Oh, to be a med student again

Today was fun, but kind of frustrating. As I've been here I've functioned more like a wandering consultant than a regular med student. This means I don't have to do most of the crappy med student jobs like writing long notes on patients or stating 10 causes of atrial fibrillation. I mainly talk to residents and faculty about patients, asking them about management and then doing physical exams for interesting findings. They know that I understand what's going on, by the type of questions I ask. It's allowed me to be involved with a lot more patients than I would if I were solely responsible for three or four patients (as I would in Michigan). But it also means that I don't have as much autonomy to take a patient and interview them for an hour on my own, because someone else is ultimately handling their care. Additionally, I have to be evaluated at the end of the month (and though I only need to pass), I'm not sure that they'll be able to evaluate me fully.

Today I tried to get a little more involved. During rounds I tried answering some of the questions that the attending was asking the Ghanaian med students, but I was kind of scolded and told to hang out in the back of the group with the house officers/residents. Later on, I tried to pickup a few patients in the ER. I was hoping to get a history and physical and then talk to a resident about it, like I would back home. But every time I found a patient, they had already been seen or claimed by someone else. I could sit down and go through a history and physical exam with them, but why, if someone else has already done it? It seems redundant and silly. I also wanted to try to do some IV's while I'm here, but today was a bust. I finally jumped onto a case and offered to the IV, but after getting set-up (which seems to involve gathering a million random supplies from various carts in the ED) I couldn't find any decent veins on the man's arms. Additionally, he was simultaneously getting interviewed by another med student and having an EKG done by a resident. His family was standing there and he was in the middle of a hot, crowded room; not the best circumstance to try to place an IV. So, when I couldn't find any vessels (and I mean none, if there was one, I would have gone for it) I passed it along to the house officer. I was a little relieved to find that he had trouble finding a vein and when I left, they were still trying to get the IV in, after more than 5 pokes.

Tomorrow is clinic which is a little more ordered and should allow me to pick up patients easier. I can't believe I'm complaining about being treated more like a resident/consultant than a medical student.

Tonight, Kags and I head to Champs for trivia.