Post Author: Rushil Patel

A medical student, molded by experiences with patients

Education
May 5, 2015

There she lay: a 59-year old woman who had become increasingly disoriented and confused. Not only did she have an infection in her bloodstream, years of alcohol abuse had taken its toll on her liver, leaving her skin yellowed.

“Welcome to the ICU,” I thought. In contrast to my previous clinical experience, I found this patient encounter unsettling.

No conversation.

No personality.

No interaction.

She was nothing more than a body in a bed punctured …

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Leadership on a medical rotation: The dichotomy of accountability

Education
March 11, 2015

At the end of one of my earlier rotations where I first worked with a team consisting of residents and an attending physician, I sat down with the senior resident for feedback. Much of our final grade for each rotation in medical school comes from a subjective assessment of our abilities, ranging from clinical competence to professionalism.

She told me I had done a good job with taking ownership of my …

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Evaluating medical students: Beware misleading first impressions

Education
February 4, 2015

I showed up that morning on the inpatient service as a part of my elective. Surprisingly, I found three other medical students present: 1 third year, 2 second years.

The fourth year of medical school has many perks as I have been told by those senior to me. Once the application process gets underway, I have been advised to live every day as though it were my last. Personally, I liked …

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What medicine can learn from the Titanic

Physician
May 26, 2012

April 15th marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, yet the mystique surrounding its demise has not faded. When the colossal vessel first collided with the iceberg, eyewitness accounts described an eerie sense of serenity that pervaded the ship. Passenger J.J. Astor even remarked, “We are safer here than in that little boat,” before later drowning.

To prefer drowning over safety strike us as irrational, but this behavior …

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Speak to a patient as though you were speaking to your grandparents

Education
May 2, 2012

It’s hard to believe that nearly 1.5 years ago have elapsed since my first-year orientation to medical school. Much of it seemed protocol with session after session on rules and regulations, but I vividly remember the few hours spent outlining standardized patient encounters and how my assessments over the next four years would be based on my interactions with a complete stranger. As alien as that idea sounded to me, …

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