Workaholic Robot

Two years of housemanship has trained me to be fast pace and efficient, primarily in settling ward work, and clerk work alike.

Undoubtedly, I ain’t so proud of calling myself a doctor. In ED, especially, workload has been unimaginably heavy. Batches and batches of patients hoarded in. Working with some unhelpful staff can make things worse. To have everything on my hand, i realise i tend to neglect what’s probably the most important aspects of clinical life – patient’s emotions.

Many times, I have to stop patient from telling me their concern while directing them to important details in clinching a diagnosis, usually in a rude way. Mind me, I’m inherently ashamed of that, and everytime i did that, i am down with bouts of guilt. But that didn’t stop me. For me, it’s the only way to stop patients from giving unnecessary details, in keeping with my belief — when they don’t like you, they stop sharing stuff with you. Sometimes, you have to stop being nice, for the right purpose I believe.

Then I happened to visit a cousin who was down with an illness. Well it gave me an opportunity to be in the opposite end — the patient’s side.