Dear Young Doctors.

Dear young doctors,

As time goes by, u may not see the same person who just follow your advise & instruction as the previous decades. Put in mind ..for real that we are now in techno era where information are broad & can be searched with just a click on your gadget. Don’t try to persuade patient to understand what u have been taught in your Medical School because they won’t understand …ever. Sometimes they pretend to understand ..but which actually they aren’t. They just do that because they are afraid of hurting your feeling (since u are a nice, soft-spoken young doctor…like me, before). U may feel that u need to explain regarding their illness (from A-Z) so that they are aware of what’s going on in their body & that they can avoid complications from their diseases. With experiences, u may find that not all of them need these. U are able to see this from their eyes, their talk & not to miss their body gestures.

Dear young doctors,

U have faced the interval of 5 years or more of learning Medical.

U have passed the hardship & grab the scroll in your hand.
U know what to do..and what not to do.
But,
When it comes to working ..it is totally different. Things may not be so simple.

When patient comes to you..
They come with hope..
U may think that they just have conjunctivitis ..but they are thinking of getting blind.
U may think that they just having difficult breathing because of blocked nose ..but they are thinking of lung infection.
And so on, and so forth.

Remember,

What’s in your mind are totally different than what in theirs.
Sometimes, these turn into arguments which actually can be handled if you can tackle what they are actually looking for.
U can just ask what are actually their concern.
(You will be surprise when you did this. Try first…)

Another important thing is to challenge them & make them think.

For example, if they ask for antibiotics (antibiotics is often the issue) (Usually they will push you to give antibiotic for them for any reason which u think is not reasonable).
U can explain the need of antibiotic if u think the person need that (often – NOT)
Or you can straight away ask them, “What made u think that u need the antibiotics?” OR “Do you know the function of antibiotics?”
Trust me, you will get ridiculous answers.
(Sometimes they just kept silent.)

SOME PATIENTS learned from their own school-of-thought. They don’t even know what are the meaning of:
‘Impression’
‘Differential diagnosis’
‘Most likely diagnosis’
‘Suspect of ..’
But, who care? 
All they know is - they want a DIAGNOSIS.

Please keep calm .. don’t get irritated, and don’t laugh.

Just do your job as what you are taught in your Medical School.

* After all, these are only a piece of sharing from my own experience.

* Am not trying to offend anybody. I just intend to share a simple message from deep of my heart.