Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest
What's your favourite thing about medicine?
-
11-07-2009 1:17am#1
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
D.R cowboy wrote: »sam It most be tough doing your line of work, but what are the bright sides of it?
there are loads!
as with all areas of medicine, there's the immense satisfaction that you have done something that has made someone better. that sounds simplistic, but you can never underestimate how distressing and significant someones symptoms are to them, even if we think they "only" have "mild" illness.
people dont often think of psychiatric illnesses as life-threatening, but severe depression can be, not just because of suicide, but because of a patient not eating or drinking. i have seen ECT save many lives in these kinds of people, and seeing the relatively quick turnaround is immensely rewarding. to know that your timely intervention literally saved someone from death is amazing. (i just wish the anti-ect brigade could witness some of teh success stories, but thats another thread!)
when dealing with people who have major major illnesses, really chronic and enduring stuff, the day to day rewards are quite limited, as change and progress tends to take time in these people. but when it happens, it's great!
i'm talking about the people who have been floridly psychotic for years, sometimes decades, who are totally treatment resistant and are (usually) in longterm institutional care. you just have to adjust your outcome measures and accept that improvement may mean them asking if they can have a shower instead of having to be bribed/cajoled/gently encouraged to do so!
i worked in one of the old style institutions for a good while. it was sad on one level, seeing people who had been abandoned by their families and communities, but i was delighted to work there - firstly, just for the opportunity, as these buildings will close forever over the next decade or so, and secondly because of the patient population - i saw mental illness and "madness" like i had never seen before. seriously off the wall stuff. it fascinated me, and intrigued me, and taught me a lot, and i look back on those days with fond memories. (does that make me sound very weird?:p)
again, while not wanting to sound odd, the process of detaining someone against their will is something that is very rewarding. why? because, by and large, when it gets to that stage, the patient is in distress, in not amenable to reason and needs someone to step up to the plate and take action. being able to do that, and able to initiate the process of recovery, (however long that may take) is satisfying. knowing that your action here may have prevented a suicide, or harm to others, or harm to self is a great reward.
psych is not always, or even often, about cures, but more about symptomatic relief. i work in old-age psych, and see a lot of people with dementia who have paranoid symptoms and agitation. management of these is delicate, and not just a matter of throwing benzos at them. i know their dementia will progress, but i like having a role to play in making their final days/weeks/months/years more dignified, less distressing and more comfortable.
i like the majority of my psychiatric colleagues. it's fair to say that those who are in psychiatry because of a genuine interest are decent, salt of teh earth people. unfortunately, psych gets a lot of NCHDs who are in it because it is a job, and the only job they could get. by and large, these people are not really interested and dont really give a damn, and their work ethic is poor. thats frustrating.
psych is multi-disciplinary and holistic. you and a team get very involved with patients and their families, and you get to know them quite well. i would hate to be in a specialty where you patch someone up, review them at 6 weeks and tehn never see them again. seems like a conveyor belt to me.
after a considerable time in psychiatry, i think its fair to say that i am officially no longer shockable
i have heard and seen it all! when patients tell me something that they expect will elicit shock form me, and they are worried about taht, i love seeing the relief dawn when they realise im not disgusted or shocked.
part of me has to admit that sometimes i enjoy other peoples discomfiture when i tell them socially that i am a psychiatrist! it is literally a conversation stopper. they immediately panic and try to remember what theyve been saying to you, and are wondering if youre ananlysing them. its hilarious to watch. however, my mirth is usually followed by annoyance and frustration at the lack of unerstanding out there about what a psychiatrist is and does.
while im on a roll here i may as well mention what i ahte about the job:
one word: STIGMA
it is so pervasive in society
have a look at threads on these boards, you will see all kinds of crap propagated about the mentally ill and the psych services.
people are living in ignorance, which promotes (unjustified) fear.
but its not just the general public - i have to constantly fight with medical colleagues just so my patients will get the treatment they deserve, and not be dismissed as "just psych".
psych patients presenting with physical illness are not always taken as seriously as they should be. their symptoms are sometimes dismissed or attributed to being "in the head". it can be hard get medics down to see someone on teh psych ward sometimes, and nigh on impossible get them to transfer a medically very compromised patient to a more appropriate setting.
i absolutely hate that i have to defend my profession from scientologists and other morons who think that psychiatrists are interested in simply drugging everyone to the hilt, and that we drug people simply for being a little bit different, alternative or odd. i hate the fact that the scientologists picket conferences with signs depicting "dr death" injecting something directly into someones brain. i despise that, above all other specialties, we are perceived as having a very dubious relationship with the pharma companies.
i also hate the uninformed idiots who think anyone with any sign of mental ilness should be locked up, forever, away from so called civilised society.
you can be guaranteed that teh vast majority of our detractors know precious little about serious mental illness and its consequences.
now, are ya sorry you asked! i didnt intend to go on such a rant, but it kinda flowed!
edit, just re-read the post and i wonder if it comes across as if i think of myself as some unsung hero - thats certainly not the case and not the impression i was trying to give!0 -
there are loads!
as with all areas of medicine, there's the immense satisfaction that you have done something that has made someone better. that sounds simplistic, but you can never underestimate how distressing and significant someones symptoms are to them, even if we think they "only" have "mild" illness.
