So What Now Clerk? Lesson 2

Lesson 2: Clerks are every bit as doctors as their residents.

I am fortunate to belong to a hospital where clerks get to practically do everything. From IV insertions, NGT insertions,  to lumbar punctures (if lucky), foley cath insertions, minor suturing, and so on. And by everything we are also required to do interviews, PEs, plan and do immediate management allowed within our scope of skills . Although our residents still get to have a last say on how to manage patients, just the amount of involvement a clerk gets to have in the care of patients, warrants that we see ourselves not just a mere cogs but as every bit a doctor as  our seniors. Sure almost 75% of what clerks do are scut work, and we don't have to worry about our licenses being revoked, but I believe that the impact we make, by the things we say or do to our patients, requires that we act with utmost resposibility, see ourselves as significant and do our best to manage our patients as if they're not mere loadwork.

The best days I have in my current Family Medicine OPD rotation  is when I  get to have the luxury of time seeing my patients. Not just because it means it's less toxic , but because such times allow me to know people better. It gives me the opportunity to genuinely interact, know how their circumstances might have caused their disease. or how they might feel about some of their unhealthful behavior. Time buys me the privilege to see patients in their entirety,  how I could help them beyond prescribing drugs, and most importantly, kung paano makipag-kapwa tao.

Related Links:
Lesson 1: You will not die from clerkship
Lesson 3: Clerkship is tiring but undoubtedly rewarding