my life as a filipino-american, newly graduated family med physician

Current Blog
Old Blogs
myspace

Blogs to Note:
gary
tae
kerry
other Dr Blogs:
dr pooh
rand*amok
fam med notes
dr bradley

POWERED BY:
blogger



COMMENT?
sign my Guestbook
View My Guestbook

tiene problemas con numero dos?

(Do you have problems with number 2?)
Today I worked with two different male physicians, one family and the other an internist. Both speak Spanish fluently so I was able to learn a little bit more of the language.


The doctor I worked with this morning was awesome with his patients. At one time, he was giving a woman a pap smear and he started telling me that the blood was coming from her cervix. The patient asked, "what does that mean?" But since she was in lithotomy position (legs in the stirrups) the doc was good mannered enough to say that he'd explain all of this to her after the exam. Who would really want to hold a conversation with someone while they're sitting in between your legs performing a pap smear anyway? Anyhow, after the patient was dressed, we came back and explained everything to her.

I can recall tons of times where male docs have been anything but pc. One of the attendings on my ob-gyn rotation would walk in and say things like "something smells like fish!" I've even observed a male resident greeting a postpartum patient by nudging on her breasts while asking, "tiene dolor aqui?"

i guess a lot of it has to do with the fact that I'm learning in a teaching hospital. All your hospitals where non-paying, uninsured patients go to are teaching hospitals that for the most part are inefficient, but don't neccessarily have a decreased quality in care. People wonder why it takes them forever to see a doctor at these clinics. Here's why. First, the med student(if there is one) sees the patient. The student then consults the resident who sees the patient later. THEN, the resident consults the attending and they all see the patient. That's medical education for ya.

posted by dinah 7:49 PM

I was happy to hear ravi zecharias on the radio again tonight while coming home. He's an Indian born, christian apologetic speaker who in my opinion, approaches christianity not just with his heart, but with his mind. I know you're supposed to have child-like faith, but didn't God give us a brain to question? Anyhow, that's what I like about ravi zacharias. While some people are attracted to loud preachers abounding in inflection, I am drawn more to the types who speak with reason. As a matter-of-fact, ravi's show is called "Let my people think."

I just looked him up on the web and found that his picture doesn't look at all what I imagined. His accent and intelligence made me picture someone on the lines of Ghandi complete with thin, wire-rimmed glasses and a bald head. His suit and full head of hair, however, totally knocked that image out.

AS for Today

For some reason I just feel so negative. I don't know why really, but I just have such critical thoughts in my head about everything. I can sometimes voice them out to my husband because he doesn't judge me, but boy, these thoughts are overwhelming. Sometimes against my own advice, I tell other people this opinion and later wish I hadn't. If I just keep my mouth shut I can be looked upon as someone who is always nice or humble. That very thought shows how prideful I am.

posted by dinah 10:55 PM

I am loving not being a mom right now

My husband and I went with two other couples from my cell group on a last minute 3 hour road trip last night. We ate, slept, ate again and headed back home just in time to make it to Bible study tonight. It's great doing stuff on the whim w/o having to consult anyone or make plans with the babysitter.

posted by dinah 1:30 AM

self-serve

I came upon KMART's new self-serve cashier station today on my lunch break. Basically you scan in your own items, swipe your credit card, sign the electronic pad and you're off. As quick as it seemed, it ended up taking more time than it was worth. When I was swiping my card through, an elderly man started scanning in his watch at the same time. When the time came to sign out, I noticed my bill was $12 more than it should have been. I had to call a clerk over to cancel it out, but for some reason she couldn't. In the end, I had to pay for the extra $12 and then go over to customer service to get my card credited. So much for express check-out.

