Wandering in the Ward

I am a medical student aka ward wanderer.

Attending morning ward round is one of many routines that I have during my term time.

(The other routines include:
1. waking up late and intoxicate my brain with lots of caffeine
2. rushing to the ward while putting on my name tag, tie, stethoscope, etc
3. feeling relieved yet frustrated when I am the only person in my team who arrives at the ward ie the other docs are late for the round ie I could have stuffed a slice of toast in my stomach if i know this earlier.)

During the ward round, the consultant will see the patients, say hello to them while the junior doc will write the important observations and management plans on the patient's note, often they write so quickly that no one including themselves can read the writing afterwards. I don't blame them because they really have very limited time for this as they still need to fill out lots of forms and occasionally need to answer their bleeps.

Some of the patients that I met during the round were like staying there forever. They often came to the hospital with 1 illness but then they were suffered with more infections while staying in the hospital. When they recovered they still cannot be discharged as they haven't got any 1 who can care for them so they will prolong their stay and eventually they become permanent residents in the hosp. It's sad but true.

Wandering around the ward doesn't just give me the opportunities to learn about medicine but it also stimulates my thinking about how the social issues can give rise to physical diseases and mental illnesses.

Bless them.