Day 10: Short and Sweet

Today was one of the shorter days of MedEx but that didn't make it any less fun. The day began with Dr. Eprights lecture on patient autonomy, something I had actually been able to witness yesterday doing shadowing in Internal Medicine. The lecture began with a case that surprised me that Dr. Epright began with was that of Dax Coward (1970's). This poor man in a freak accident went from active and fit to blind and burned. It was awful to hear that the first thing he said when someone found him was to "give [him] a gun" and what was even more horrendous was the fact that the doctors refused to stay the treatment per his request. It is for patients such as him that we have these measures in place; now patients have much more autonomy than they had 40 years ago. Even though I believe patient autonomy is important I do believe that some times the doctor does need to be able to step in (such is the case with clinically brain dead patients). During shadowing in Internal medicine the first patient that we visited was a very old woman who had decided to stop pursuing treatment for her cancer. It was odd to watch Dr. Johnson talk to the patient about ways that she wanted to die at home rather than treatment but his bedside manner was impeccable. Even though it was obvious he favored one choice over the other it was obvious he was allowing her to decide. It was interesting to reflect on that case during the lecture to day. One thing I can't wait to listen to Dr. Epright's lecture on physician assisted suicide. I think its a very interesting topic that needs to be discussed and I would like to learn more about it as my home country, Canada, is potentially passing a law on it.

The discussion about the use of interpreters at GHS was also applicable to something I viewed in shadowing internal medicine (I love being able to apply these real experiences to what we hear in the classroom :) )! Yesterday, Dr. Johnson used a Spanish interpreter to help explain to a patient the severity of her diabetes. It was interesting to see how the interpreter used "I" instead of "she" (as explained in the presentation today) when speaking between the doctor and patient. When Mr. Roberto Martinez explained how bilingual health professionals were useful to the health system it made me hope that I will be able to use my French in my future career; possibly easing the communication between a patient and other doctors one day. Since the pharmacy tour was canceled, with good reason, we worked on presentations in small groups today on different health professionals (their salary, lifestyle, education, ect...). Some of the information I knew but it was interesting to hear other little things that I didn't (such as that EMTs work alternating weeks of 4 or 3 days). Even though I enjoy having the week-end to relax I still can't wait to come to MedEx on Monday morning. Knowing how much I enjoy the program makes waking up at 6:30 a little easier. :)

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