I learned that there is not only one standard way to do things in the medical field. This matters to me due to the “mistreatment” I have received in hospitals. It also matters to me because I plan to become a family physician and it is essential that I know the proper way to treat my patients at the right time. Before I started the class, I used to lean more towards the reductionism approach. I was the type that wanted to be treated as quickly as I could. Whenever I go to the doctor, I expect them to know how treat me as fast as they should when they find the symptoms. Also, I used think there was some type of guidebook that doctors look at to determine how to treat the patients, and I used to believe that whatever could be in the book was the “only” and “right” way to do things. Little did I know, there are various ways to approach a problem and give it a proper solution. The pre-class reading that had to done was at first confusing to me before we discussed it class. I had many questions in mind. I was trying to figure out why doctors only used one approach when there were several others that could be much more beneficial. The article that stood out to me the most was Medical reductionism: lessons from the great philosophers by Mark J. Beresford. The article stated how reductionism was used to simplify things. The article also states the way reductionism is used in cancer. I was thinking to myself why the holistic approach could not be used. I felt like there are some
profession, communities, and in society” (para. 5). I want to continue to broaden my knowledge over the life of my career. I also believe in using this knowledge to positively impact others in all aspects of healthcare.
Throughout my clinical experiences, there have been quite a few circumstances I have been placed in that have remained with me whether good or bad. All of them have been learning experiences for me whether it is how to improve and to do better next time from a mistake, for me to learn that this is or is not how a patient should be treated, how to handle family situations, and many others. One experience that I was able to participate in that will remain with me because I had not experienced this before was during my critical care rotation in the fall of 2015. This patient was dying and we were implementing comfort care for him.
deliver patients medical records, and run errands for all of the Nursing Units, Radiology, Admitting, and the general offices. From this experience I exhibited characteristics such as responsibility, caring, and, trustworthiness. Most importantly from this experience I learned you can change a person’s entire day by simply sending a smile their way or offering assistance. The small things in life matter, and I was reminded to live everyday to its fullest, because you never
4.1 By attending courses they might help you to understand the problems my patients have and have more empathy in their regards. It would also drive you closer and develop a better relationship.
An evening of pride and felicity from my primary school days still lingers in my memory when I was chosen as the best student of my class and was awarded a toy box with virtual stethoscope, syringe, band aid and thermometer in it. It was so gratifying to carry it along through the evening acting like a doctor with my parents and grandparents proudly enduring to be my patients. Memory of those moments lasted long and I believe it had a lot to do with the profession I chose for myself later in life. During my years in Medical school it was fascinating to observe the dedication and concern shown by seniors for the wellbeing of patients. I discovered in myself the same kind of passion and desire to alleviate their suffering.
In addition, the course material and modules have allowed me to adjust the various aspects of my professional practice for the best outcomes. In fact, I have applied the course material to adjust my patient care plans with the result that I now appreciate the different treatment and prescriptive therapies, and the legal implications for more awareness and understanding. Besides that, my interest in the course has allowed me to prioritize with the intention of achieving a good grade. In essence, I have gained the ability to better balance what the patient needs with the legal
The medical field is a career path that brings about many options and opportunities of great value. The noble idea of being a doctor tends to cloud the diligent studying and precise training that is actually required for this career. I have wanted to become a doctor since a very young age, and now that the opportunity is here for the taking, I have fully researched what it takes to succeed in this profession and various specialties of the practice. The road to a medical degree is one filled with thousands of notes, years of schooling, and many stressful nights, but the reward is one incomparable to any other. Saving people’s lives on a day-to-day basis has been one of my dreams for as long as I can remember, so the rigorous curriculum
During my observation, I followed the patient from her preparation of surgery, into the operating room, to recovery. I gain insight on what happens during surgeries from nurses, surgeons, and other hospital staff. This experience was much different than any other clinical I have gone to. After having first-hand experience, I now know that surgery is nothing like what is portrayed on television.
I stood with a look of wonderment as I watched the beehive of physicians, radiologists, nurses, and paramedics collaboratively save a man’s life. The scene initially appeared chaotic with scrubs flying around and doctors swarming all over, but in actuality the team was extremely single-minded—as if driven by instinct. I was amazed by the speed and conviction with which the attending doctor made his decisions; his training and experience was evident with every move. Seeing the tearful wife thank the doctor highlighted the impact of his work—his actions had saved a husband and a father. I left admiring both the competency of emergency physicians and their ability to touch lives in such a dramatic way. While my enjoyment of high school biology sparked my original inclination towards medicine, my first hand experiences in the hospital deepened my motivation and left me steadfast in my decision to become a doctor.
I have learned so much over the last few months. The lessons that I have acquired in PA Seminar class are invaluable as I embark on my journey to become a future physician assistant.
And that we will remember the words of the poet, Maya Angelou that people will forget what you did but people will not forget how you made them feel. I hope that all these years of training will help us to think not only like physicians but also like human beings because the practice of Medicine is a challenging but deeply rewarding art with which we can make positive differences in the lives of our patients and their loved
developing a rapport with ones patients and that a little compassion and understanding can mean the world to a
It is reductionist because it reduces illness to low-level processes such as chemical imbalances, pathogens, genetic predispositions and disorders. According to this model, individuals are not responsible for illnesses caused by factors beyond their control and treatment should include vaccination, surgery and the like which all aim to remove the cause of the illness. In this model of practice, an individual can either be healthy or ill because there is no continuum. That a psychological disorder can lead to an illness but there is no in-between. The biomedical view thus identifies treatment of various parts with the ultimate goal of a cure. If success in this model is defined as a cure, death is defined as ultimate failure, to be avoided at all cost. Patients whose diseases cannot be “cured” are deemed as “incurable”. [7]
Townsend and Davidson (1988) also suggested that the term health is derived from the word “whole”, which is a recipient of the healing process. Therefore, an attempt to heal or cure in medical field literally means, to make whole or restore health. It is this idea that influences medicine to adopt a mechanistic approach towards disease management thereby obscuring the understanding of health in human context of well-being, which advocates for alternative or complementary approaches. This viewpoint also reflects in some definitions and the medical model discussed above. The criticisms of the medical by Illich (1974) is that the medical view only deals with the cause of disease or illness rather than the external factors affecting the person’s health. Within different sections of medicine, for example the mental health department, there are marked differences when explaining the origin of illness, disease and treatments.
Mukherjee (2015) talks about the three laws of medicine however these are his personal laws that may or may not be followed by other health professionals. He explains each law that he had learned through personal experiences with patients. The first law is ‘A strong intuition is much more powerful than a weak test,’ explains that there may be some hidden variable when diagnosing a patient that could be crucial in life or death situations. A variable could be the environment that a person lives in or their lifestyle and this chapter notes to know when to look for small clues that could possibly help. The second law is ‘”Normals” teach us rules; “outliers” teach us laws, ' talks about how normal cases teach and build the rules of what should be done on a regular basis of patients, what is normal. Outliers are the cases where it may untreatable but has the chance to reshape and even advance medicine. The third law is 'For every perfect medical experiment, there is a perfect human bias, ' talks about how we hope for a medical treatment that can help treat a disease but it is biased because it either works or doesn’t work despite a few anomalies. These are laws Mukherjee has learned from experience and applies throughout his career, they may not be followed by all health practitioners.