Wednesday 5 January 2011

Variety is the Spice of Life

I've just finished the end of my second day of my GP placement. I had an early start, a late finish but a very nice gap in which I got to go home in the afternoon.

I'm enjoying GP a lot more that I thought I would. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I was dreading it a bit. It's such a relief after seeing lots of inpatients with similar problems to see a big variety of patients of all different ages, races and backgrounds with a huge mixture of different problems. It's also lovely to see the relationship the GP has with many of his patients. He repeatedly pointed out patients older than I am that he has known since birth. One patient even bought him a bottle of wine to say thanks for his treatment, it was lovely to see.

Although I'm enjoying it a lot I still don't think it's the career for me. I don't like the fact that tests aren't right at your fingertips and I don't like the rude demanding patients who insist on sick notes or antibiotics.

I was also petrified by the number of people who came in with flu. I haven't had time to get my flu jab yet so I tried to hold my breath every time one of them came in. Needless to say holding your breath for 8-9 minutes is a little difficult so I may have breathed in some flu germs... nooooooo!!

Lily xXx

P.S I've discovered a new thingy called "graze" online, where you can order boxes of yummy and relatively healthy treats which fit through your letter box. For lazy people like me this is ideal. It's like the take-away of the snack world. I have a code for a free box if anyone wants to try...
QGXK196 ... input it on www.graze.com if you fancy trying it.96


2 comments:

A New Kind of GP said...

Oh Lily!
You and me! See my post on this very issue about spraying virus everywhere!

Stay cool about general practice though - you end up with the patients you deserve - if you hand out antibiotics because it's the path of least resistance, you end up with patients who, not suprisingly, think they need antibiotics for every little snivel.

But general practice is for the long term - you get to know your patients, they get to know you - and an important aspect of your role is to do the best for them, which invariably involves patient and repeated explanation.

And when it comes to investigations - I think a GP's role is more akin to what has always been the hallmark of a good physician - one who primarily uses clinical judgement and time to make a diagnosis. This may mean using investigations over a period of time, but often there is no rush. You can over-medicalise things.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the code - looks good :)
Good luck in GP-land. You never know you might become a convert.