learn from one another.

Whenever the weather permits, I try to eat lunch outside with my co-residents. On days that I decide not to pack lunch, I use my meal allowance to grab food from the cafeteria. After lunch we head back to the consultation liaison office to meet our attending physician for walking rounds.

During walking rounds, after seeing each patient we communicate updates to our nursing colleagues in real time and we similarly update each patient’s primary medical team about our recommendations. Once we finish rounds, we return to the consultation liaison office to update notes and input orders into the EMR. Additionally, time permitting, our attending physician will give an impromptu lecture to the team, often on a topic relevant to one of the patients that we have seen that day. Afterward, on days when I’m feeling like I need an afternoon energy boost, I’ll use my meal allowance to grab a beverage with my co-residents at the hospital Starbucks.

At the end of the day, I head home at around 5 p.m. On my drive home, there is usually a bit of traffic so my return commute takes about 20 minutes. I like to use the time to either listen to music to decompress or talk on the phone with my mom, siblings or extended family to stay connected with them. On days when the weather is nice, I’ll go for a walk in my neighborhood with my husband. Then, because I love foreign languages, I try to carve out time to do a self-study lesson to review either French or Portuguese or to learn Spanish. After my husband and I enjoy a nice dinner together, we may watch a TV show or a movie before I head to bed. I aim to be asleep most nights by 10 p.m. so that I can wake up well rested for the next day.