long title: but before I find it months behind me I'm going to summarize some of the more prevalent things I learned the seven days I shadowed Dr. H at University. Her specialty was Internal Medicine (IM).
1. Women are better doctors than men. Dr. H was a very compassionate and sympathetic doctor. It's all about the bedside manner and daily attitude. Meeting someone like her reinforces my intentions for going into IM. I have to say it is still probably my favorite, making it my favorite specialty for 7 months now. I think its a record.
2. I'm just going to have to get used to meeting pre-meds, med students, and doctors who are there for the buck. Every time I have shadowed, I almost always spend most of my conversation time talking to the lower level residents or the medical students (simply, the people who are at least a little closer to my level). I talked to an intern at University named Zach, and he was a really nice guy, but he complained about the IM busy work a lot always seemed ready to leave the hospital. He wants to work in private practice with Anesthesiology.
3. It seems likely that it's true that there is an influx of suicide attempts around the holidays , I only saw a couple of people who came in for it though. Both were just people who had taken drug overdoses. The residents were joking about how if there going to do it they gotta do it the right way (slit their throat artery). Sounds insensitive but I mean they were kidding of course, even if it's true.
4. Pretty much the only people who go to University are patients with no insurance. They all still get treated, though there are limits to what can be done... In the seven days I was there, one of Dr. H's patients was put into Hospice and passed away a couple days later, and I stood there and watched her tell a man he had a 15% chance of being alive in 3 months. Yes, it's all very dramatic, and I might not be putting enough sympathy into telling the story of it. But the point I was working on was that the lady who died in Hospice was in her 40s and had sudden liver problems over the few weeks before she died. A liver transplant costs $300,000, but other than for not having insurance, she would not have been a candidate for 6 months, anyway... The man was also dieing of liver problems, but they were related to alcoholism.
5. Which brings me to my next point. Sure, you hear of alcoholism, but of course nobody seems to take anything seriously until they see it. I wish there was a way I could exemplify how serious it is to those who need to hear it. The man I mentioned was in his 40s and was in extreme denial all of the days I saw him, saying things like "15%, I can make that, then 6 months without alcohol? I can do that, too." He seemed like a good, just lonely, guy. But the thing is, even if he lived 3 months, he still couldn't have long to live. Sad times, which brings me to another point.
6. There are a lot of lonely patients in University hospital. Not to mention young, all of them were under 60, many in their 40s. So few of the patients I saw had guests coming in to see them. At least a few of the people I saw there were homeless, and they also seemed to be enjoying there stay, even if they were sick. The people who had the most companion support were those who had came in on overdose. Isn't that something, yeah? Relationships are important in health though, everyone can understand that connection.
7. Jeez HIV is sad. That doesn't need any explanation. My favorite patient was the youngest (27) and one of the sickest. He also probably had some of the best companionship in the hospital.
Well, I think that was a lot of it. I guess I remember most of what I had wanted say after all. I'd end on a more lighthearted note but I'm not sure what to say to do that.......lol
And Jenn, your poll's options are too extreme! Plus, I need to see more photos =)
2 comments:
It's sad, but there really are a lot of MDs just in it for the money. I find this somewhat strange because they are more common in the primary care fields (sometimes) who don't make that much money anymore. Surgeons (who have grueling 5 year residencies) tend to be a little better. But there ain't no one as bad as dermatologists.
As for the suicide thing, I worked a shift in the ER on 9/11 as a 2nd year student. We had 3 suicide attempts in 4 hours. Sad.
Go surgery!
Laura, university hospital is very similar to UK's hospital sounds like. there are many people we treat without insurance. What was really frustrating was that an attending once told us that he had asked a young boy visiting his family member in the hospital- "what do you want to do when you grow up?" the young boy replied "draw"..."oh, you mean, be an artist?" the attending responded. "No, I want to draw like my dad"- meaning the child wanted to "draw" checks from the government...
We have a fellow with HIV who actually lives in our hospital. He has been a patient for 2 1/2 years. He's from South America and cannot get back home because his birth certificate or something can't be found so his country won't take him. He's gradually learning english and the nurses on his unit treat him almost like a pet. He knows most of our names. He likes to sit in his wheelchair in the door of his room and always calls my attendings and interns by name as soon as he sees them way down the hallway- "Paula, paula!! Toby, Toby" he's so funny and sweet :) He asks every girl if they are married and blows kisses to you in a sweet way and is always laughing/smiling. It will truly be a memorable day when he leaves us!!
anyways.. long story, but I do round with IM afterall!!
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