Importance of Early Clinical Contact

Introduction:

For one to be able to function as doctor, he must have the qualities of both Professionalism And Humanisim "The accordance of deep respect to humans individually, and to humanity collectively, and concern for their general welfare and flourishing"- Goldberg, J.L. , both are which critical charactaristics of an exceling doctor. He who wants to become a future doctor, will have to overcome his personal emotions and be able to prepare for hard encounters to come, hence, taking care of patients on a professional scale. It is impiritive for a doctor to know what he'll face, and what things to do in order to be able to treat a patient, striving to understand his background, wether medical or social, thus using the Bio-psycho-social model to cure and help the patient in the best way possible.

Personal experience:

Through the hospital's corridors, patients laying in their beds, hooked up to their IVs. One can see what kind of sufferring the patients endured just by looking to their faces.

Explaining to the students what they went through and how is their treatment going, the doctor also showed us what they do for patients- cardiovascular patients who are in the process of rehabilitation after a surgery- for example, walking in a straight line back and forward for 200 meters to make them accustomed to their post-op state. As simple and easy as these exercises might seem, you can see the amount of energy it required them to do these exercises, and the amount of stress they were put under for their own good. One can look at these "simple" exercises and wont stop for a moment to think what the patients who are doing it feel like, but not when you're a doctor. This kind of observation enhances your perspective of a doctor-patient relationship, it heightens your emotions and makes you think of the situation in the eyes of the patient, which is a good thing in order to understand actually how the patient feels and be able to provide for him, a greater amount of help.

Looking at how doctors treat patients, you'll get a sense of the Bio-psycho-social model of medicine that we hear about. You'll know that in order to be able to cure a patient, and provide help and comfort, you need to "Listen" to the patient, you need to listen to his side of the story and "connect the dots" of his life, in your biological, psychological and social understanding of him. And in order to understand such a thing,the possession of Empathy is a must. "Professionalism in medical education must include the development of empathy" - Dean Gianakos, MD.

Doctors need to work together, understanding and sharing information with other medical professionals such as nurses and assistants is a must for everyone to be able to function as a group and provide for the patient in the most helpful way possible. Encountring this in the early clinical rounds helps medical students achieve such a requirement, because exposing them to this kind of work environment at an early stage will help strengthen their sense of team work, hence functioning and providing better results with future fellow doctors and nurses. "This means foregoing the 20th century's preferred "independent physician" model in favor of a new professional structure based on teamwork and collaboration" - Holsinger JW Jr, Beaton B.

From a patient's perspective:

One would expect a woman patient with in the heart rehabilitation section after undergoing lung removal because of cancer and a heart surgery to be sad, miserable and to never see her smile. It was exactly the opposite. No one could expect that kind of persistence in a woman with that kind of situation, as a doctor and as a student, you couldn't help but admire by the strength that she showed.

The impact of the patient's condition on medical students:

As a first year medical student, this type of citing and observation is vital for a better development as a better doctor that respects the patient and offer a better treatment for him/her with better understanding of the patient's perspective, it allows the doctor to understand the patient better and on a much greater scale than before, offering a new perspective and a wide variety of solutions and thinking to the doctor.

The importance of Critical thinking:

Let's not forget what is the most critical part of clinical observations, that is critical thinking and problem solving. As important as empathy seems, to actually be a doctor, one must have the intelligence to actually be able to perfom as one. Early clinical experience offers just that, it allows the student to observe doctors talking