No Offense But I Really Can't Stand Adult Patients

I consider myself a good person....most of the time.  But I really dislike dealing with adult patients.  I'm sure you're wondering "Why did it take you so long to figure that out?  Haven't you been dealing with adults in all your other rotations besides Peds?"  The answer to this question is yes, I have been dealing with adults but I was either cutting them open in surgery or caring for pregnant ladies (who come with infant included so have already earned a few points in my book) or they were crazy (which if you read my early posts crazy people can be quite entertaining).  I mean really think about it...I've done general and orthopedic surgery, ob/gyn, psych and peds.  I'm not sure what this really says about me...that I only like you as a patient if you are anesthetized, are carrying a child, or are amusing me with your hallucinations?  I'm choosing not to dwell much more on that...

This month I entered family practice.  And it's just not my favorite thing.  I'm use to working at a fast pace and being go go go all day long.  I mean I pulled over 80 hour weeks during surgery.  And even in my general peds rotation I was seeing at least 18 patients a day.  This last rotation a really full day had 10 patients.  I should be happy for the break and feel less stressed but instead I feel bored.  I know I shouldn't be complaining, but it's my blog so I'm going to.

Most of my patients are older with multiple chronic diseases.  It's all about managing medications and logging blood pressures and blood sugars.  I have a hard time telling the 82 year old woman who is already on 15 different medications that we have to add another one.  It is also difficult and very frustrating dealing with non-compliant patients all day long.  I don't know how many times someone comes in for a high blood pressure check and they don't bring any logs from home.  A very typical encounter:

Me: "Have you been checking your blood pressure at home?"

Patient: "No, not really."

Me: "Are you following a low salt diet?"

Patient: "No."

Me: "Do you have an exercise routine?"

Patient: "No."  

Me: "Are you taking your meds?"

Patient: "Sometimes."  

I then walk out of the encounter throwing my hands up thinking 'why do I even bother?  What's the point when they don't listen?  Why should I care about their health when they clearly don't?'  I get that you can only do so much and that whole 'you can lead a horse to water but you can't force them to drink' but job satisfaction is very low with this mindset.  I'm just not cut out for family practice and that's ok.  There are people out there who are and I for one am grateful for them.  God bless those who enter family medicine!  But it for sure won't be me.   My calling is pediatrics.  I have endless patience for children and their ridiculous behavior.  I have less patience for adults acting like children.  The highlights of my day are when there are kids in the office.  Every now and then there is a well child check or an acute complaint.  It quickly became known around the office that I like working with kids and so all of them were funneled to me.  I called those encounters my little moments of happiness.  I also got to deliver a few more babies and unlike with Ob/Gyn, I was allowed to follow the infant to the nursery for the newborn exam.

So now that I'm done whining, it has to be said that overall I had a really good experience this past month.  My attending was really smart and very nice.  She taught me a lot and let me do a lot.  I got to perform many procedures by myself.  She really took the time to teach me.  And we share an Alma mater!  She graduated from DU the year after my mom did.  One of those 'it's a small world' moments.  Everyone in the office was nice and I enjoyed my time there.  They even surprised me with having lunch and cupcakes brought in on my birthday.  It was really sweet.

Pretty flowers!

Speaking of my birthday, I am now 25 years old.  Half way to 50...  It was a good day.  There were many small surprises throughout the day.  It also happened to be my last day of this rotation.  It was like all the patients knew it was my birthday and they behaved.  As I already said, the office had a small lunch celebration for me.  My parents had flowers delivered to me at the office.  I had no plans for the night since most of my med school friends had an exam the next day.  Around dinnertime a grade school friend who was transferred to Fort Carson up in Colorado Springs a few weeks ago called me up.  She insisted we do dinner together.  So I drove up to the Springs and we went to the Melting Pot with two of her housemates.  I was very surprised when we were shown to our table and there was a gorgeous bouquet of roses and a Happy Birthday balloon waiting there for me.  It was so sweet of her!  And totally unexpected!  We had an amazing dinner and had our first sleep over together since high school.  It was fun reminiscing about the "old days" together.  It was a perfect day.  A big thank you to everyone who helped to make it a special day!