Hey look, there's the big elephant!
Oh yeah, I've seen it lurking around for some time now.
Great, yeah I find it quite annoying.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Turning chaos into something...
Another Thursday afternoon. Another battle.
I'm really not taking a liking to my new clinic...
It's chaotic. Period. My preceptor is chaotic. The setting is chaotic. The files are chaotic. The patients....
Well I guess the patients are always right.
... hardly...
Immediately after I showed up at the clinic, before I even put down my bag and my coat, Boss went, "oh, you're here. I didn't know you were coming. Here, see Eric over there".
... did I walked into an Emerg? Although it really felt that way.
And then of course the first patient was classic.
42 yo. Diabetic. Upper respiratory tract infection. Likely viral. Too late for Tamiflu. But not doing so well. Thought I would do a CXR to make sure no secondary infection.
"You want me to do an X-Ray??? I'm too tired to go!! Can't go today!!"
Ok. Do it tomorrow then. Go home and rest.
"What? There's nothing you can do for me now? I'm so ill!!"
No. It's viral. Go home and rest. Do the xray and if it's positive we'll talk. See me again in a few days to see how you're doing.
"Why did I come all the way here today? You can't do anything for me!!"
Great way to start the afternoon. Next time I'll remember the magic pill that everyone wants. Everyone just wants a quick fix.
Just another day in the battle field. Actually, it's a good training ground.
Patients come in all shapes and sizes.
They have all kinds of expectations and demands.
Some realistic. Some unreasonable.
But they all have to be met.
The trick in family medicine, and they don't teach you this in textbooks, is to somehow, in what little time you have, find a way to satisfy all your patients.
Make all of them leave happy. Leave satisfied. That it was worth it for them to have made the trip here, waited for you, and wasted almost an entire day for your opinion.
I have to make that opinion worthwhile, no matter how trivial it seems.
That is what I have to learn now.
I'm really not taking a liking to my new clinic...
It's chaotic. Period. My preceptor is chaotic. The setting is chaotic. The files are chaotic. The patients....
Well I guess the patients are always right.
... hardly...
Immediately after I showed up at the clinic, before I even put down my bag and my coat, Boss went, "oh, you're here. I didn't know you were coming. Here, see Eric over there".
... did I walked into an Emerg? Although it really felt that way.
And then of course the first patient was classic.
42 yo. Diabetic. Upper respiratory tract infection. Likely viral. Too late for Tamiflu. But not doing so well. Thought I would do a CXR to make sure no secondary infection.
"You want me to do an X-Ray??? I'm too tired to go!! Can't go today!!"
Ok. Do it tomorrow then. Go home and rest.
"What? There's nothing you can do for me now? I'm so ill!!"
No. It's viral. Go home and rest. Do the xray and if it's positive we'll talk. See me again in a few days to see how you're doing.
"Why did I come all the way here today? You can't do anything for me!!"
Great way to start the afternoon. Next time I'll remember the magic pill that everyone wants. Everyone just wants a quick fix.
Just another day in the battle field. Actually, it's a good training ground.
Patients come in all shapes and sizes.
They have all kinds of expectations and demands.
Some realistic. Some unreasonable.
But they all have to be met.
The trick in family medicine, and they don't teach you this in textbooks, is to somehow, in what little time you have, find a way to satisfy all your patients.
Make all of them leave happy. Leave satisfied. That it was worth it for them to have made the trip here, waited for you, and wasted almost an entire day for your opinion.
I have to make that opinion worthwhile, no matter how trivial it seems.
That is what I have to learn now.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Integrity
I remember when we first interviewed for medical school, one classic example of the type of questions you get asked during the interviews was this:
"Please define integrity."
What a bunch of crap. I thought at the time. How pretentious a question.
But today, while being bombarded by patients at my first day at my new family medicine preceptor's office, I understood why that question was asked.
You need integrity to do your job as a doctor.
After months at the educational-focused Oak Street Family Medicine clinic and two months in the leisurely Salmon Arm medical clinic, I started the last-leg of my family practice residency training at a busy semi-Asian high paced family practice office. Compared to what I had seen before, it was a gong-show.
Between an anxious Chinese Mom who kept asking about her son's cough and fever, two elderly chinese folks who kept telling me their histories into separate ears simultaneously, an over-zealous patient who kept asking me about every one of his blood test numbers, and a whole host of unhappy patients who had waited too long, felt too neglected, grumpy about the weather, and generally unimpressed about seeing a resident and not their beloved doctor, I had no time to think. Moreover, I knew nothing about each patient, the chart was all hand-written in what looked like foreign languages, and we were at least an hour behind.
I rushed. I omitted things. I cut corners to catch up.
