Indexing Title: JGGuerras Medical Anecdotal Report 0602

1
Indexing Title JGGuerras Medical Anecdotal
Report (06-02)

• MAR Title OPD case in the ERDate of
  Observation February, 2006

2
Narration

• One night, while on duty, as I was happily
  enjoying a minute of rest at the ER pantry with
  my co-residents, I was called by a medical clerk
  to see an OPD patient who decided to drop by at
  the ER. I practically had to force myself to
  stand up and put on a fake smile as I walked my
  way to the emergency room.

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• Dont these patients have anything better to do
  than go to the ER past everybodys bedtime just
  so they could have the doctor check on their
  ingrown toe nail that had been there for days? So
  when I got my way to the ER, I saw a 30-something
  female, looking so healthy and comfortable,
  complaining of swelling on the right toe.

4

• I was sure that this is just another patient who
  was too lazy to line up at OPD during the day and
  so, decided to come in as an ER patient at night.
  
• Patients are smarter these days. They know that
  theyll get faster medical attention at the
  emergency room where they could not be shooed
  away to come back at OPD.

5

• So I took my seat as I planned to begin my quick
  history. The quicker, the better. But before I
  could say anything, a woman seated on the chair
  opposite my patient started gushing, Sya yun.
  Sya din yung doctor ko, as she looked at her
  husband who was standing beside her for
  confirmation.

6

• This turned out that I treated her for cellulitis
  few weeks ago. The husband just smiled at me. She
  then turned to me, Doc, naaalala mo pa ako, ako
  yung nagpunta dito, yung namamaga ang kamay
  kasama ko sya, ako nagdala sa kanya while
  pointing to my patient. Sure, I remember her.

7

• She used to have an insect bite on her middle
  finger and she was concerned about her finger
  being all red and swollen. BUT, not in an
  infected sort of way, with no pus or anything,
  just a swollen insect bite. She was an OPD case
  seen at the ER too.

8

• I remember also taking a quick history and a
  making quick prescription of an anti-inflammatory
  drug, or did I also prescribed a week of
  Cloxacillin? I am not sure. But I remember being
  annoyed that she came in at around midnight
  because of an insect bite that she had early
  during the day.

9

• Then there she was, in front of me again,
  bringing in an OPD case just like she once was,
  AT NIGHT. But as she continued to rave about me
  being her doctor and how I had managed to treat
  her to both her husband and the patient, I could
  not help but feel nice, inspite of the situation.
  I went on with my history and PE and did partial
  ungectomy.

10

• After explaining my regimen of antibiotics and
  pain reliever meds, they were ready to go. Before
  they left, the woman thanked me over and over. In
  between, I would hear her whisper to the patient,
  siya din yung doctora ko, buti na lang sya din
  ngayon, tingnan mo magaling na kamay ko o. Ayan
  inumin mo yan, sundin mo yan. As I watched them
  leave, I let out a little smile.

11
Insights ( Discovery, Stimulus, Reinforcements /
(Physical, Psychosocial, Ethical)

• I realized that patients will always be annoying
  but they will always be a part of a our life as
  residents in training. They will bug us with the
  littlest worries and scare us with the most
  difficult of conditions. And they seem to follow
  us everywherethey are like stains, they stick to
  your clothes and they go home with you.

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• They are not like paperwork that you deal with in
  the office and forget about at night. They are
  bigger responsibilities than that.

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• And being all that, patients make a physician.
  You do not become a doctor from merely learning
  medical jargon in school for years. You become
  one once you have patients to treat and be
  responsible for, and you grow as a doctor by
  learning from each of your patients, whether he
  is an OPD or an ER case.

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• We should learn the importance of treating all of
  our patients well. Even if they annoy us, we must
  always try not to let that get in the way of our
  interaction with them. Always console ourselves
  by thinking that they came not to make our life
  miserable or make our duty unbearable, but
  rather, they are there because they believe.

15

• This may not be true all the time, but who knows,
  it just might be. So always put on a good front
  and be a great doctor to your patients, even if
  all you had to prescribe were ascorbic acid,
  paracetamol and eight glasses of water a day.
• So when does a doctor know when hes doing
  alright as one? When a patient would look at him
  and proudly say, doctor ko yan..