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Medsoc 2
Medicine (A100)
Queen Mary University of London
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MedSoc reflection 2:
Resilience is often quoted as a vital personal quality essential to all medics. From the long arduous journey to becoming a doctor, to the emotional toil and sacrifices, resilience is the wind in our sails. However, I realized that no one talks about the resilience of patients when a patient struggling with chronic intracerebral hypertension told us her story. Like a soldier, she battled chronic pain every single day. The problems began with her first pregnancy and have affected her since. As she described her hospital visits, the countless lumbar punctures and headaches and emergencies, I admired her courage to persevere. Through this I understood that while being a doctor is hard work, it is still a privilege. I imagined how confusing it must be for someone without prior medical knowledge to be thrown into the world of medical jargon, appointments, and medications. However, watching this patient talk about how her GP supported her through these challenging times, I realized that information is essential to patient empowerment. One way to achieve this is by promoting health literacy among patients at an individual care provider and patient level by encouraging open dialogues about the struggles and concerns of patients, thereby being able to signpost them to the correct resources.
Even before meeting the patient, I knew this meeting was going to be special. As Dr. Jones spoke to us about this patient’s background, I knew her story would have an impact on me. Hence, I decided to speak to Dr. Jones and let her know that if I did feel emotionally overwhelmed, I would step outside the session. I was proud of myself for taking this precautionary measure and realized that this was me developing emotional maturity.
As the patient continued her story, she spoke about her struggles with opioids and pain medication due to the inadequate medical reviewing by the pain team. Hence, while some roytine processes may seem dull, they are vital to enuring that care provided is holistic. Health problems affect not only the patient, but also their near and dear ones. This patient spoke about the toll that her health conditions had taken on her role as a mother. As she struggled with vision, she recounted feeling like she was letting her son down and was placing the responsibility of advocacy on him. She wondered if both the mental and physical impact that her health had had on her, had somehow seeped through to her children as well. Watching her recall this feeling of guilt, I was reminded of the value of competency while practicing medicine. I wondered to myself if any of this burden could have been lessened if the pain management services had adopted a more individualized and meticulous pharmacological intervention, especially considering the addictive nature of opiates. I also learned the value of effective communication. Often with subjective self-reported measures such as pain, asking the proper questions. ensuring that the team is aware of the right management guidelines.
As I heard this story recounted and the countless small wins that ultimately made the patients life more manageable, I understood that as much of medicine is about saving lives, it is also equal parts improving the quality and health of those living as well. Patients often suffer from social stigma, isolation, or prejudice. Meeting this patient left me feeling emotional and awestruck. It was the first time that I had considered the symbiotic relationship between empathy and resilience. It is important to look at difficult situations with kindness; with every challenge being a learning opportunity and an indicator of progress.
As I walked back home from placement, I reflected on my day as I felt eerily emotional. I realized that MedSoc provided the foundation and motivation for our journey to becoming doctors. All the stuff we learn in lectures would be redundant if we did not know how to accurately use it to help patients. Similarly, no amount of empathy or care would be able to take the place of competency, especially in situations like the emergency strokes that the patient had suffered. I aim to someday be a doctor that looks at a patient as a human with a complex story and their own struggles and joys rather than simply a set of medical problems.
It is humanizing pain- both for healthcare professionals and patients- that truly makes the job worthwhile. Being able to recognize the medicine and the science behind people’s problems enables medics to empower their patients and understand their problems. Illness and disease can often be a civil war for patients. A doctor’s ability to understand, solve and explain these problems to a patient ultimately lessens confusion, builds trust, and creates progress. Bearing all of this in mind, I thank this patient for her courage in sharing her story as it is one I will cherish for eons to come.
Medsoc 2
Module: Medicine (A100)
University: Queen Mary University of London
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