"...The unit registrar tells you that Mrs. V has a really interesting heart murmur, but tells you to say that you are a doctor doing exams not a medical student 'because the patient is sick of medical students'. What do you do?..."
Allow me to tell you a story first, before I reveal my current thoughts on the above scenario.
It happened to me last Thurday afternoon, when I decided to clerk a patient (and perhaps practise my clinical skills, if given the consent). Being the "enthusiastic" medic that I normally am, I headed first to the Oncology ward. There, a nurse kindly pointed out two possible candidates (who were obviously not very ill) for my practice.
Two patients to choose from. Hmmm, that wasn't too bad now, was it?
I approached the first patient, a pleasant 64-year old who was actually very willing to talk. Unfortunately, he could only speak simple English. His native tongue: Croatian.
Since I could not speak nor understand Croatian, and he could not really comprehend what I was trying to convey.... there wasn't much I could do then. His son would visit him at 4pm (and hence I could ask him to translate for me!), but I've got to leave for RMH at 3.30pm. In addition, I could technically page a Croatian interpreter in WH, but was that necessary? Plus, interpreters are usually on the go within the hospital, pacing from one outpatient clinic to another, if they are not in the wards.
I don't relish idea of getting an interpreter to help me, a mere medical student who is just trying to improve her history-taking skills, when the aforementioned interpreter may have more urgent matters at hand.
So that leaves me with the other patient.....how how bad would that be?
The second patient I went to was soundly asleep at that time.
Now then I thought, "Well, I could go to other wards and find someone else. I guess it shouldn't be a problem..."
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FIVE WARDS LATER.....
I HAVE YET TO FIND A SOMEONE WHOM I COULD SEE!!!
T_T
What the heck happened?
Few patients were asleep.
3-4 patients had visitors, and would prefer not to have those visiting times interrupted by a nosy medical student. =P
A number were having lunch, and would like to have a peaceful one.
Many were in distress and pain at that point, and would rather be left alone. (Which is fair enough, as I wouldn't like to entertain a bumbling medical student when I'm very ill!)
Of the many patients who wished to be left alone, a large proportion weren't too pleased when they saw my ID tag (which read: MEDICAL STUDENT beneath by name), or the moment I introduced myself as a medical student.
It was pretty obvious that they have seen a number of medical students before I came along. Heh. I don't blame them, really. To be fair, I wouldn't like to entertain another student when I've already told my side of the story (at least) five times... unless I have nothing better to do of course.
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Truth to be told, when I was on the look-out for patients I could clerk, there WERE moments when I do not want to introduce myself as a medical student, more so when I've been "rejected" at least FIVE times in a row.
But, on second thoughts.....
....that would be manipulating and lying, wouldn't it? I'd be guilt-ridden if I had done so.
In addition, I'd be disrespecting patients' autonomic rights. They are, after all, admitted to the hospital for a reason (be it to find the underlying cause of their medical problem, or to simply seek treatment). Hence, they are entitled to accept (or reject) any form of services the hospital has....which invariably includes whatever us medical students can offer.
At the end of the day....
There will always be patients who would LOVE to tell you their side of the story. So if one cannot find anyone to clerk, heck, just try again tomorrow!!! ^^
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On a side note, no prizes for guessing what my answer would be, with regards to the above scenario. =P
Labels: Events, Medicine/Hospitals/Medics, Random thoughts
