End of Week 2.

Wow this week went by really quickly. One more week and then summer holiday!

So last week wasn't the most productive, so this week I wanted to make sure I get lots of patient histories and examinations done, as well as find a patient for my SSC project. This week I have managed to do about five patient histories and managed to do at least two physical examinations on 3 of the 5 patients. Again today (Friday), was my most productive day. Started bright and early and went to go see a patient my partner and I had taken a history from yesterday. The patient was going to be discharged today so we quickly did all the physical examinations we needed to do for our SSC project. Our SSC project requires us to find a patient where we do a full case history and all physical examinations (Cardio, Respiratory, GI, GALS, and CNS). This patient was extremely nice. I mean he was not feeling well and was quite frail. My partner and I expected him to say "no" when we asked for permission to take a history and examine him, but to our surprise he quickly said "yes" with a big smile on his face!

We first asked why he was admitted into hospital and listening to his history made me feel quite sad. This patient lives on his own and is almost at the grand age of 90 and he had collapsed on his floor at night. Because no one lived with him, no one knew he had collapsed and unfortunately he could not get up off the floor. He spent the entire night on the cold floor and because he had not answered his phone, his son had gotten worried about him and went to see if he was alright. The way the patient described his ordeal made it sound painful and you just feel really bad for the patient. He looked very upset and distressed about collapsing and told us that the pain he had from falling was immense. Whilst talking to the patient, we realized he was quite short of breath and had a constant and productive cough; therefore, we thought we should give the patient a break and would come back and examine him the next day (Friday).

So today we went to see the patient and the nurses told us not to bother the patient because they had just finished ward rounds and had prodded him quite a bit. He also looked quite tired as well and did not look very comfortable. We were then told he was going to be discharged later in the afternoon, so after popping to another ward to join a ward round we went back to the patient and asked if it was alright to do a quick full examination on him. Again, we were expecting to hear a "no" and a "leave me alone!" as he did look quite annoyed; however, he looked at us and promptly smiled and told us that he'll be more than happy to let us examine him. Because the patient looked quite tired, we tried to do our examination as quick as possible to minimize the amount of "prodding" we had to do. At the end we thanked our patient again and he gave us a firm handshake and wished us good luck with our career. He said it with so much sincerity and kindness it definitely brightened up my day. If I was in the patient's position I definitely would not let two medical students poke around and bother me if I was not feeling well. What a kind man and I got to say, my partner and I had learned a lot from this patient as he had an extensive history and was an immense pleasure to talk to.

Also now being my 2nd week of venturing the hospital, I realized that the staff in the ward I am placed in are starting to recognize me and it was nice to see them saying "Hi" to me. Makes me feel like I am not invisible and that the staff do remember there's a medical student wandering around. I even had a lovely chat with one of the nurses as well and finally felt welcomed. Worst part is that next week is my last week and I feel like I am starting to get the hang of being in my ward and getting to know people. The turnover is so quick as each placement only lasts 3 weeks for us (total of 4 placements). Can't believe that next week is my last week! I feel like I've still got lots of stuff to do. I still have to be assessed on doing a patient history and a physical examination by a doctor. As well, I need to find another patient for my second SSC project with some sort of ethics and law background to it, such as discussing patient confidentiality, DNR forms, etc. Not only do we have to do that, but also we need to find our consultant. We haven't seen him since Monday in theatre as he is away for the rest of this week. He said he'll be back next Monday and my partner and I will have to chain him down (as he can vanish into thin air in a blink of an eye) and hopefully arrange a meeting with him on Wednesday morning as he will be free. I will definitely make the most of my final week and I still haven't been in clinic so I'm going to try really hard to go to one next week. It should be good. And then...I'll be HOME! Haven't been back since winter holiday and I'm starting to get really homesick.

Anyways sorry for the long post. Will update next week if I have time!

End of the Week.

What a week.

