MY CLINICAL ROTATION DIARY

Talking about feeling stupid…midway into my rotation in one of the first departments, I began to wonder what I was doing studying medicine. It felt like the past 5 years in med school was a waste. Worse still the way they “drilled” (my modest word for ridicule) us made me feel worse. The competition to save face was pretty intense, especially amongst the students, or maybe that’s what I saw.

I also got to see that having an MBBS wasn’t the end of the struggle; you have to keep writing exams afterexams to climb up the ladder in your career till you become a consultant, that’s the system. The consultants are like gods everyone bows to.  They earn it though, because it’s no child’s play to attaining that position. They go on ward rounds without their lab coats (that’s what I saw). You could identify a consultant amongst a group of doctors, because he’d be the only one on his outwear. The consultant has the final say even if he is wrong.  

Please keep in mind that this is subjective, and based on my experience.

The younger Doctors (I mean in rank) are allowed to handle the minor cases while major ones were left to the consultants. I think that’s how it should be though, because that way you give room to the younger ones to gain experience. Errors are corrected by your “chief” depending on your rank. And of course doctors in the same rank could exchange ideas, sometimes down the rank too.

It’s been an interesting experience.

Back to my Pediatrics rotation, I particularly liked this consultant because he calmly explained what we needed to know, and encouraged us to ask questions if we were confused about anything. The doctors under him were also welcoming, though some didn’t show if they cared about us, but others did.

I fell ill towards the end of this rotation, so I missed the last day since I had to go see a doctor as advised.