nambour week 2

mood: excited about tomorrow.
state i'm in: damaging the dalton.
tune: bryan ferry 'time on my hands'.

nambour viewed from the west

a few things are starting to take shape as the second week of my internal medicine rotation comes to an end. most importantly for the short term, i think i am gaining an understanding of what is required by my assessors. but even more exciting than that, i am starting to feel as if i have some worth within the medical team. i have made a couple of contributions to patient management (21-hydroxylase adrenal antibodies may yet prove to be my coup d'etat of the rotation), and am slowly coming to grips with form after form and reams of progress notes to be filled out. i feel i am making some encouraging headway.

however, nothing hardens my resolve to become a doctor more than the tremendous power of the relationship between doctor and patient. when a patient or one of their kin shakes your hand, and thanks you, or expresses their faith and hopes in you... well, it is very difficult to describe the power of that connection. there is such an enormous gravity beholden to the plans we make for and with our patients.

this is not a rant about how much power a doctor might have, and how intoxicating such power might be - i would hate it to be viewed as such.

what i would like to express is the immense pride i am filled with in myself, in my profession and those affiliated with it, including the patients themselves, for embarking together on the endeavour to reach a common goal - that goal being the most satisfying outcome for the patient. so often this runs in the face of our own naïvety or the challenging nature of many of the patients and their circumstances, but there is never an instance when we have nothing to offer, even if it is merely genuine compassion. it is such an awesome feat to witness at such close quarters.

storm front rolling over alexandra headland

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images: mine