Week 2 marks the end of our time in the vascular department with Dr. Piers, and the beginning of our week in the gastroenterology department. We were asked to arrive at 8:30 instead of the usual 7:30, and still spent about an hour and a half waiting for the doctor to arrive. In this time before lunch, we were able to see two patients get a long scope, with a diameter slightly less than that of a penny, shoved down their throat and into their duodenum, intestines, stomach, etc. This was very unsettling to watch as the patient was gagging, coughing, and vomiting the entire time. When the doctor found little polyps on the second patient's stomach lining, she inserted a tool, comparable to tiny wire cutters, down the tube to cut off a few of the polyps for testing. It seemed like pure torture and I wanted nothing more than to yank the tube out of their throat and rip it in half, but I was trying not to be so quick to judge the subject.
Tuesday's trip to the ward did not leave as much of an impression on me. We followed our usual 5th-years around as they interviewed their assigned patients as to why they were there, their initial reason for coming to the hospital, if they have had surgery, their overall well-being, etc. The reason for this was to prepare to present the patient's story to the specialized doctor, and their thoughts regarding it. This seems like a very effective method of learning for the 5th-years about a range of different patient problems and complaints, their diagnosis, their treatment, and whether or not they were improving.
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