today, i was assigned to go to one of the private clinic in kota bharu for learning purposes and also to fill some empty spaces in my log book.
it is not difficult to find it, and i arrived around 930am. at the door, the front desk lady greet me nicely and told me to go straight to the doctor's room. well...no patient yet but i like the arrangement and design in that clinic. it looks pretty, simple and rich. like u saw in private practices movie. and this clinic is a panel clinic for a lot of companies. so...no wonder it looks 'rich'.
i greet the doctor and stay in that room until i went back to usm. actually, the doctor was so nice to us. she tried her best to teach us anything that she knows. we appreciated it so much. but within that room...i noticed something.
she was uncomfortable with our existence in that room. seriously, i can read it by the way she talked to the patient, and by the way she talked to us. well, it is what was stated in our schedule doctor. if u think our existence in that room made u feel uncomfortable, why u accepted usm's offer at the first place. might be because of money????
from what i experienced today...
GP is the best place for anyone that interested making a lot of money and also, so lazy enough to think about patient's illness and progression. no offense. i said this from what i saw and experienced today.
there's a patient came with painful left thigh swelling with a history of weight lifting a day before and currently, experience pain and cannot perform his work. and as a doctor, what should u do? well, i'll check that swollen area because that is the first complaint. i guess anyone from outside medical world would agree about that right? and the weird thing is...this doctor which i think got a lot of time didn't even take a look at it. straight to the diagnosis and prescription. what u expect? just painkiller and MC.
then a patient came with on and off fever for the past 3 months. sometimes associated with cough. without checking the temperature...straight away prescribed PCM, cough syrup and what-the-hell this antibiotic for? that is what we worried about. too much exposure to antibiotic will produce antibiotic resistance bacteria. and when this bacteria attack your system...with which antibiotic we want to cling for? nothing!
a lot of patient out there came to GP with the hope to be cured. yes, they are the fastest way to get treatment, but bear in mind that, a lot of cases that came to hospital because of GP's prescription. they prescribed anything to you for the sake of money. some of them, u dont even need it. but that's private.
we have been taught about treating our patient as a whole and thoroughly, but when i was in that clinic, all i can say is...they never practice it. if u want to throw away that treating-our-patient-as-a-whole thing, u are suitable to be a GP. yes, u can make a lot of money through it. just imagine <10mins ultrasound(US) of the abdomen with printed photo already cause rm35, if u do 6 US in 1 hour, that's equal to rm210 per hour). that's a lot maaaa. a lot!
well, u can get a lot money from your patients with the reason that you are treating them. but trust me, by doing that, you become disgrace to medical world. from the front, u put a nice face to them, but u are sucking their blood from the back while they are putting their trust on you. but that is our world. money has become a rule for everything.
you can be a GP, you can get a bucket of money, you can say you are treating your patient, but trust me, in the form of doctor....you will never be satisfy.
remember one of twilight's dialogue?
"we live with animal's blood. it just like human living with toofu. it made u full, but u will never satisfied"
well, i can just 'hentam' all of them today because im new and innocent in this medical world. because all the things in my brain has been programmed by my school and lecturers. but actually...i'm afraid that i will be one of them in the future. i hope not. because no one can predict what will happen in future rite?
but, not all GPs are like that. just some of them that forgot the oath that they recited on the day of graduation. so, it is not wrong to go to GP. it just that, be a curious patient. ask about the diagnosis and the prescription. i think it is much much better than stay silent, accept the prescription, pay the bil and out.