I think I'm going to like being a doctor after all

I'm really enjoying this rotation and I especially like family practice. I'm glad all these interviews I'm setting up for a FP residency aren't in vain after all.

posted by dinah 11:51 PM

med school is such a game

doctors don't wash their hands enough. we learn all this junk about being sanitary, but so many doctors don't wash their hands between seeing patients. They don't even use gloves to take off dressings. As a med student, if you take time out to put on gloves, you sometimes miss out. The attending or resident will proceed to unveil the wound and reclose before you get there. At other times, if you try to wash your hands between patients, your upper levels continue on seeing other patients on a different floor and don't bother to wait for you.

the medical school education is such a contradiction. you're taught text book and when you get to "the floor" it's totally different. all you want to do is survive so you find yourself compromising a lot. we are told not to write in the chart, stand, or let our eyes drift away while speaking to a patient. 95% of doctors do all three. we are taught by these same doctors and then later, they give us a mock exam with mock patients who grade us on the three points above. it's insane, but then when we become members of academia ourselves, we subject the new blood to the same rigorous routine.

posted by dinah 2:52 PM

Yesterday I worked with my attending, who is actually the medical director of the clinic. As a medical student you follow tons of doctors around, sometimes assisting, but mostly following them around from one patient to the next. After a while, you try to determine what type of doctor you want to be--not just in specialty, but in personality, bedside manner, etc. This woman (my attending) is, on the whole, the type of doctor I want to be. She knows her stuff AND explains things to her patients on "their level." I've seen so many doctors explain a disease in medical jargon rather than layman's terms. As a result, the patient always looks dumbfounded. Doctors say "ambulate" instead of "walk," "thrombosis" instead of "clot," etc. Since I work mostly in indigent clinics ("serving the underserved"), many of the patients don't ask questions cuz they don't think they can. When they go home to relatives who demand answers, I doubt they know where to begin.

I can understand if a doctor can't fully explain the mechanics of a brain tumor, but they at least need to make a patient understand why they need to take a certain dosage of insulin during a certain time of the day for their diabetes. If they can't do that, then a doctor hasn't done their job. That's just my opinion--something for me to read about again just as a reminder to myself if I become that type of doctor I never wanted to be.

posted by dinah 2:40 PM

New Rotation

I started yet another rotation, this time in Family Practice. I can't comment on how it is yet cuz I spent the whole day in orientation listening to this woman begin every 2 or 3 minutes with "Oh, let me tell you this story about . . ." We had to go through an OSHA (occupational safety and hazards ?) booklet and she kept yapping and yapping away. My mind drifted as I gave her courtesy smiles and nods of the head. I grossed myself out looking at her coffee cup stained with hot pink lip prints around its rim.

I did get to speak to my attending for a short while and she asked me if I spoke Spanish. I of course retorted with "un pequito." She smiled and said I definitely need to learn if I'm going to sticking around South Texas. I hope one day I'll be fluent, but as for now, I continually find myself saying "despacio por favor." Sometimes, however, I get annoyed when patients can speak better English than I can speak Spanish and yet they won't even attempt to speak English. We are in America and if you think I'm going to vote for a bill that's going to give you automatic US citizenship, think again! Filipinos, Indians, Europeans, etc learn English before they come to America or at least while they're here, why can't they???!!!

Anyhow, I will learn Spanish, somehow, but geez help me out here!

posted by dinah 5:56 PM

Cell-ebration

I just got back from our church's Family Night Cell-ebration. All our cell groups (Bible study groups) gathered together at the church and performed a skit or a song. I'm going to toot our own horn and say that despite the fact that we didn't really practice that much, we did an awesome job.

posted by dinah 2:01 AM

Miracles




This past weekend we celebrated Apple's b-day. She's here with her almost 1 year old baby. Having been born 5 months premature and with a still unnamed genetic disorder, this baby is a true miracle. I met Apple and her family 6 months ago when they joined our Bible Study group. Back then, her baby was jaundiced and on several medications. I praise God that she is no longer on any medications except oxygen via nasal cannula. I have been so blessed to witness God's miracle through this child as He has enabled her to overcome obstacle after obstacle. I still think every baby has a right to life.