Driving to the peripheral hospital for 40 minutes each way every day does take a toll. Since Monday, I have been going in at about 9 or 10 am, which is considered a late start when compared to others. My consultant is fairly "slack" and told us not to come in too early because we do have to travel a long way and for safety sake not to tire us out too badly. Last few days my partner and I have been going around to different wards to take patient histories and do physical examinations. I swear we have not been that lucky this week. We have been given two patients on our ward who we should definitely speak to as they are quite interesting to talk to and one patient in particular is extremely fun to talk to. Every time we wanted to go speak to this one patient, he is asleep in his chair. We were told by the nurses and junior doctors to not wake him up as he gets tired quite easily (plus he is quite old). Finally, when my partner and I walked by his room he was awake so we went in to ask for permission to speak to him about his condition.

I am not kidding but I think the entire ward (nurses and junior doctors) were playing a mighty good prank on us. Here's the catch: this patient is almost completely deaf. We literally spoke right into his ear and he still could not hear us. My partner and I were absolutely baffled. We could not believe that the staff had been recommending us a patient who is deaf. The main point of patient histories is to ask questions and it does not exactly work if the patient cannot hear you. Now we feel like we are the joke of the ward. However I am VERY determined to get a patient history from this patient as I had a read through his notes and he is definitely an interesting patient. I think I will opt for the writing on a whiteboard to ask my questions.

After being absolutely baffled by this patient, my partner and I decided to abandon our ward and move to other wards to get patient histories. We went to the Cardiology ward and we managed to get a really good patient history. This particular patient was very kind and VERY patient with us. We visited him again today to do a Cardiovascular physical examination on him and again he was very cooperative and seemed really keen on helping us learn.

Today we also went to the respiratory ward and managed to get another patient history and do a respiratory physical examination. Despite being a Friday, I thought today was one of our most productive days. Last few days we were leaving early (e.g. 1:30pm-2:00pm) as we felt redundant. Today, we left feeling like we've done a lot and actually had some fun. Definitely a good way to end the week of placements.

Next week - hopefully we'll start off where we left off and continue to be productive. On Monday we will be doing a theatre list with our consultant so we'll finally see him again and hopefully get some teaching from him as well as he is amazing at teaching and very patient. I was also hoping to ask to be able to scrub in and maybe be a bit more interactive and try and help out as I think that is the best way to learn. Much better than standing in the corner of the room and trying not to be in the way.

Sorry for the long post. Will update hopefully soon. Have a good weekend!

First Day as a Student Doctor.

So today was my very first day as a proper student doctor (clinical year medical student). I must admit that I was fairly nervous about my placement and at the same time excited. I really didn't know what to expect and my biggest worry was not being welcomed.

Anyways I am placed in Upper GI surgery which I had done for 2 weeks before in first year. Technically I should be an expert on it. Obviously I am not. Today was induction day at the hospital and we got a hospital tour. The hospital is fairly large and because it is a teaching hospital, most of the doctors/nurses there are really helpful. I heard a few bad things about the hospital I am placed at such as consultants completely ignoring you and being rude. I literally have nothing to complain about today. When I was standing around with my partner on our ward trying to look for our consultant, we were approached by several nurses asking if we needed help looking for someone or something with a smile and genuinely wanted to help. It really made me relax as it seems like I am welcomed and that people are willing to help.

After induction/introducing ourselves to our ward, the search for our consultants still continues. After lunch, we decided to go down to theatre to look for our consultant as he is a surgeon. Bingo! He was in theatre all day. During the surgery, our consultant did a great job at showing us stuff and letting us take a look and he took the time to explain things. However, we were quizzed, but our consultant was really nice especially when we did not know the answer. After surgery, our consultant went over the surgery that was just done with us and I mean our consultant has been in theatre all day and he took the time to sit us down in a room and draw us a diagram of the operation. He took the time to run through the basic anatomy involved and took the time to explain each step of the surgery. It really showed us that our consultant is committed in helping us learn and I have a feeling it will be a good attachment with great learning opportunities.

As well our consultant told us his schedule and told us to join him whenever we feel it is necessary. I like how we have the freedom to plan our own schedule and I guess quite self-directed. Really gives us the opportunity to prioritize things and get some of our compulsory assignments done instead of being our consultant's shadow.

By the end of the day I got to admit my back was quite sore after standing for so long. Can't wait to get a really good sleep tonight as I didn't get much sleep yesterday.

Hopefully I'll update you with more things if I encounter anything interesting.