Reflection

-
When I was in first year I remember saying that I was there to make a patient better not be their best friend. It's funny when you look back and see how far you've come.. and indeed, how much you've changed. These days I spend most of my time actually seeing patients and as a final year student have the luxury of taking my time with them, letting them say what they want to say and not rushing them with my check list of things to make a diagnosis. I know it won't be this easy next year - 3 patients a day isn't going to cut it when I have actual responsibilities, but I think for me making the patient feel better, the hand holding, the reassuring... these days that is what makes medicine worthwhile.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brugada Syndrome

-
Image
I don't think I will ever be a plastic surgeon. Not because I like plastics any less but because I cannot let cardiology go. Today I started studying cardiology cases for my exams and came across a segment on Brugada syndrome and the ECG patterns that are typical to this condition. I was surprised to see that this condition was discovered and described as recently as 1992 by a family of Spanish Catalan doctors (the Brugada doctors). I love finding 'new' cardiology information because the problem with being so interested in something is that I sometimes run out of novel 'findings' to keep me interested in the field. Lately I have been reading about microvascular dysfunction (related to womens cardiac conditions) and today Brugada ECGs. I think I could do this forever.
Read more

Reflections

-
The number of times I have felt slighted because of my gender has been countless. The number of times my male (and female) counterparts have silenced me, or taken me less seriously, are many. People will not acknowledge a problem that exists, if it does not exist in their world. If they do not experience the slights because they are any combination of rich, white, or male. We have come to a point where people will accept the presence of 'White Privilege' as a concept, but they do not truly believe that their accomplishments are any easier to come by as a result. And they do not care. Why would they when the establishment is in their favour? I have come to learn many things about being female. I have learnt that some times we play a role in our own destruction. We wait to be rescued, or to be handed a hall pass, because for many years we have not been expected to excel on our own merit. We wait for mentors, without realising that mentors pick people in whom they see something
Read more

Reflections - On whether I am on the right path in life.

-
I have spent the past 3 months working with a particular resident at my hospital. Some times when you walk around the hospital it is like walking in a Marcs/Country Road/CUE showroom. Many of our doctors come from affluent backgrounds - whose fathers, and sometimes mothers are doctors, university chancellors, business-people, lawyers, politicians. I often wonder if they have ever had difficulties in life. If they know what it means to earn your keep, and to actually have to work for their 'achievements'. Many of them live at home, or in homes paid for by their wealthy and protective parents. Their biggest problems is probably divorce between those parents. They travel extensively, with numerous photos of their exotic exploits posted onto Facebook. They are athletic, intelligent and beautiful. They will often go on to marry other wealthy individuals, usually surgeons, cardiologists, lawyers. They have massive impractical heirlooms on their ring fingers. They are entitled. They w
Read more