Yesterday I volunteered again at Crossover free clinic. While in the back room waiting for the clinic to start, I looked at the front counter, and whom did I see but the patient from last time! This was the first patient to whom I gave a flu shot, and also one of the first I interviewed, when he visited Crossover last month.
My reaction: momentary terror. I went back to the back room really quickly because I did not want him to see me, and I told the doctor, "Shoot, it's the patient I saw from last time!" (Actually, I may have said "Crap" instead of "Shoot." There goes professionalism). Why was I so afraid? Probably because I remembered how diffident I was when examining him last time, and he knows I am just a novice with minimal skills.
Then the clinic started and someone handed me a patient's file. Of all the files I could have received, I just had to have that very same patient. Fortunately, I really did not have to do much--just take vitals, conduct a brief interview, and summarize the findings to the attending, and she did the rest (explanation, treatment, and paperwork).
At this stage, volunteering at clinics benefits me educationally far more than it benefits anyone else. The second-year medical students who were also at the clinic conducted the interview and the physical exam all by themselves before presenting to the attending, while I did not know anything about the physical exam. I yearn to be useful like them, instead of merely tagging along and observing them. I hope that when (and if) I become a second-year medical student, I will be as good as they are.
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