Arrogance III
Monday, August 17, 2009
I've heard flagrantly ridiculous stories about Medical Students doing and saying silly things. Sure, everyone does silly things, but these ones are all a result of a student's inflated self-perception and their lack of humility. Or perhaps plain arrogance. This is the final in a series of three. (You can find the others here and here.)
A student arrives at the scene of a car crash. It looks as though the crash ahs happened a few minutes ago, as there are small crowds around the occupants of each of the cars. There's no smoke, but one person is lying on the ground, looking unwell-ish.
The student pulls out of the line of traffic, screeches to a halt and gallops over to take charge...
"Nobody move him! I'm a MEDICAL STUDENT!"
There's one person knelt by the injured person's head. Let's call him Frank. Frank is holding the patients head straight. The Med Student addresses him with a tommy-gun barrarge of questions;
Did you see what happened?
Have you called the ambos?
Did you move him?
Is he breathing?
Does he have a history of seizures?
Has he been talking?
What is he allergic to?
Is he bleeding from anywhere that we can't see?
Is there family around?
Where are the other passengers?
What's the formula for the area of a circle?
Does he have a fever?
Is anyone carrying a defibrillator?
What's his pulse?
The student frantically begins to examine as much of the patient as possible, without moving him or touching him, making Hmms and Ahs at each graze or scrape.
To which Frank responds, calmly. He was in the care three behind the accident, and saw everything happen. The patient is breathing by themself. As the ambulance's sirens come into earshot over the hill, he quickly answers all the relevant questions, and mentions that he suspects the patient is on drugs.
The Medical Student is somewhat surprised by this last statement. He looks up sharply at Frank and says, "That seems a bit harsh. Just because he pranged into the car in front doesn't mean he's on drugs."
Frank shrugs as the ambos roll up and start triage. The patient on the ground is being loaded up, and Frank explains to the Ambos what happened, how the scene has been treated and managed
The Ambos listen intently, and thank Frank for his help, before heading off "Seeya later, Frank
Meantime, the Medical Student is confused, and standing around with his hands in his pockets. Talking to the crowd, trying to give them advice about their problems and what to do next. Evidently, not used to being utterly useless.
As Frank goes walks to his car, the student jogs over and says, "So, are you a nurse or something? 'coz you did really well to assess that guy and call the ambos."
Frank mentions he's an intensivist at the local Tertiary Metropolitan Hospital.
The student pulls out of the line of traffic, screeches to a halt and gallops over to take charge...
"Nobody move him! I'm a MEDICAL STUDENT!"
There's one person knelt by the injured person's head. Let's call him Frank. Frank is holding the patients head straight. The Med Student addresses him with a tommy-gun barrarge of questions;
Did you see what happened?
Have you called the ambos?
Did you move him?
Is he breathing?
Does he have a history of seizures?
Has he been talking?
What is he allergic to?
Is he bleeding from anywhere that we can't see?
Is there family around?
Where are the other passengers?
What's the formula for the area of a circle?
Does he have a fever?
Is anyone carrying a defibrillator?
What's his pulse?
The student frantically begins to examine as much of the patient as possible, without moving him or touching him, making Hmms and Ahs at each graze or scrape.
To which Frank responds, calmly. He was in the care three behind the accident, and saw everything happen. The patient is breathing by themself. As the ambulance's sirens come into earshot over the hill, he quickly answers all the relevant questions, and mentions that he suspects the patient is on drugs.
The Medical Student is somewhat surprised by this last statement. He looks up sharply at Frank and says, "That seems a bit harsh. Just because he pranged into the car in front doesn't mean he's on drugs."
Frank shrugs as the ambos roll up and start triage. The patient on the ground is being loaded up, and Frank explains to the Ambos what happened, how the scene has been treated and managed
The Ambos listen intently, and thank Frank for his help, before heading off "Seeya later, Frank
Meantime, the Medical Student is confused, and standing around with his hands in his pockets. Talking to the crowd, trying to give them advice about their problems and what to do next. Evidently, not used to being utterly useless.
As Frank goes walks to his car, the student jogs over and says, "So, are you a nurse or something? 'coz you did really well to assess that guy and call the ambos."
Frank mentions he's an intensivist at the local Tertiary Metropolitan Hospital.
Bwahahahaaaa! Awesome. :D
That intensivist was lucky that the Medical Student was there, Saving Lives with his Awesome Knowledge. :P
snap.
Loved this series. It's a good reminder for some that they aren't the centre of the universe.
I've got one for you. True story.
The site is in a pub in Tasmania, a group of medical students who earlier in the day had finished their end of year exams are celebrating. In walk a small group of out of towners, tourists maybe? There's an African man in the group, who one of the younger students approaches. 'You've got cataracts,' he tells the stranger. There's an animated discussion. He calls over his friend, 'he's a final year medical student who's just finished his exams. He'll tell you you've got cataracts.' A new guy comes over. More discussion. Medical student 2 tells him he's going to be an ophthalmologist when he finishes. You've got cataracts.
It goes on for a bit longer, until the man tells them what he does for a living. Turns out they were part of a group of doctors on a conference with a few consultant surgeons and registrars in the mix.
Love your blog. I'm a journalist writing about pharmacists & social media - I see you're also a pharmacist - would love to talk to you if you have time? Happy to keep your anonymity if you want. franmolloy@gmail.com - thanks!
Oh hilarious! Poor med student! That intensivist will never forget him...
This series has been great, can you please find some more stories?? :P