Part of our tasks, that we as a medical student need to do, is to interview many patients and present the case to someone senior.
At first, it was not that easy to do. How often do you talk with strangers and ask them lots of questions? Many patients were quite sick and in pain. Most of them are quite old (>70 years old) and it is not that common to see young patients. Some of them have hearing problem and some have dementia.
There are different skills that I've learned by interviewing various patients. You can't use the same communication skills for every patient that you are interviewing.
I have done one year of clinical research with children and teenagers and it wasn't easy to ask question to the children about their health when they hate the hospital (including doctor, nurse, medical students and anyone working in the hospital) in the first place. Sometimes, you have to ask their parent, and in the mean time, the child is running around the ward causing havoc or even crying out loud. That experience was memorable and useful for me.
When I'm interviewing elderly, some of the questions need be asked carefully. Some patients are a bit sensitive when they misinterpret my questions due to their hearing problem. Some patients don't want any pity from strangers. Some patients don't mind being asked lots of questions from medical students.
I always learned something new from every patient that I've met so far. The new knowledge that I gained is not only about medicine but also include a bit of psychology, economy, technology, how to handle family problems etc.
Any negative or positive things that I've learned by interviewing them have been useful. At the end of my journey as a medical student, I shall not forget these patients that have taught me a lot about life.
At first, it was not that easy to do. How often do you talk with strangers and ask them lots of questions? Many patients were quite sick and in pain. Most of them are quite old (>70 years old) and it is not that common to see young patients. Some of them have hearing problem and some have dementia.
There are different skills that I've learned by interviewing various patients. You can't use the same communication skills for every patient that you are interviewing.
I have done one year of clinical research with children and teenagers and it wasn't easy to ask question to the children about their health when they hate the hospital (including doctor, nurse, medical students and anyone working in the hospital) in the first place. Sometimes, you have to ask their parent, and in the mean time, the child is running around the ward causing havoc or even crying out loud. That experience was memorable and useful for me.
When I'm interviewing elderly, some of the questions need be asked carefully. Some patients are a bit sensitive when they misinterpret my questions due to their hearing problem. Some patients don't want any pity from strangers. Some patients don't mind being asked lots of questions from medical students.
I always learned something new from every patient that I've met so far. The new knowledge that I gained is not only about medicine but also include a bit of psychology, economy, technology, how to handle family problems etc.
Any negative or positive things that I've learned by interviewing them have been useful. At the end of my journey as a medical student, I shall not forget these patients that have taught me a lot about life.
2 comments:
huhu. msti kene ada kesabaran yg tinggi kan nak interbiu pakcik2, makcik2 itu.
tapi, mcm best je experience tu... boleh sembang2 gitu... eheh
bukan senang nak berbual dengan orang yang sakit atau orang yang lebih tua daripada kita.
Tambah lagi nak tanya soalan yang kadangkala agak sensitif. Itu semua salah satu daripada skill yang harus ada kalau nak jadi doktor :).
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