I Helped Someone :)

A lot of studying to do today so this will be a short post. Longer ones to come during the week, I promise!

If you follow my blog you will have heard me mention how I help out at my school's Student Run Free Clinic usually one Saturday a month. I usually help out in patient education which means I counsel patients on life style changes including diet, exercise, smoking cessation and drug/alcohol abuse. It is something I enjoy and it is nice to get to have actual patient contact when most of my time is spent reading my notes or listening to lectures. The clinic only sees patients without health insurance so I know we are helping those who need it most.

Even though I enjoy doing it, patient education can be frustrating because you don't know if people are really listening to what you are telling them. A patient may seem receptive to lowering their salt intake because of their high blood pressure but we all know how hard life style changes can be. I only get maybe 10 minutes with a patient and then they have to go home and try to navigate the change by themselves. Many times in the back of my mind I wonder if I will simply be having the same talk with the same patient (or if another student will) when they come back for a follow up visit. I don't do my job any different because of this, but it is a thought that is there. I am grateful we can even provide these education services, I know many clinics can't because of the time it takes, but it is nice to know if what you do is really working.

Well yesterday I was estatic to learn that some of our patients are encouraged by our dedication to couseling them on good habits! I was outside the room while a fellow student was with a patient and heard the patient say how he was smoking 1-2 cigarettes per day. Afterwards the student was commenting on how this wasn't a very high number and I realized that the patient's name sounded familiar. The other student checked the chart and realized him and I had couseled this patient at his last appointment about cutting down on his smoking. At that time he was smoking 10 cigarettes per day!

Now I know the patient did most of the work. He was the one that had to make all that effort to cut down on a habit that is very addicting, but I also know that the encouragement from me and my fellow student at that previous appointment helped him on his way and that makes me very happy!

I didn't cure a disease, I didn't save a life, but I helped someone! To me, it feels like my first victory in my medical career. Maybe it is small but it is an encouragement and that is what is important because it will keep me going towards my goal!