Today was my first day of my Paediatric Clinical Rotation – and it could not have come a day to soon. Psychiatry Theory was horrible and I think it may be best if I simply don’t check my marks.
If I thought a practical block was going to make me feel like less of an idiot I was mistaken though. The doctors are not rude (so far), but they sure don’t hold back on the fact that we know nothing and are pretty much idiots. Which, I am sad to share, is the truth. I do not think that I answered a single question correctly today.
We have a patient with Shigella Dysentery turned septicaemia. He is in isolation. One thing is certain: I will know my microbiology, virology and pharmacology very well by the end of this block… and those are the sections I usually neglect. [I know, bad student. They’re the smallest sections in the exams, okay!]
We have a lot of patients with HIV/AIDS and disseminated TB. It’s so sad.
I have a five-month-old patient with HIV (on HAART) and previous Pneumocystis-Jiroveci-Pneumonia. He is too good for a young child – he didn’t cry at all when I examined him. He seems to be doing better though (according to the doctors in the word). When I leaned over to listen to the percussion – he has a huge liver and spleen – he grabbed my hair, and smiled.
Paeds is a lot more chilled than Obstetrics. I don’t quite know if I will like it, but it seems set to be a very interesting experience.
Whispers Unto the Aether 