{"id":230,"date":"2010-11-11T18:44:02","date_gmt":"2010-11-11T17:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=230"},"modified":"2017-08-24T14:06:35","modified_gmt":"2017-08-24T13:06:35","slug":"the-other-side-of-the-fence-by-michael-corbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2010\/11\/11\/the-other-side-of-the-fence-by-michael-corbo\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Other Side of the Fence’ by Michael Corbo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Medical student Michael Corbo reflects on what he’s learnt from being a patient.<\/em><\/p>\n

I am sitting on a green chair in the waiting room. I have been sitting here for hours, but it feels like it has been days. I keep looking at the clock on the wall beside me. The room is filled with people, but all I can hear is the resounding \u2018tick tock\u2019 coming from my right side. A thousand beads of sweat start to develop on my forehead, one for every thought racing through my mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael Corbo!\u201d My heart stops. \u201cThe doctor is ready for you now.\u201d<\/p>\n

I follow the nurse\u2019s lead to the end of the hall where we stop at Operating Room (OR) #7.<\/p>\n

The air in the OR is cold and crisp. I get on the table and lie down with my face towards the ceiling. Cold sweat begins to drip down my forehead. It is clear that I am apprehensive and yet, none of the healthcare providers have addressed how I am feeling. My hand nervously shakes as a line is inserted into one of my veins. I take one more gasp of air before my eyes gently close and will not open again for at least thirty minutes.<\/p>\n

This is an experience that I have been through many times. However, it is the first time that I am the patient. After such an event, it has become clear to me that no matter how minor the procedure, the thought of surgical intervention and going under general anaesthesia is enough to generate a great deal of worry.<\/p>\n

As a patient who was evidently nervous going into surgery, the question \u201cwhy didn\u2019t any of the healthcare providers address my feelings?\u201d was still on my mind hours after the operation. I kept trying to tell myself that this question was irrelevant since the surgery was a success. However, as time passed and perspective was gained, I realized that my concern was a legitimate one. In a profession where another human being completely places their trust in you, how can the physician provide the best care without truly understanding what the patient is experiencing?<\/p>\n

Understandably, the thought of entering into an emotional relationship with patients can be a scary notion. However, all medical specialties should have a keen focus on developing these skills and recognizing the most appropriate time to utilize them. To only treat a patient\u2019s physical needs is inadequate; a Holistic approach in which emotional, mental, and physical aspects are all addressed would lead to increased patient satisfaction and care. This is not a skill that comes naturally, but must be practiced and perfected.<\/p>\n

As a future physician, I sincerely hope that more resources can be invested into teaching medical students and residents how to treat the patient like a person, instead of just an interesting case. At the end of the day, the majority of people will not remember how well you performed at your job, but rather the level of communication and hospitality that they received while they were under your care.<\/p>\n

michael.corbo@medportal.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Medical student Michael Corbo reflects on what he’s learnt from being a patient. I am sitting on a green chair in the waiting room. I have been sitting here for hours, but it feels like it has been days. I keep looking at the clock on the wall beside me. The room is filled with […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15027],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-blog-post"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}