Let’s Talk About ...

Let’s talk about ...

Thanks to the pandemic some of us lost 2 whole semesters of hospital classes that were instead spend home alone. We had to learn how to examine patiens via youtube videos. But our skills to palpate and auscultate are not the only thing suffering. We also did not get to comunicate with patients and learn to comfort them in their most vulnurable state.

While you can study symptoms, causes and drugs alone at home, interacting with people is something you need to practice. Here are a bunch of things i’ve seen other medical students do that have left a bad taste and i believe we can all benefit from avoiding. 

The patient is not your buddy! - they are not your bff and you are not at a bar. Don’t act like it! A very loose behaviour will make you look far from serious and reliable. I believe you have to show your patient you are confident not cocky and reliable so they trust that they are getting the best care possible. Believing in the process puts your patient one step closer to healing!

Being a doctor does’nt put you above the rest! - be confident not cocky! Dont be a peacock, say ‘Hello, how are you?” and “Have a nice day’ when you leave. Smile, be polite! Just because you went to med school does’nt mean you know all of life’s secrets. Acting heavy  is off-puting and forms a huge wall between you and your patient which will only make them not trut you or follow your medical advice. Patients still have the right to choose what’s best for them with the information they have. Your job is to make sure they have all of it.

Don’t invalidate your patients experiences! - Don’t attack patients for the decisions they make  just because they might not make sense to your scientific knowledge. Comforting people happens through making them feel heard and understood. People who are not into science form their own beliefs about why symptoms happen that are far from the scientific truth. Arguing with your patient and making them feel stupid will not help them trust you and tell you the truth! Health is also a state of mind.

Don’t invade patient’s personal space! - When you have to examine them always ask for permision. “Hello, I am a student, May i ask you a couple of questions?” “Do you mind if i auscultate your chest?”. Specially when it comes to examining more private parts like inguinal hernia or checking for lumps in the breast. be very carefull and always ask for permmision.

If you cannot be serious don’t talk to patients at all! - it is very frustrating to hear a medical student laugh at patients while taking their medical history. Not only it is unproffesional but also can be very insulting. When you go to the doctor you must feel safe and secure to share your deepest secrets in order to gett proper help. If you sit there laughing and giggling you will make your patient feel uncomfortable which will lead to them lying or keeping important information from you.

Jokes! - be carefull with joking. You are still a student. You don’t have a lot of experience with patients like older doctors do. I would say don’t joke at all. You can be polite and positive without cracking jokes. You never know how a person might react to a joke you made even if you had good intentions. 

DON’T TAKE PICTURES! - I cannot stress this enough! DON’T TAKE PICS OF PATIENTS OR THEIR DOCUMENTS OR TESTS OT ANYTHING. It is illigal. Even if you justify it with “Í just wanna help myself with studying” - NOO! there is enough material on the internet. DONT EVER DO IT! It is disgusting, unprofessional, invading privacy and just awfull in every aspect. 

Treating a patient poorly will not only make them not want to visit you again but might also make them hesitant to even go to the doctor the next time they are sick

Feel free to reblog with additional advice you have for other students so we can help eachoter learn better. Share something you have noticed students or doctors do that you think should change. Or even a personal story of how a doctor made you feel uncomfortable. We wanna get better at this!