One reason why most people doesn't like entering the medical world is, ironically, the concept of DEATH. We're meant to save lives, yet when all means fail, everything will all boil down to death. In my two-week Internal Medicine rotation, I've seen and physically examined a lot of diseased people---infectious, malignant and terminating cases. I've helped in resuscitating patients (mostly with congestive heart failure), but to no avail, they've died right before our very eyes.
In a public hospital like GTLMH (city hospital), I've seen how harsh life is for the unfortunate ones. I've seen hopelessness in the eyes of a daughter when she heard that CT scanning costs around 7K for her father who suffered from stroke. I've seen how doctors resuscitated a 4-month old baby boy in the ER who was severely dehydrated. Another 1-year old boy was already dead on arrival due to malnutrition. I got to see a lot of pain---bot physical and emotional. I've seen how painful it is for a severely ill patient to have no relative watching over him and couldn't even afford his own medications.
A public hospital's ward is like a small version of hell, anyone who gets out alive are the lucky ones who are given a second chance to contemplate on their lives. For us, a day in the hospital is like a day in the battlefield. We fight against other people's diseases, against the possibilty of death, and against all those microbes flying in the air that could be targeting us as next victims.
After my last IM rotation, all my body defenses gave in. I got home feverish and chilling, I was having a terrible headache and a muscle-straining cough. I didn't bother to get my temperature 'coz, my god, think about how many armpits have my thermometer got inserted on!! I have a feeling that soaking it in a basin full of alcohol won't kill the microorganisms down. Harhar!!
Today's my first Pediatrics rotation at Mindanao Sanitarium Hospital. Our class are the first batch of junior clerks allowed to rotate in that private hospital. We're going to spend one week there and another one week at the city hospital before our next rotation. I'm not a great fan of Pedia because of the fact that children are so fragile one has to be very very patient around them plus in taking their history, the subjective part of the complaint is eliminated.
I'm loading on tons of paracetamol and multivitamins right now. Such a wrong time to get sick, I might not be allowed to enter the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). Instead of me saying "Hello kids, be good to Ate..", they'd be like "Ate, you're contagious!".
9 comments:
various facets of reality unfolding everyday. thanks for this eye-opener too doc! and get well soon. :D
aside from alang tulog-tulog, isa din to sa reasons why di ako naging interesado mag-MED. haha... i can't imagine having people die on me on a daily basis. :-(
Siguro as the days go by, magkakasanayan rin. This morning, may ni-resuscitate ang surgery people sa ER and the patient was really in the brink of dying if not for the effort of all her private physicians, some of my classmates were really teary eyed (ok, including me), kasi nag-hysterical buong angkan niya dun. They thought she's gone already. Hay. Ang mga ROD and consultants kay parang wala lang sa kanila.
Osto, apiya so negative side o galebek iyo na pekhalayaman bo. Inao. All these will make you a better and stronger person as well as doctor ka mas napapahalagahan mo ang buhay at kung anong mayroon ka. Just hang in there, my precious. :)
Dahil kay Arizona (of Grey's Anatomy), natutuwa ako sa Peds. :)
Thanks, my precious. Andami talagang nabubuong realizations sa ER. Hehe. :) What's good is, nakakalakas ng loob yung mga ganung situations so as we go along we don't break down easily na.
Hindi ko pa nami-meet si Arizona. Sisimulan ko pa lang ang Season 5. Hehe. :) Ang cute ng mga bata sa Sanitarium, odi bo pangasasakit na miyamakapiya-piya a pameselen a mga bubon iran oto. Hehe.
hahaha... poor babies! kung alam lang nila anong binabalak ng interns. hahaha...
nanaw, te ai. :) you're on duty na talaga.
haay. if we could actually list down all the negative things about working in the medical field,aabutin tayo ng siyam-siyam. but at the end of the day, we chose to be in it. i chose to be a nurse, and you a doctor. strangely, though, sometimes there's that feeling (i don't know what that is) when someone's life is a little bit changed because you're there. i guess that's why good doctors are good doctors and good nurses are good nurses.
@Jing: there are lot of changes when you're already in the field. there are so many responsibilities not only to your patients but to the RODs and to everyone you deal with especially your groupmates. you'll learn a lot about yourself and about other people as well. masaya na malungkot. hehe. :)
you're in there na, ate ai. aja!
ang lagi ngang sinasabi sa min, at yun na rin ang core ng nursing, self-awareness, pag mas kilala mo sarili mo, mas maiintindihan mo ang iba, at minsan kailangang alam mo kung kelan mo dapat ihiwalay ang sarili sa mga nangyayari lalo na dun sa mga bagay na alam mong wala kang kontrol, kasi kung hindi kakainin ka ng buo.
Post a Comment