Medical Student’s Nightmare!

Ward rounds…

I would have enjoyed it more if I could be certain that there is no chance I would be crucified with palpitation-inducing questions.

But the only certainty when it comes to ward rounds is…you will be interrogated by an FBI-like surgeons who  treat  you as though you are a witness of a high-profile crime investigation.

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To make a long story short, I mistook the name of one patient for another. And I committed that crime in front of FOUR other surgeons!!! How horrifying is that? How could I have been sooo careless!

Luckily, I knew the case well enough. I knew she came into the hospital with the background of bile duct tumour and jaundice. It was just her DAMN name that I forgot. But still…..

I suppose, Dr. Chen was understanding enough…but I was not sure about the rest of the surgeons who I had never met until that day. Presenting the patient in front of one surgeon was bad enough….to actually do it in front of three other surgeons and 2 registrars plus all their students was nerve wrecking!!

Usually I only have to present patient’s cases to Dr. C alone. But it turned out that every Thursday, three other surgeons would conduct ward rounds collectively as part of the AGSU unit (Acute General Surgical Unit). I was not prepared for that.

One surgeon (a doctor from UK, I think) looked at me sharply when I made the mistake. I wanted to die. I was like, somebody please kill me. And I became very uncomfortable with the white-haired UK-hailed surgeon. Why must he look at me like that just because I forgot a DAMN NAME!! At least I got the case right!

And to make matters worse, I forgot the patient’s most recent presentation. I knew her most current complication had something to do with her on-going bile-duct tumour. But I completely forgot what the hell it was!  My colleague, (who was also supposed to know about the patient) just let me handle the situation on my own. I knew, he wanted to help me too…but alas, he himself knew only very vaguely about the patient.

At last, after about one minute of perusing through my notes, I suddenly caught the magical word.

ASCITES!!

Her most current complication was chylous ascites.

Fuh, lega!!! I wanted to weep in relief.

And then I got interrogated about bile metabolism…which I was able to answer most of  them. But that did not make me feel any better for not knowing the patient’s name and her recent complication. The UK surgeon did not help make me feel any better with his stares.

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And then the AGSU team moved on to another bed. Now, this bed was a patient of the UK-hailed surgeon. Ugh!! Aku rasa mcm nak korek biji mata dia…atau pun cakap jer, “apa tengok2? Tak pernah nampak perempuan cun ke sebelum ni?”  LOL!!

So, since this patient was under the observation of the UK surgeon, he looked at his students and asked them, “Do any of you know about this patient and want to present her case to the rest of us?”

Miss C and Miss L looked at each other. They shook their head and admitted that they didn’t know anything about the patient even though that patient was under the care of the surgeon they were currently attached to.

The UK surgeon looked at me and he smiled slightly.

It was a nice smile.

It was like he was trying to tell me, “Don’t feel bad. MY students don’t know anything at all about my patient. At least, you as Dr C’s student, know a little bit of something about his patient.”

Of course he did not actually said that. But he looked at me and curved his lips slightly (which I interpreted as a smile because I did not know what else it could be). All the while he was not staring…he was just trying to make me feel better with a reassuring look.

I began to feel a lot better after that. Dalam hati: Nasib baik ko ni dah tua dan beruban. Kalau tak mesti aku dah jatuh cinta!! hahhaha. He came to my rescue and save my face!!! That counts for a lot!!!

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Lepas dah habis ward round…aku jalan pergi common room dengan my colleague. In a moment of need, I said, “How stupid I was for forgetting the patient’s name.”

I looked at him, expecting him to at least say something nice.

He said nothing!

Aaarghhhhh!!! tension aku dapat org cam ni jadi partner aku!  At least cakaplah, “Tak lah Afiza. Ko buat ok jer. At least ko tahu juga pasal patient tu. AKu ni tak tahu langsung! Nak tolong kau pun tak boleh sebab aku tak tahu apa! Padahal kita sama2 student Dr. C.”

Make me feel better, damn it!

Huh! Last skali, aku pi cari Balqis and suhaila…they always know what to say!! Girls need to talk to girls! Lelaki hampes bab2 making people feel better ni!

Don’t get me wrong. Colleague aku tu memang lah baik…tapi!!! AKu rasa mcm asyik aku jer kena ambil tau pasal patient.Asyik aku jer yg risau takut Dr. C marah (and everybody knows I am a worrier). Dier rilek2 jer. Kadang2 aku rasa geram gak!

Hmmph!! AKu dah malas nak layan. The next day, aku cakap kat dia straight. “I am done worrying about Dr. C. I am not going to present anymore. After this, it’s your turn.”

Hhhaahha. Selamba tak aku bagi arahan kat dia. Tapi mestilah nak cover rasa tak puas hati tu, aku gelak2 lah sikit. But hey, I was serious and if he did not know that…..well!

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Kak Dash: Dulu, akak dapat surgeon tu. Orang semua cakap dia garang. Tapi dia baik jer sebenarnya.

Me: Yup, dier yang tolong kita time ward round. He’s just so nice!

Kak Dash: Tu arrr..akak pun suka attach dengan dia.

Me: Dia dah tua! hahhahah.