Patients are HUMANS, NOT lists of medical & psychosocial issues to be ticked off & d/c

The medical school system and healthcare system have an uncanny ability to suck the joy, aspirations, childlike curiosity, and genuine empathy from its students and healthcare workers. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not regretting my decision to return to the system, but when you've been in the hospital for 7hr+ UNPAID and just there for the experience and your own learning, then gone home and realized you still have a Mt Everest worth of lecture content to plough through, there's no way you won't ask "why am I doing this to myself?" "am I just a sucker for punishment?" 

I for one am lucky enough to have personal responses to this which are "Remember that time when you saw the resus team bring someone back to life from cardiac arrest?" or "Remember when Mr B was super grateful for you spending 2hr talking to them like another human and they confided their struggles with suicidal thoughts to you first and not their treating team?" etc etc - Yes, I'm proud to say I've already had multiple clinical encounters where I've gone "Damn, so this is why so many people stick through the tough times and still come to hospital everyday b/c every rewarding experience is worth all the crappy experience 100x over". 

But what I wanted to highlight with this post is that it's super easy in this gruelling and at times poorly supported environment to forget what got us into this career in the first place (p.s. if you're thinking of doing medicine b/c money, 100% NOT worth it, go into business/eco, that's where the bucks are and you won't be prematurely losing hair at the tender age of 25 💀). Patients can very easily turn into a checklist of medical and psychosocial issues to be sorted, results to be chased, and d/c summaries to be pre-emptively written. To a certain extent, we need this ability to not be sucked into the emotional aspect of medicine in order to effectively tx our patients and give them the best possible outcome w the available resources and info. At the same time however, the hospital is a goddamn intimidating and lonely environment, not to mention our patients are by definition at one of their most vulnerable points in life by virtue of requiring inpt care, they don't need us to make them feel even less human b/c I can guarantee you, they already feel like their disease has taken over their whole life and that their life is nothing more than making arrangements and compromises to work around their conditions. Like the esteemed Sir William Osler (1849-1919) (honestly, the more I learn about him the more I'm in awe of his timeless wisdom) once said "The good physician treats the disease, the great physician treats the person with the disease". 

Things as simple as referring to our pts as "pt w/ [x cond] in bed 10" instead of "bed 10 w [x cond]" can go a long way in making the pt regain what little dignity they have as a human in a hospital setting (and reminder, the curtains are not bloody soundproof, people can here shit across them". I've curated a list of simple phrases that I think can greatly improve our pts' experience 😍

Simple phrases to demonstrate you care

- "What matters most to you?" - everyone has their own sets of beliefs and value sys, acknowledge it

- "What do you want to get out of this consult today?" - tailor the consult to the pt

- "Would you like a cup of coffee/tea, biscuits?" - if pt waiting forever in the ED waiting room (ofc make sure it's appropriate e.g. they're not fasting for a procedure in 2hr time) 

- "I can't start to imagine how challenging this must be for you, but rest assured, we're all here to help, let us know if you have any concerns/queries at any time." - acknowledge their struggles in a non-judgemental, non-patronizing way

- "Do you have any questions for me? If you think of something later, feel free to write them down and ask at the next consult." - empower pt to feel comfortable enough to raise questions w you. 

- "How are you feeling today?" - sounds simple, but you'll be amazed by how many times I here the doctors launch straight into their plans for the pt today after a cursory "Hi" 

- "We're just having a look at your results and consults overnight, we'll be with you shortly" - again, so many times the treating team would just be standing at the pt bedside w/o acknowledging the pt" 

- "We're just discussing the best plan for you moving forward, we'll explain everything to you in a bit" - refer to above 

- "Would you like to call anyone and place on speaker for this consult?" - pt may want a family member / person w medical power of attorney on the phone during the consult. 

^see, not that hard right, but too oftentimes forgotten in the brain travelling at the speed of light

Powerful quote to finish of this post: "To err is human, to cover up is unforgivable, and to fail to learn is inexcusable" - Sir Liam Donaldson (WHO, Envoy for Patient Safety)