Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Waterford!!


Pictures in order are: Out the window on the way to Waterford, Tina studying on the train, and the entrance of our aparments upon arrival in Waterford....

Ardkeen Woods is a complex of apartments located RIGHT OPPOSITE Waterford Regional Hospital. It's only a 5 minute walk to the hospital, and a 10 minute walk to TESCO (which is open 24 hours!!...AND ITS HUGE!! LIKE COSTCO!!)

The apartments are great; two bedroom, two bathrooms, with a huge living room, full kitchen and full fridge. I can't complain at all. The heating is great and the showers are on demand hot water. (Which is hard to find in Ireland...I am too used to not having to boost!)

The hospital is great. Everyone is super nice and I've been able to take lots of histories as well as do a few physical exams. My goals for this week are:

1) Average of one full history a day
2) Average of one system physical exam a day.

Yesterday I met a girl with Cystic Fibrosis. She seemed upset because her mother wasn't there to visit her, and I was lucky enough to be able to befriend her.

So today I took half her history and tomorrow I'm taking the other half. She has so many things going on with her body that I wasnt so sure if she enjoyed talking about all of it in one go, so I decided to take it slow.

Sometimes I think....is being a doctor really suited for me? I like to take my time, and talk to patients, get to know them as people, rather than sick people. I guess that rules out Emergency Medicine for me...

I sometimes think that maybe I am not a good enough med student because of my inability to get info out of patients as quickly as my peers....

まっ、マイペースでいいのかな?って思う時もあるけど、周りの人と全然違うやり方で患者さんと接してる自分が間違っているのかどうか判らなくなったりする時が多い。

「自分が患者さんだったらこんな接し方をしてほしいなぁー」って思いながら接しているつもりなんだけれど、もしかして的ハズレだったりして…

I do realize questioning myself is not especially good for my confidence....but I guess it's something I will never know for sure until I become a doctor...

2 comments:

nysecellos said...

so nice! great to know that you're satisfied with your stay etc! stay happy and healthy! ;]

Anonymous said...

Hey! So glad to hear that things are settling down for you and that the people at the hospital are treating you well. I hope that nobody ever tells you that building relationships and being personable with them is something that's wrong as a doctor. I think that's so great and that separates the best doctors from the rest. Gambattene.