Scrubs!

Photo_0005, originally uploaded by oyclubsnap.

a short story about e-clinics...

but first, a conversation with alex:

alex: hey whats with the scrubs?
ouyang: oh. haha today we learnt how to wash our hands for 2 hours. now, i have *very* clean hands!
alex: couldn't you at least stun a surgeons cap before you took the photo?
ouyang: ... *no comment*

anyway, its been 4 days since e-clinics have started and yes, the hospital isn't so strange and unfamiliar anymore. i believe we'll be calling it home in the next week or so...

some memorable things on my first ward round -

as i was following my tutor around for the firs time, i smiled at one of the patients in bed. she an elderly old women who looked quite frail then said "lor kun, wha eh tao hiun" or "doctor! my head is spinning" whilst fixing me in her eye.

being a newbie anxious not to be left behind, i turned my back on her and swept off with my group without a glance. i immediately felt bad and guilty. all sorts of thoughts ran through my mind: what should i have done? what if the lady collapsed? would she repeat her complaint to a legitimate doctor?

... thankfully the old woman was okay when i came back 5 hours later… *phew* that eased the guilt somewhat. i still wonder what i should have done.

secondly, (just shortly after my first misfortune) I had my first inspection of the abdomen. following which my tutor turned on me and said, now inspect this (another) patient. having NEVER read a page of the abdominal examination procedure and armed with only a single demonstration, ever, i tentatively approached the patient who obviously could tell what a greenhorn i was.

he chuckled. i chuckled.

i then took protocol and proceeded to introduce myself, undressed his shirt clumsily and moved down to his pants. Hesitation overtook me when I reached his pants. what was i supposed to do? this man of no further acquaintence then a few seconds if not minutes was going to bare his genitalia to a complete stranger, me.

i looked up in embarrassment at the patient and at my tutor who nodded slightly. gulping. i proceeded. the rest of the examination wasn't so bad but that memory still haunts me. i guess the lesson i took away was just how much patients trust their doctors, even trainee ones.

this trust isn't to be abused.