My pediatric orthopedic rotation has allowed me to see tons of children with rare and not-so-rare genetic disorders. I have also seen the true heroes--their parents and foster parents. They amaze me with their perseverance and strength--as does Apple and her husband. I love these parents. They grow old, but their children remain locked in childhood.

posted by dinah 10:45 PM

Another zit story

if you know me, or have read my blogs, you know that I have a thing about zits. I've written about how my face suddenly became clear, and then recently, how my face has broken out in conjunction with my birthday and that terrible feeling of being old. I love to talk about zits both as therapy and because the events of my life often bring up the topic.

While eating out last night with a group of friends, a boyfriend of one of my friends, JOHN, said he didn't want to instigate anything, but, added,"do you remember that zit you had last week?" uh, yes, quite clearly . . .it greeted me every morning!
"well, it gave me nightmares" YOU, nightmares! what about me?!

"what do you mean?" i asked w/o flinching--somehow I'm calloused by these comments that often come from Filipinos (as John is).

"well, it reminded me of those times when I used to break out and how terrible it was." John said that quite innocently as if he was stating some encyclopedia factoid. I honestly believe he was trying to relate to me or something or maybe strike up some conversation.

Kerry butted in "oh no John, you've done it. That will scar her for life!" Kerry should know, b/c at one point in my high school years she said my zit was so big it had its own shadow. Yes, I remember that quite clearly.

The funny thing about me and zits is that if I have one, I'm the first to tell someone about it. Sometimes people say they didn't even notice, but I'm soooo sure they did. It's kind of a way to acknowledge its presence and tell people yes, I know its there, I know you know it's there, so don't embarrass me more by making a comment about it.

Credit

I just read Gary's Blog and was surprised to read that he also closed some of his credit card accounts. My husband and I got finally got our credit reports and although I have a pretty good credit report score, I noticed I had 5 too many credit cards. These were all credit cards I opened over the past 10 years that I only used because I got that almost useless 10% off--Victoria Secret, Express, Limited, Mervyn's, Macy's. They are now closed! I've decided to keep only those cards that pay me back i.e. Discover or those that compensate with frequent flyer miles.

posted by dinah 10:59 PM

A time to be girls
Anna came down from Omaha this past weekend and of course, the girls took time out of their busy schedules to spend the entire Saturday with her. We haven't seen her since braving the floods in Houston last May and so we had to do some major "girlie" stuff like outlet shopping, giving anna a makeover, drinking coffee, and yes, karaoke. Half of us are mothers, half of us are married, and half of us are over 25 years old. Nonetheless, the true "girls" in us emerged this past weekend.

The best things about having the same friends since childhood is that you can share the stupidest inside jokes and still laugh, that you can finish each other's sentences, and that you can tell each other about stray boogers or ear wax before you'd let them go out in public.

Here we are hanging out at Aileen's apartment. By this time, we were already winding down and were in desperate need for some coffee.







I love the new sitcom Scrubs

Scrubs is a depiction of how I learned to survive med school--that of approaching difficult situations through the eyes of humour and parody.

posted by dinah 10:28 PM

Funny picture

Someone sent me these forwards regarding how the US might look if Muslims took over . . .











Pediatric Orthopedics

I'm now back doing rotations and waking up at an ungodly hour to attend lectures. So far I like Orthopedic surgeons--they're genuinely smart and without the chip on their shoulders that many General Surgeons have.

Vacation

5 days after the the WTC/pentagon attacks, I went on vacation and flew to Orlando. The only change I experienced post-Sept 11 were no wait lines at the theme parks and a slight paranoia that people might think my husband and I were Muslim Arabs.

On the first day in Florida, we found a place that served authentic Cuban sandwiches.






Birthday

alright, the very fact that I'm beginning to break out again makes me feel young again.

posted by dinah 6:16 PM