As
medical students, we don’t get many opportunities to jump in and defib
patients, or call code blues, or perform CPR. And honestly, we probably
don’t want to. But we all want to help people. So here’s a handy guide
on how to make a difference in med school.
Donate blood. One blood donation saves three lives.
Become an organ donor. You don’t even have to donate your whole
body—you can select to donate certain parts if you need to keep your
body intact for religious or cultural beliefs.
Volunteer.
Okay, so maybe volunteering won’t save lives (unless you volunteer as a
first aider), but it will definitely make the world a happier, shinier
place.
Keep yourself well. As a medical student, the most
important life you can save is your own. Engage with your peers. Take a
walk outside. Try not to drink too much coffee Have fun occasionally.
Watch Grey’s Anatomy without feeling the need to comment on the fact
that Izzie wears her stethoscope backwards or bemoaning the fact that
surgeons are rarely as hot as McSteamy.
Help the nurses on
clinical placement. Sure, the doctors prescribe drugs and write
management plans. But in hospitals, the only reason anything ever gets
done is because we have amazing nurses. Ask if you can follow a nurse
around for a shift. Not only will you get a work-out, but you’ll
appreciate the sheer amount of work they do. And most nurses have
brilliant communication skills—you’ll learn a lot. And even little
things, like settling a baby while a nurse is tending to another patient
or offering to find the doctors and get them to chart drugs for a
patient can make a huge difference.
Speak up. Do you think the
registrar has missed something? Ask them if it they think it’s
important. I was in ED the other night, and a girl was seizing and had a
rash over her eye, and my reg hadn’t commented on it, so I asked if it
was of significance. It wasn’t, but the reg explained to me what she was
actually looking for.
Talk to patients. Again, maybe you
won’t directly save a life. But have you ever been in hospital? It’s a
lonely place. Not all patients get flowers and family visiting them. Not
all patients have friends to drop by and say hi. Approach them. Ask if
you can clerk them. Ask them how they are. Go and say goodbye when
they’re discharged. Smile at them. It might make a world of difference
to someone.
Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. Not
everything your supervisors say will be right. Always double-check drug
dosages.
Learn because you enjoy what you’re doing. If you
learn because you have to, or because you have to be a doctor, not
because you want to, you’re doing yourself and your patients a great
disservice. Not everything in medicine will be enjoyable. Engage with
your learning. Approach everything with an open mind and fascination.
Dream. Imagine what you could do and how you might change the world. It
may be naive, but this is the greatest strength of being a student—we
haven’t yet been jaded by the system. We can still find ourselves
inspired by medicine—and from this, innovation is born.