And then I remembered, I cannot do this. I am their doctor today. They waited long but they endured to see a doctor. I must do due diligence to each one even if it means making others wait a little longer. I cannot be pressured by patients, by parents, by anyone to do any less of a job than I would in a more perfect setting. Yes it isn't ideal, but the medical care that they should get here should be no different than any other clinic I had been in.
Integrity is to hold your own in the presence of immense external or environmental pressure to do otherwise.
Today I finally learned it.
"Please define integrity."
What a bunch of crap. I thought at the time. How pretentious a question.
But today, while being bombarded by patients at my first day at my new family medicine preceptor's office, I understood why that question was asked.
You need integrity to do your job as a doctor.
After months at the educational-focused Oak Street Family Medicine clinic and two months in the leisurely Salmon Arm medical clinic, I started the last-leg of my family practice residency training at a busy semi-Asian high paced family practice office. Compared to what I had seen before, it was a gong-show.
Between an anxious Chinese Mom who kept asking about her son's cough and fever, two elderly chinese folks who kept telling me their histories into separate ears simultaneously, an over-zealous patient who kept asking me about every one of his blood test numbers, and a whole host of unhappy patients who had waited too long, felt too neglected, grumpy about the weather, and generally unimpressed about seeing a resident and not their beloved doctor, I had no time to think. Moreover, I knew nothing about each patient, the chart was all hand-written in what looked like foreign languages, and we were at least an hour behind.
I rushed. I omitted things. I cut corners to catch up.
And then I remembered, I cannot do this. I am their doctor today. They waited long but they endured to see a doctor. I must do due diligence to each one even if it means making others wait a little longer. I cannot be pressured by patients, by parents, by anyone to do any less of a job than I would in a more perfect setting. Yes it isn't ideal, but the medical care that they should get here should be no different than any other clinic I had been in.
Integrity is to hold your own in the presence of immense external or environmental pressure to do otherwise.
Today I finally learned it.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Uploaded: Glacier Series on newleaf gallery
Finally uploaded some pictures of my Glacier Series onto Newleaf Gallery. I chose 10 selected pics from our Alaska Highway roadtrip. I really enjoyed these ones. Even staring at them right now reminded me how breath-taking these glaciers were. I wanted to do a set of pictures that could reveal up close and personal how timeless these ice sheets seem to be. Hope you enjoy them!
Newleaf Gallery (or use the link at the R sided menu)
http://newleaf.my-expressions.com/
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Saturday morning.
6:45 am. Saturday Morning.
Actually woke up about two hours earlier. Just had a baby.
Instead of filing back home to sleep I decided it was a nicer moment to enjoy a McDonald's breakfast by the pier.
Afterwards I managed to spend the rest of the morning in bed with my book.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
By myself again in a great big house.
Roommate moved out, landlord left town, parents visited and left, I moved all my stuff from my basement room into one of the upper-stories bedroom. I moved the desk up here as well, making it very home-like. The soft-toned walls, the nice sheets and comforter, the tight but functional space, the brighter windows and lighting. I'm amazing how conducive I am to my environment. From migrating up from basement to cozy bedroom, I feel more liberated, more inspired to work and enjoy my time here. It's starting to feel like home. It's a little quiet, being here all by myself. But I like the privacy, I like my isolation, I like my alone-time.
I've discovered that I like to organize all my stuff in a neatly laid-out display on my corner table. It gives me a sense of tidiness in my otherwise chaotic mind.
How did I managed to yet again pack so much stuff for my 2 months stay here? I quickly filled the closet. But then again, I have my car to transport all my stuff. I could have taken more. Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Surrounded by hills.
Three days into my stay here at Salmon Arm, I realized that we are surrounded by mountains.
It's quite beautiful, actually. All around, low-profile mountains act as guardians around this quiet, private lake-side town. The bay at the edge of the Shuswap lake is quiet, and the water usually still.
Looking out, the horizon meets more mountains, forming a doorway in the water, preserving the privacy of this intimate community, and reminds me of being in a quiet little fishing village in rural China.
But in town, the charming, tidy downtown reminds you that you are still at the heart of civilization. The small shops that lined Lakeshore drive carries productions that actually generates an interest from the passerby. The classic movie theatre carries small-town flare with hollywood-made entertainment. Tonight, I enjoyed a quiet meal of Beef Don and Salmon Roll in a neat Japanese restaurant with Vancouver-quality dishes.
And best of all, coming here with my car makes all the difference between feeling like stranded in a foreign place versus feeling completely at home in a new environment. The car is my sanctuary, my nest. Climbing inside, I am reminded that I am not here alone, but with the luxury of a trusted sidekick that can carry me wherever I want with ease and excitement.
It's a comforting reminder of a home away from home. My object of familiarity when everything else is new.
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