people dont often think of psychiatric illnesses as life-threatening, but severe depression can be, not just because of suicide, but because of a patient not eating or drinking. i have seen ECT save many lives in these kinds of people, and seeing the relatively quick turnaround is immensely rewarding. to know that your timely intervention literally saved someone from death is amazing. (i just wish the anti-ect brigade could witness some of teh success stories, but thats another thread!)
when dealing with people who have major major illnesses, really chronic and enduring stuff, the day to day rewards are quite limited, as change and progress tends to take time in these people. but when it happens, it's great!
i'm talking about the people who have been floridly psychotic for years, sometimes decades, who are totally treatment resistant and are (usually) in longterm institutional care. you just have to adjust your outcome measures and accept that improvement may mean them asking if they can have a shower instead of having to be bribed/cajoled/gently encouraged to do so!
i worked in one of the old style institutions for a good while. it was sad on one level, seeing people who had been abandoned by their families and communities, but i was delighted to work there - firstly, just for the opportunity, as these buildings will close forever over the next decade or so, and secondly because of the patient population - i saw mental illness and "madness" like i had never seen before. seriously off the wall stuff. it fascinated me, and intrigued me, and taught me a lot, and i look back on those days with fond memories. (does that make me sound very weird?:p)
again, while not wanting to sound odd, the process of detaining someone against their will is something that is very rewarding. why? because, by and large, when it gets to that stage, the patient is in distress, in not amenable to reason and needs someone to step up to the plate and take action. being able to do that, and able to initiate the process of recovery, (however long that may take) is satisfying. knowing that your action here may have prevented a suicide, or harm to others, or harm to self is a great reward.
psych is not always, or even often, about cures, but more about symptomatic relief. i work in old-age psych, and see a lot of people with dementia who have paranoid symptoms and agitation. management of these is delicate, and not just a matter of throwing benzos at them. i know their dementia will progress, but i like having a role to play in making their final days/weeks/months/years more dignified, less distressing and more comfortable.
i like the majority of my psychiatric colleagues. it's fair to say that those who are in psychiatry because of a genuine interest are decent, salt of teh earth people. unfortunately, psych gets a lot of NCHDs who are in it because it is a job, and the only job they could get. by and large, these people are not really interested and dont really give a damn, and their work ethic is poor. thats frustrating.
psych is multi-disciplinary and holistic. you and a team get very involved with patients and their families, and you get to know them quite well. i would hate to be in a specialty where you patch someone up, review them at 6 weeks and tehn never see them again. seems like a conveyor belt to me.
after a considerable time in psychiatry, i think its fair to say that i am officially no longer shockable i have heard and seen it all! when patients tell me something that they expect will elicit shock form me, and they are worried about taht, i love seeing the relief dawn when they realise im not disgusted or shocked.
part of me has to admit that sometimes i enjoy other peoples discomfiture when i tell them socially that i am a psychiatrist! it is literally a conversation stopper. they immediately panic and try to remember what theyve been saying to you, and are wondering if youre ananlysing them. its hilarious to watch. however, my mirth is usually followed by annoyance and frustration at the lack of unerstanding out there about what a psychiatrist is and does.
while im on a roll here i may as well mention what i ahte about the job:
one word: STIGMA
it is so pervasive in society
have a look at threads on these boards, you will see all kinds of crap propagated about the mentally ill and the psych services.
people are living in ignorance, which promotes (unjustified) fear.
but its not just the general public - i have to constantly fight with medical colleagues just so my patients will get the treatment they deserve, and not be dismissed as "just psych".
psych patients presenting with physical illness are not always taken as seriously as they should be. their symptoms are sometimes dismissed or attributed to being "in the head". it can be hard get medics down to see someone on teh psych ward sometimes, and nigh on impossible get them to transfer a medically very compromised patient to a more appropriate setting.
i absolutely hate that i have to defend my profession from scientologists and other morons who think that psychiatrists are interested in simply drugging everyone to the hilt, and that we drug people simply for being a little bit different, alternative or odd. i hate the fact that the scientologists picket conferences with signs depicting "dr death" injecting something directly into someones brain. i despise that, above all other specialties, we are perceived as having a very dubious relationship with the pharma companies.
i also hate the uninformed idiots who think anyone with any sign of mental ilness should be locked up, forever, away from so called civilised society.
you can be guaranteed that teh vast majority of our detractors know precious little about serious mental illness and its consequences.
now, are ya sorry you asked! i didnt intend to go on such a rant, but it kinda flowed!
edit, just re-read the post and i wonder if it comes across as if i think of myself as some unsung hero - thats certainly not the case and not the impression i was trying to give!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb5LJ_Gdwyc
You deserve this song great reply0 -
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
allsaintssue wrote: »I love when people say 'Excuse me, Nurse...', although truth be told I have a horrible habit of turning around to see who they're talking to when this happens:o
Haha why's that a horrible habit?? They could be talking to you! All the different uniforms can be very confusing. I get called nurse all the time, don't bother correcting them any more unless they ask about something to do with their meds etc.
Nice to see more student nurses on here
Clinical skills so far is my favourite part of medicine...learning the practical side, but tbh I love all of it. In my job as a nursing auxillary, doing the little things that cheers a patient up...taking the trouble to sit them up properly for lunch, washing their hair, giving them a foot soak...love that
0 -
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
Advertisement