at the ED today, we were told to examine a young boy's cvs system. as i placed my stethoscope on his chest, i heard a murmur, pansystolic, grade 4, loudest over the apex and mitral area...

we took turns to listen, to learn, to recognise and try to identify the murmur.

then a voice rang out.
"All you trainees please get out! My son is not a guinea pig!!!"

i turned and saw the boy's mum who was fuming mad. immediately, we left the young boy to his mother, apologizing as we passed by her.

when i looked back, i saw her hugging her son, comforting him... her anxiety was evident on her face..


such incidents are not uncommon at all.. as doctors in training, we want to get as much clinical exposure as possible, to learn from our patients, to be able to pick up signs. yet concurrently we want to treat our patients with respect, to not treat them as 'guinea pigs', to not disturb them unduly, to give them adequate rest.. it really is a fine line between the two.

no one wants to be shouted at, especially if the intent was not an evil one to begin with. we were just there to learn. how could we learn if we weren't allowed to examine patients?


how would i be able to function as a doctor if i haven't even picked up a clinical sign before as a trainee?


yet i could clearly see where the mother was coming from. she was anxious and distressed over her unwell child. the sight of us placing our stethoscopes on her child's chest was just too much. she was angry. i could have been as angry if i were in her shoes..

there are many obstacles in our learning journey. patients and relatives of patients refusing us is just one of many.

perhaps if our patients and their relatives could try to think from my point of view as a trainee doctor, just like how i try to think from their point of view, the situation would improve.

i've learnt to take things in my stride. shouted at? well.. it's just another day :)