people you meet in hospital: the stereotypical pathologist.
The pathologist is a bit of a mystery—you know that the hospital has a pathologist (someone has to write the path reports, right?) but you’ve never actually seen him.
Wrong. You have.
He’s the unassuming-but-formally-dressed man scurrying down the hallways, most likely wearing glasses. He’s always in a rush and walks with his head down, a quiet talker who seems almost shy. He’s knowledgeable and will happily answer every single one of your questions (even if they make him rather flustered), but he’s a little… awkward.
(My apologies in advance to any future pathologists I offend. Let me assure you, anyone who can read histology slides is brilliant by default.)
people you meet in hospitals: the over-caffeinated surgical registrar.
This registrar, with the aid of 4 cans of V and 8 cups of black coffee for breakfast, manages to cram forty-hours into a day. Gym workout, ward rounds, theatre, more theatre, teaching, even more theatre, publishing a few hundred research papers, and home in time to dote upon his family—his happy family. It’s probably not healthy. But it makes him crazily observant (such as realising when a med student who he’s known for all of eight days doesn’t seem to be herself) and lets him have it all—for the time being, anyway.
And the most incredulous thing is that, despite the probably-harmful levels of caffeine that he consumes on an hourly basis, he doesn’t twitch or shake or quiver. Which is probably a good attribute to have if you’re a surgeon.
the people you meet in hospital: the patient who reminds you of you.
Patients are the best teachers in clinical rotations. They generally know more about thier condition than you do (and will tell you all about it), they highlight the importance of empathy, and they treat you as an equal rather than as just another annoying med student.
But once in a while, you’ll stumble across a patient you have far too much in common with. A similar history, a similar background, and as overly-philosophical as it may seem, they represent a choice—you can follow their example, or you can reflect upon your current habits and where you want to be in twenty, thirty, forty years time.
For me, that patient came today. We both come from families where alcoholism is prominent and relationships are strained at best, abusive at their worst. I can see myself following that path. I already have the mindset, and my initial response to emotion in general is I could really use a drink right now.
This patient is a learning experience beyond all others—this patient might just save your life.
people you meet in hospital: the super intern.
The super intern has it all. The nurses love her, she’s totally kickass at scrubbing in and doing exactly what the surgeons tell her to, the patients think she’s absolutely lovely, she graduated top of her class, she still finds time to teach the annoying med students, and the scariest part? She actually maintains a committed, loving relationship on top of her twelve-hour work days and she never, ever, ever yells at anyone.
No one knows how she does it. No one ever sees her drinking copious amounts of coffee. She seems quite sane, or as sane as an intern can be. Super intern is what we all aspire to be.
people you meet in hospital: the showboating registrar.
Go on ward rounds with him and you’ll only be acknowledged when he wants to show off his knowledge of (usually eponymously-named) rare signs and symptoms. “What’s Homan’s sign? Hugh-Fitz-Curtis syndrome? Courvoisier’s law?” he’ll ask, leaving you perplexed and flipping frantically through the pages of the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine to find some semblance of an answer.
But don’t worry. No one else in the room will know what he’s talking about either. Which is good, because you really shouldn’t mention what Courvoisier’s law is in front of a patient.
people you meet in hospital.
An expansion of sorts of the many faces of med students because there’s more to med school than trying to cram innumerous small details into a brain rapidly decreasing in storage space.
I’ll still be continuing with many faces as well, never fear! (:
