Here’s a simple set of rules you can use during your attachments to keep you looking smooth, maximise the benefit you get from patient interaction, and prevent too many awkward situations. Rule 1: Remember you are not a doctor or a medial student (yet).You are in a protected situation and can always let your supervising doctors know when you feel uncomfortable or need a break. Only get into patient interactions under supervision and where you feel comfortable. If you haven’t had any work experience yet, don’t worry, it’ll become pretty obvious when you start. Rule 2: Keep your role clear Always introduce yourself as a school or college student who is here to learn about medical careers and never as a pre-med or medical student. Mention the school or college you’re from to help keep things perfectly clear to everyone. That way everyone is clear, and nobody expects you to do anything except smile and ask occasional questions. Easy. Rule 3: Check If you get into any patient interactions, (and you should if possible) after introducing yourself, check that they would like to chat. Don’t force yourself upon them, they may be tired, in pain, or upset. Rule 4: Talking doesn’t necessarily have to be about investigations and diagnosis. When chatting to patients, try and enjoy the experience. You don’t have to talk about their illness, sometimes patients prefer a good talk to take their mind of their immediate problem. Not all patients have visiting friends or relatives either. Hospitals are full of lonely people. Perhaps you can lift someones spirits for a moment or two. Rule 5: Get permission If a patient has an interesting illness and you wish to ask them about it ask the permission of the doctor looking after them first. Following that, ask the patients permission to ask talk about the reason they’ve come to hospital before you start asking any deep and meaningful medical questions. Rule 6: Go with the flow Let the patient lead the discussion about their condition. They’ll tell you everything they know in most cases. You can follow this up with further questions if you are interested in any particular aspect. For work experience students, questions are more useful when they are about the patients experience or feelings about their disease rather than specific symptoms or signs. Rule 7: Escape (if needed) End the discussion politely and promptly if you need to escape. Normally you’ll be accompanied by one of the medical or nursing staff but occasionally you may need to end the chat very quickly. This may be for one of the following reasons: You begin to feel faint. (a combination of a warm hospital ward, strange smells and visible drains or wounds can have a funny effect at times) The patient becomes aggressive or unpleasant. The patient becomes suddenly unwell. (In this situation you should alert one of the medical or nursing staff.) [Broken External Image]:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zpJP_wbiaYY/UkqNtBAHNKI/AAAAAAAAHNs/tVM9TFrjKTs/s1600/medical+students.jpg Source
