[BLOG] My Internship Diary

>Posted in medicine OPD
(That's the out patient department)

7-03-19
This is going to be a daily thing so I will try to  keep it brief and to the point. I had a really good moment so I thought I'll keep it saved for eternity here to remind me why I work this hard.
Had an early start and started work at 9:15 am.
Had less patient inflow after a while. Solved a few mcqs in the meanwhile. It was a mildly busy day.
By the time it was lunchtime, I was completely drained off energy.
Got out for lunch break, saw this old lady walk in. Waited around for a bit.
Did her general examination and gave the results to the resident in charge. She had a slightly elevated bp, which wasn't worth raising eyebrows over, but as the resident had to prescribe something, he gave her an anti hypertensive stat. (Now if you don't know what that it, it's a drug to reduce bp- given one tablet only). Ignoring her complains of muscle pain. The residents are really drained themselves (working 20 hours/day at some point) to be able to treat the insane amount of patients, so they can't be blamed for the missing of the complaint. The old lady walked out to the pharmacist in our hospital and was surprised when she received only one tablet for all her problems. She asked them if there was any mistake, but they said that, that's what the prescription says. The old lady broken hearted went to eat her lunch. Feeling cheated she gulped her food and returned to the OPD. Now after lunch, I have the OPD to myself,  as the residents are busy with their pg activities.
I sat calmly doing my work, when I see the same old lady walk in again. She complained of being given the wrong prescription, which I read and told her that there was no mistake. She then complained of still having pain. I inquired more about the pain to which I realised that she did a lot of physical work even at her age. By simple examination, I figured out that it is a muscle pain that is her problem and not the joints and bones( which is common in old age). I gave her a safe muscle relaxant for 7 days and told her to return if the pain didn't get better. What followed  next moved me.
She got up, told me that no one took her complaints as seriously as I did. She gave me her blessings and walked out.
I have worked in the ward before(was posted for 15 days), and I know the feeling of satisfaction seen on the face of the patient when they are discharged. This was one of those days. I was glad that I worked my ass off to get to this point. It was in that very moment, I felt as if I actually did something worthwhile. It might be an insignificant thing in the grand scheme of things but it is these little things that make life worth living, It makes the juice worth the squeeze.
That's all for today, I gotta solve more mcqs, ciao later.