Monday, December 28, 2009
Attachment, Final Days You're late again, I see.Yeah, I tend to get a little negligent when it comes to blogging at times.
So, the final days of the attachment... Well, we were running short on things to see and do in the hospital.
Last Tuesday was free observation, and a Colorectal Surgery Recovery programme, designed to help patients who are about to undergo operations know of the post-op risks and what is to be done. They even included a survivor of colorectal cancer to give a little talk. A pity that of all the patients about to undergo the op, only one had family free enough to turn up.
Wednesday was another ward round, followed up by occupational therapy. That's where they help patients with physical abilities attempt to get as independent as possible so they can live on after the op with minimal difficulty. Examples include teaching the patient how to get from the bed to the wheelchair while exerting minimal stress on the affected area.
...Another brief post. Guess having an attachment extending past a week when you're not a medical student yet can be a bit too long.
True.
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Posted on 12:21 PM.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Attachment, Days 5 and 6 Okay, I got lazy with blogging during the weekend, so today I'll cover Friday's and today's attachment days.-Friday-
Had a visit to the hyperbaric centre. This is where patients get to breathe pure oxygen at high pressures, so that more oxygen dissolves in their blood and their wounds get to heal faster. However, the centre doesn't afford therapy to just anyone - only those with more troublesome conditions, like wounds that take too long to heal, get treatment.
Following that, the National Cancer Centre. They showed us their research labs and tell us about what they've been doing to improve cancer treatment. Currently looking into getting the body's own immune system to identify the cancer cells as foreign cells and attack them. We then had a look around the chemotherapy wards and some of the scanning machines.
-Monday-
Wound management again. This time, it's mostly leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, and foot amputees, along with necrotic tissue removal while changing the dressing. Gets a little boring over time when you're treating the same things over and over again.
Not sure what's in store for us next.
...That was short.
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Posted on 5:43 PM.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Attachment, Day 4 Today, it's a clinical attachment. Very similar to my previous one, where we just sit at one side of the clinic and watch and listen to the doctor communicate with the patient.A few differences between hospital clinics and neighbourhood clinics. For one, hospital clinics are manned by more specialized doctors. Ours was specialized in colorectal areas so all the patients seeing him were either having follow-up checkups or reporting colorectal problems.
...Yeah. That's more or less it. Since all the patients are having similar problems there's no need to go on and write about them. Time-consuming, page-consuming (in my notebook), and pretty much gives a wall of text that's bad for readers.
Well, that was short.
Next up is hyperbaric medicine, and a visit to the National Cancer Centre. Hmm...
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Posted on 11:11 PM.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Attachment, Day 3 Well, long day today, so let's see what happened here...Grand Ward Round in the morning. That's where we join a group of doctors going around and discussing the patients' diagnosis and stuff. Lots of use of medical terms so it got hard to follow about halfway in. This was followed shortly by a lecture on Infection Control, which is on stuff I kinda already know.
Most of the day's taken up by Wound Management. We followed a nurse around as she changed the dressings of several patients, while cleaning up any further complications that may have resulted. From what has been seen, abscesses (accumulation of pus, which causes inflammation) aplenty, and so there's plenty of pus drainage and extraction of necrotic tissue (dead flesh).
One notable patient was one who was subject to cancer on the scalp. They had to remove the surface tissue off his scalp (and also the rest of his hair), while also taking some flesh from the back as a graft. That one failed though, so that patient's got dressing where his hair would be, along with an incision wound down the back where they took flesh to graft. Whoa.
So, yeah, wound management is not for the faint of heart, as the patients may get pretty messed up depending on the condition and location.
Next up tomorrow is attachment to clinical doctors... haven't I done something like this before?
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Posted on 10:28 PM.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Attachment, Day 2 Today's all physiotherapy, where patients are allowed to exercise within their limits to prevent their muscles from going weak due to being bedridden for a long time.Did make a few interesting observations. Having been in a clinical attachment before, I can say that the general physiotherapists who aren't managing much exercise equipment work similar to clinical doctors.
With general physiotherapy done we took a look at some of the more specific physiotherapists - orthological physiotherapists (dealing with leg/hip injury patients) and neurological physiotherapists (dealing with anything that has hit the nerves). These people tend to go around and visit wards, as the patients normally are unable to move very far considering their conditions.
Got to see an EEG (a machine that reads brainwaves) in operation too. It's a little hard to understand the readings, but it's rather simple to get the big picture considering what the patient does and how the diagrams show it.
...That's more or less about it. Physiotherapy is quite dry, particularly when you've been exposed to it yourself prior to being discharged.
Tomorrow's going to be a busy day. Lots of different things scheduled.
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Posted on 9:47 PM.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Attachment, Day 1 Welcome back, it has been 1 month since your last post.I know, I know. I got lazy.
So, today my friend and I began our hospital attachment. It's going to last a week and a half, ending on the 23rd.
First day is the usual orientation to things. We were assigned to the Department of Polyposis Registry under Colorectal Surgery, where they log patients' history of polyps in the large intestine. This is indicative of likeliness of genetic disorders causing intestinal cancer.
We had a few opportunities to see some new things. For one, we were introduced to surgery simulators, where junior doctors can practice with endoscopes or minimally invasive surgery procedures without risking patients' lives. Interesting.
Later in the day we witnessed some colonoscopy demonstrations. Patient's given a sedative to become less anxious, while still conscious during the colonoscopy. The doctor also told us it has an amnesiac effect, so they don't remember much about the procedure. We saw 2 patients, one with no defects detected, while the other with [DATA EXPUNGED]
There's no reason to expunge data here. Nobody knows which patient if you stay vague with details.
Okay, fine. The second had hemorrhoidal vessels near the anus. These are enlarged vessels which are noticeable against the intestinal wall, and can develop into hemorrhoids, or piles.
...Well, that's about it for the first day. Next day, we're assigned to physiotherapy for the whole day.
...Oh, and I just started playing Trauma Center New Blood. Hands won't stop shaking. I suck with suturing and extraction. -_-
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Posted on 9:52 PM.
