Just finished a hospital placement and wow did I learn a lot of things! Genuinely impressed by some things and some things have just left me aghast! Why is it that sometimes some doctors always think they know best and completely disregard what the patient may be trying to tell them? I understand that the medics may not have the luxury of time, whereas as I’m a still a student and so the same circumstances do not apply to me. Yet. Sometimes just spending time with patients may actually help to reveal their true symptoms and the correct course of treatment. I found it surprising that quite a few patients don’t actually understand their condition, whether through language problems or just a lack of information or understanding. This results in the patient not taking proper care of themselves and consequently never really improving their condition. Rather than just labelling a patient as being difficult, a little spot of “health literacy” might improve the situation significantly; however time and resources always seem to be an issue.
Equally sometimes I think that doctors try too hard to help a patient. As a doctor your duty is to help people but sometimes it’s hard for them to accept that their help is unwanted and perhaps not needed as it may be misconstrued as meddling. But what is it that makes helping a person cross over into meddling in their lives? At the same time, the guidance that they do provide sometimes goes unappreciated and it can get to them. No one really understands how hard they work, how it’s hard to switch off at the end of a day. I may only just be observing but my god some of things I’ve seen do really stay with you even after you’ve finished for the day. Unappreciated, tired ALL the time, people are not respectful let alone grateful, you have no social life... I could go on. I mean I can totally understand how sometimes people just get fed up of being a doctor. But at the same time I’m grateful that those people come back in the next day and do it all over again.
And so onto my other experiences…
My first time observing an autopsy and well I can report that I remained on my feet throughout… which is more that I can say for some people, lol. It was an interesting experience but seeing another human being on the table like that, well it really makes you appreciate how delicate life is. Something I can still vividly remember is the smell during autopsy and let me tell ya, that’s not a good thing :( Observing on rounds, I’ve found that’s it is highly frustrating when patients don’t tell you their diagnosis and I don’t mean verbally. At university when you study an illness, the theory is followed up by doing case studies that seem to have a handful of clues sprinkled about, steering you towards the right conclusion. This sooo does not happen in real life, patients are most definitely not textbook examples. No one ever seems to be a perfect patient, with all their appropriate symptoms present and accounted for on your imaginary checklist. Point to note; going from patient to patient without washing your hands – bad! Basic training at university, we’re told to always wash our hands, regardless of whether you’re the doctor, patient or just a visitor. Something so simple yet effective. And yet whilst at the hospital, there are still so many people that forget to do it or purposely don’t do it. And they always have an excuse to hand (no pun intended :P ) – the sink/ hand rub is too far away or you don’t like the smell of alcohol etc.
Humour on the wards can be a right laugh and actually cheers people up - used in the right context that is. I suppose some people use it as a shield against all the bad stuff. For the medics, sometimes using witty remarks actually makes bad news easier to bear, I guess. And that leads me onto another observation of mine; about how close the medical lot really are. They all have their in- jokes and secrets and have such a strong bond with each other. Whether they’re trying to get with the times and be more tech savvy in the work place, dealing with difficult patients, the long hours that they all work together; I guess that all comes with the territory. Proper teamwork and it really does work. And I look forward to being part of it one day! So in conclusion, I for one am grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to meet such committed doctors. Despite all the crap things that the doctors pointed out, I’m still eager to become a medic and I think that amused a couple of them. At the same I think they were secretly impressed and I got a few comments of “glutton for punishment” etc accompanied with a wink and a smile :) Good times!
Equally sometimes I think that doctors try too hard to help a patient. As a doctor your duty is to help people but sometimes it’s hard for them to accept that their help is unwanted and perhaps not needed as it may be misconstrued as meddling. But what is it that makes helping a person cross over into meddling in their lives? At the same time, the guidance that they do provide sometimes goes unappreciated and it can get to them. No one really understands how hard they work, how it’s hard to switch off at the end of a day. I may only just be observing but my god some of things I’ve seen do really stay with you even after you’ve finished for the day. Unappreciated, tired ALL the time, people are not respectful let alone grateful, you have no social life... I could go on. I mean I can totally understand how sometimes people just get fed up of being a doctor. But at the same time I’m grateful that those people come back in the next day and do it all over again.
And so onto my other experiences…
My first time observing an autopsy and well I can report that I remained on my feet throughout… which is more that I can say for some people, lol. It was an interesting experience but seeing another human being on the table like that, well it really makes you appreciate how delicate life is. Something I can still vividly remember is the smell during autopsy and let me tell ya, that’s not a good thing :( Observing on rounds, I’ve found that’s it is highly frustrating when patients don’t tell you their diagnosis and I don’t mean verbally. At university when you study an illness, the theory is followed up by doing case studies that seem to have a handful of clues sprinkled about, steering you towards the right conclusion. This sooo does not happen in real life, patients are most definitely not textbook examples. No one ever seems to be a perfect patient, with all their appropriate symptoms present and accounted for on your imaginary checklist. Point to note; going from patient to patient without washing your hands – bad! Basic training at university, we’re told to always wash our hands, regardless of whether you’re the doctor, patient or just a visitor. Something so simple yet effective. And yet whilst at the hospital, there are still so many people that forget to do it or purposely don’t do it. And they always have an excuse to hand (no pun intended :P ) – the sink/ hand rub is too far away or you don’t like the smell of alcohol etc.
Humour on the wards can be a right laugh and actually cheers people up - used in the right context that is. I suppose some people use it as a shield against all the bad stuff. For the medics, sometimes using witty remarks actually makes bad news easier to bear, I guess. And that leads me onto another observation of mine; about how close the medical lot really are. They all have their in- jokes and secrets and have such a strong bond with each other. Whether they’re trying to get with the times and be more tech savvy in the work place, dealing with difficult patients, the long hours that they all work together; I guess that all comes with the territory. Proper teamwork and it really does work. And I look forward to being part of it one day! So in conclusion, I for one am grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to meet such committed doctors. Despite all the crap things that the doctors pointed out, I’m still eager to become a medic and I think that amused a couple of them. At the same I think they were secretly impressed and I got a few comments of “glutton for punishment” etc accompanied with a wink and a smile :) Good times!
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Eww the autopsy, you've put me off me lunch Sam :(
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