written by: Albrando Lorenzo Lucino Jr. It was a busy and typical Tuesday afternoon, block schedule:
8am-10am --> Medical Pharmacology
10am - 12 pm --> Medical Microbiology and Immunology
12-1pm --> break time.
3pm-5pm --> General Pathology.
But in my break time, i opted to do medical volunteering hours at the local hospital, its what I usually do in the week--opting to give 3-4 hours of my time every week on hospital rounds/volunteering hours as a building block to hospitalization experience. I'm a 2nd year med student, why not? eh? What else could i do? Considering my apartment is too far away--and driving home would minimize the break time; and sitting in the lounge or library would be too supine. Why not spend the hour break doing something---productive.
That was my schedule, actually, i follow that schedule since the beginning of 2nd Year Medicine in May 2009.
So this past week I had the honor in checking patients, getting the chance to utilize PDI skills [Patient-Doctor Interaction] Methodology. Easy stuff: getting pt's history, SBP/DBP (systolic-diastolic blood pressure) etc. Simple stuff.
At at the same time--reading pt charts seeing the kinds of medication they're on, what their ailment is--and reading the prognosis statement written by the attending physician.
Just introductory material---too me, rather vivifying considering the experience of seeing and reading material we learned in theory---actually being applied in the Medical Clinical field.
You could say that I'm just the typical 2nd year. Young. Fresh. Motivated. Really eager and hungry to learn more and just digest all this material. The 3rd and 4th years tell me that i'll 'get used' to this; or the 'interest level wane'. I don't know what they're talking about, because I simply love this 'stuff. To summ it up, reading and learning daily material--is similar to a kid being in a toy shop. So many toys and games and gadgets. Is that a right comparison? Well in my opinion--and in my view---it is. hehe.
So let me get back to the point of this story, before I fly out of tangent. lol. So last week, I had the honor in checking patients in. Talking to the staff nurses---exchange jokes etc. Then I was asked to assist an attending physician to treat a patient. Elderly gentleman. And from the look of his appearance, homeless. His shoes were worn down, clothing ragged, and his face was unkempt, hair boggled all over. So we assessed. Cleaned him, gave him IV fluids, etc etc. Stabalized him. So i began talking to him, and we ended up having a really heart-felt conversation. One thing i noticed about this man was that he was very soft spoken, very warm hearted--just from his voice. I don't know what he did, or what happened that led to his current circumstance of being homeless--but just from my own personal observation---this guy was a good man. Really genuine. My observation lang. To my suprise, our conversation drifted and he started talking about scripture. And i was drawn quickly to it.
I pulled up a chair, sat next to this guy--and just talked with him. He asked alot of questions.
Some of the things he said didn't make sense---his wording was incorrect at times---but that didnt' phase me. Before we ended our conversation, this man, who ive never met in my life--ended by saying, "God bless you, Doctor, stay kind."
I don't know what it was. But i was really, really touched by this man. I felt like i wanted to cry. Odd, i know. I told him that i wasn't a doctor, just a student. Still he didn't mind, he said again, "Just stay kind, Doctor. Be good ya hear?"
I couldn't help but smile.
Ive kept on thinking about his message to me---and a reminder what the calling of the Physician is. A reminder to me that being a physician is truly all about helping the poor, and the sick. This man. Such a simple word and gesture such as, "Be good, you hear" can change or affect my heart. How simple, yet so beautifully eloquent!
Something about that patient that I adore.
I realize that seing into the soul of that old man was like seeing the kindness of Jesus.
The meek and humble, and destitute. Jesus was in that man. As the Holy Spirit is in all of us.
Isn't it so beautiful how our Lord Jesus Christ manifests his love to us, in the most unlikely of places? hehe.
But truth nonetheless.
So to that pt, I will respond to you here in this story:
"Thank You, and I will do my best to be a good and kind medical student, and God-willing, a kind hearted physician. Thanks for reminding me of what the true role of a physician is. "
Kindness in the most unlikely of places. hehe.
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