I used to be more on the side of patients when it came to doctor visits, but now I'm feeling a lot worse for the doctors... We have gone through the general screening exam, which includes neuromuscular, cardiac, respiratory, gastrointestinal, HEENT and taking vitals thus far. If we are allowed to do it at our own pace, no rushing, talking sweetly to the patient, etc. it takes us about 30-40 minutes to do it at this point. We are expected to speed it up to 15 minutes. I have been able to do it all in about 15:45 minutes, but it feels so rushed as far as barking orders and telling the patient to jump and sit that I can see even more clearly how a patient would feel like a physician doesn't care about them. Unfortunately, when we're expected to cram exams into a tiny amount of time...it's hard to do it in a way that makes a patient feel happy.
Of course, I'm betting that's where the magic of experience and bedside manner kick in. I'm going to try to practice the exam in 15 minutes but also practice my tone of voice and memorize concise, simple instructions so that I don't feel like I need to cram my words together. That, and I need to get a really good feel for the order and routine, as well as the phrases...ugh! So much to remember! We are required to say specific "lines" when we do examinations, such as "Patient is breathing easily, quietly, and regularly" or "Patient presents with no edema and is not diaphoretic or cyanotic." It really feels like being an actor/actress almost, since they really are lines.
In other news, I got a massage table, which I plan to use for massages, OMM, and exams - so that should help a lot. Also, we're focusing on hemostasis and hematological diseases at the moment - all very interesting and familiar since I worked in the laboratory for 3 years and I've seen all the lab tests before. Goal for this is to memorize the clotting cascade, the diseases, and the treatments, as well as go back over all the stuff I've already learned and try to commit it to memory.
Of course, I'm betting that's where the magic of experience and bedside manner kick in. I'm going to try to practice the exam in 15 minutes but also practice my tone of voice and memorize concise, simple instructions so that I don't feel like I need to cram my words together. That, and I need to get a really good feel for the order and routine, as well as the phrases...ugh! So much to remember! We are required to say specific "lines" when we do examinations, such as "Patient is breathing easily, quietly, and regularly" or "Patient presents with no edema and is not diaphoretic or cyanotic." It really feels like being an actor/actress almost, since they really are lines.
In other news, I got a massage table, which I plan to use for massages, OMM, and exams - so that should help a lot. Also, we're focusing on hemostasis and hematological diseases at the moment - all very interesting and familiar since I worked in the laboratory for 3 years and I've seen all the lab tests before. Goal for this is to memorize the clotting cascade, the diseases, and the treatments, as well as go back over all the stuff I've already learned and try to commit it to memory.
this reminds me of the taped client counseling practice exercises at Loyola, where we get a fact pattern and a hired actor pretends to be the client. being in a skilled service profession means dealing with people and learning good communication skills. i hate it.
ReplyDeleteas far as the doctor-patient experience goes, us patients want two things that don't necessarily go together: 1) we dont want to wait to see the doctor, we want instant access. no waiting room, no waiting in the examination room. 2) we want the doctor to spend as much time as we want on us. both of these desires are unrealistic, but that's what's going on.
Yeah, it's frustrating because I want to spend more time but it's not practical, but since patient's can't really understand my intentions with my actions I gotta practice patient-doctor relationship/approaches and master uber multitasking.
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