ENT Hysteria

So I have been gone for a while. Yeah, not that long to warrant being missed. Nonetheless, let me rant about my week, appropriately called the ENT Hysteria.
 

Monday

First day. Welcome to the Ear, Nose, and Throat – Head and Neck Surgery Department! As usual on first days I was late. When I got to the department office everyone was there already except me. Terrible I know. Far horrifying was knocking, turning the door knob and finding everyone’s faces  staring back at you.

 My 3 classmates were already seated, and so are the resident ENT surgeons. The standard orientation regarding duties and responsibilities, exams and grading system, and lates and absences…followed. For every 3 lates you incur an 8-hour extension. Excused absences you pay:  one is to one. Unexcused absences: one is to three. Also, complete uniform is required, said the chief resident straight to my eyes. I was missing my nameplate.

We then proceeded to the ENT pre-op and post-op wards for the daily bedside endorsement. Since, it’s our first day we were excused…NOT! We were asked brain-melting questions regarding the patients we haven’t even seen yet. Hmm… but they were considerate enough and just told us to brush on our ENT anatomy and read on all the stuff we were’nt able to answer, and be prepared to be quizzed yet again tomorrow!

After the rounds we carried out the orders in the patients’ charts, then proceded to the Outpatient Department (OPD) to see… yeah, outpatients. Now, here is the part where I reveal why I placed (in TNF) Historian as my occupation. 

My classmates and I were seated in 4 little interview cubicles. The nurses call out the patients one by one into the cubices. Then we do what we do best <toinks!>. We interview the patient and write their History down in their OPD record.  After a brief run through of their chief complaint, history of present illness, past medical history, family and personal/social history, some even sexual history, we examine the patient.  Since it’s ENT, then the physical examination (PE) is limited to inspection, palpation, otoscopy, rhinoscopy, and laryngoscopy.

When we’re done we take the patient to the ENT surgeon and report the History we gathered  and the PE findings. We give the doctor our Impression and then 3-5 differential diagnosis. Imagine the horror! At first it’s nerve wracking to present a patient’s case right there and then in front of your senior and be asked about the pathophysiology of nasal polyp, otitis media, laryngitis, toxic goiter, and blah blah. Thank goodness I still have my cortex intact!

The doctor takes additional history and makes his own PE, gives the correct diagnosis, and then prescribes the medicines or does an ENT procedure, then discharges the patient. This routine goes on ’til lunch and resumes back again at half past one. My partner and I were dismissed at 5pm. The other pair had to remain for their 24 hour duty, til the next day when we relieve them.

AN: Writing down a week is long! I’ll chop it into days. Can I even finish this? <.<

~ by marihime on March 17, 2008.