Mid CSFC

I realise it's only 10 days to my CSFC exam and I haven't read even 10% of what I'm supposed to have to. Ok but that's besides the point for this post...

Since my last post, I haven't really had any new conclusion, it's still: hospitals are fun, but seriously physically draining. Somehow I feel that my current Med posting is more tiring than the Surg posting even though it's less packed to some extent.. It's more structured too but that also means more tutorials, and poorer quality time spent with patients.

Today I experienced part of what the seniors were talking about: medical students tend to "pounce" on patients the moment they have "good signs". I saw a patient today, led by the doctor in charge of my group, who had pretty severe ascites. Reluctant as she seemed to be, she was sort of oblidged to allow us to examine her as she was once treated by the doctor before. Didn't have much choice then since the doctor told us to proceed... Then there another patient with a goitre - rather rare sight in Singapore nowadays. She was really nice, being perfectly fine with random (and many) medical students examining her neck one after another. That being said, I can imagine how many "visitors" she'll have if this news spreads.

It seems like in the wards, it's always two sides of the same coin when it comes to medical students and patients. From the "practical" viewpoint, spending time with patients benefits them more as they get to express their heartfelt thoughts, while for the student, it'll mean that he gets to see less cases. "Good signs" are definitely good for the learning of a medical student, but on the extreme opposite, that probably means that the patient has a rather severe condition, so much so that he now exhibits the "good signs" that we are expected to pick up.

The list goes on. A chop-chop attitude is considered efficient for students but leave patients feeling they've been "used". Talking to patients whom we clerked in the past makes them happy, but on the contrary it's considered "a waste of time" on the students' side. NOT "spreading the news" of a patient with "good signs" would be considered selfish to students, but a great favour for the particular patient - they sure don't need the exponential growth in "visitors"

Notice the extensive use of apostrophes so far. It's not to say that these words within the apostrophes aren't meant literally. They are. It's just that, there is so much more meaning that is left out in those words. Wasting time isn't the smartest thing to do when your exams are coming, neither is not approaching patients with good signs very wise if learning is to be possible. But is talking to patients really a waste of time? Is it right to bother a patient just because he has good signs (considering group after group of medical students have approached them already)?

The balance has to be made, between learning and patient welfare. But as of now, I believe that patient welfare is top priority. God won't fault me for not learning everything; the world of medicine is endless anyway. But I believe it isn't right to learn at the expense of the patient's wishes.

Just another random reflection from CSFC~~