Originally posted by Rupert I just wanted to see if they will actually help when the time comes that I really need them.....I believe they will. The Doc, such a wonderful young lady, said she will do whatever is necessary to make me at ease and as free of pain as possible. I appreciate that!
In our first week we had a three-day module called 'Berufsfelderkundung', which roughly translates to 'exploration of career options'. Professors (who, of course, are all practicing physicians too) from eighteen different medical specialities came in to talk about their field, what it entails, what the work is like, and, of course, tried to get us excited and make a point about why their field is the most exciting and worthwhile. Bar one or two all of the speakers were exceptional, but naturally some talks were more highly anticipated, like surgery, neurology or forensic medicine, and some less, like dermatology, gynaecology ... or palliative medicine.
When the guy presenting the latter came in - John Oliver style glasses, funny suspenders - we were wondering what kind of oddball they'd put in front of us now. Then he gave the best talk of all of them. Fascinating, deep, somewhat philosophical, interspersed with stories of patients he had known, and how they went. Three minutes in we were already hanging on his lips. I particularly remember when he mentioned the famous phrase doctors utter when telling a patient that this is the end: I am sorry, but there is nothing more we can do for you.
"It's completely wrong!" he said.
"There is so much
we can still do for them!"
I'm not the kind of person who is particularly sensitive about most things (I had a big smile on my face today when I squeezed my hand under our cadaver's lung to poke the cardiac apex), but that talk touched me, and I believe pretty much everyone else in the lecture theatre.
I am glad to hear you have such a wonderful doctor, Jim. I doubt I'll go into palliative medicine, but people like her are the kind of doctor I want to be one day.
Last edited by FantasticMrFox; 11-03-2017 at 01:43 PM.