While having a passion for a certain future job is certainly good, it always helps if one gets first-hand experience as to what the job entails. I’ve had some seniors who had a future goal in mind, but decided that the job was just too boring for them. I myself was pretty sure that medicine was the stream I wanted to pursue, but I decided that a doctor shadowing experience at a hospital would be ideal to really see if it was what I wanted.
This wasn’t my first doctor shadowing experience- I’d already had done two prior to this (one in India and one in Dubai). However, there was no doubt that each one had brought new learning- my Third internship exposed me to some high tech equipment, and I had the opportunity of observing surgeries as well as patient consultations.
I interned at the hospital from 30th June to 14th July. The daily duration varied, with most days being from 9 am to 5 pm.
I shadowed the medical director, a very distinguished Emirati General Surgeon, for the longest period of time. While in consultation, there used to be another doctor who acted as the medical director’s surgical specialist. The doctors had 4 days of consultation in a week, with 2 days ( Sunday and Wednesday) being set aside for surgery days.
I was able to observe nearly 60 patients and was exposed to a variety of diseases and procedures, ranging from hernias, skin grafts, breast lumps, gastric problems, orthopedic issues such as arthritis and cardiac issues including patients complaining of heartburns and chest pain. These patients were of varying ages, including infants to old men/women. I was also allowed to see procedures conducted in the Cath lab and the functioning of the hospital laboratory. The pinnacle of the internship, however, was the surgeries- I saw a total of 5 operations, including a total thyroidectomy, breast excisions, and breast Quadrantectomy.
I learned a great deal from the consultation sessions. The most important aspect of being a good doctor is how you care for the patients and how you interact with them. Both doctors heartily greeted the patients on meeting them. The MD, in particular, used to clap his hands whenever he had good news for the patient. They also had basic knowledge of a lot of languages and made it a point to try to greet the patients in their own native languages. The MD greeted his endoscopy patient in Gujarati and a patient with a skin graft in German.
Patients needs were always the first priority. This included ensuring that the patient felt comfortable and his/her privacy was respected. Before every consultation session, the doctor used to Introduce me to the patient so as to ensure that they did not have any problem with me being there.
Along with this, both doctors were very careful of the legal and emotional implications of their actions. Both the doctors used to create a lighthearted atmosphere around the clinic by cracking jokes with the patient. This formed connections and bonds with the patient, instilling in them a feeling of confidence and trust. This very feeling of trust was very important- the patients understood that they were in good hands. It came to my attention that both doctors used to vary that behavior with the kind of patient they met. Younger and newer patients were dealt with a professional and comforting manner while repeat patients were presented with a very humorous attitude.
Both were careful not to show any annoyance and anger in front of patients who were arguing with them. When it came to discussions with families about conditions like cancer something I noticed was that they never mentioned the word cancer or any other serious ailment until the test results came out. For that particular endoscopy/colonoscopy patient, a small white mass was found in his large intestine, along with many regions in the stomach where patches of blood were seen. While the MD told me that the possibility of cancer was high, he did not repeat the same thing to the patient’s family- he told them in a very comforting manner that he could not reach a conclusion till he had received the lab reports.
Teamwork was a very important part of all the procedures I saw. From complex surgeries, procedures in the lab and even when filling paperwork, the doctors and the nurses coordinated their actions to ensure that all tasks were carried out properly.
The doctors went to great lengths to make every patient understand about his/her own condition – they would often draw diagrams of anatomy and explain to the patient which parts of the body the problem may affect. They were also keen on teaching – both doctors often showed me interesting cases that they had the opportunity of treating. During a total thyroidectomy, they asked a junior doctor to perform a certain surgical procedure while under their supervision so that the doctor would learn how to perform procedure skillfully.
I also learned to come out of my comfort zone and learn some useful behavioral aspects – for example, I had to coordinate with hospital staff to check the doctor’s schedule. In a particular instance, I missed communicating with the doctor about his next day’s schedule and was not able to shadow while he performed some interesting surgeries. The doctor made it a point to tell me to regularly check his schedule. I was, luckily, able to recover the lost time by coming one extra day after my internship ended.
Apart from patient-doctor interactions, a large part of my internship was observing the medical equipment. I was able to observe the various sub-departments of the hospital lab, including Hematology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Clinical Microscopy, Histopathology and the blood bank. I was also able to visit the Cath lab, where I learned how the whole procedure was conducted, along with X-ray videos of the chest while the procedure was being conducted.
All in all, my doctor shadowing experience was truly phenomenal. Not only was my internship very interested and illuminating but it also helped me cement my belief that being a doctor was truly the profession I wanted to pursue. This internship will, no doubt, help me in my college applications, along with the fact that the knowledge that I have gathered will help me in UCAT too. I hope that I shall get the opportunity to undertake such internships again!
Raghav's blog 