Last weekend, we sadly said our goodbyes to Dr. Gruber, Mrs. Gruber, Dr. Toledo, and Natalie, all of whom have been with us for many weeks. But with this farewell came the arrival of our new attending from New York, Dr. David Rhee. He has been a wonderful addition to the clinic, and things have been running smoothly since his arrival. After working in the clinic for three weeks, I’ve begun to notice certain trends in the different illnesses we treat – scabies, respiratory viral infections, impetigo, and intestinal parasites are among the most common – and I’ve learned to recognize different skin conditions after seeing so many cases. One of the most exciting aspects of my work in the clinic here has been working with Dr. Rhee as he explains the children’s’ conditions to their mothers. I often get a chance to help explain Dr. Rhee’s diagnosis to the child’s mother and how exactly mom should give the prescribed medicine to her child. It’s been extremely fulfilling getting to be the one who reassures mom that her child is healthy, or that he will feel much better in a week after taking the medicine we prescribe. Just yesterday, for instance, a mother brought her children in for a follow-up visit to make sure they no longer had intestinal parasites. When I told her that her two baby boys were perfectly healthy and that their residual stomach pain would pass within a matter of days, her face relaxed into a smile. Then we laughed, talking about how silly her two boys were, and Dr. Rhee and I sent her on her way with a month’s supply of Flintstone chewable vitamins and some stuffed animal toys. Even simple cases like these can be rewarding, making every day in clinic a fulfilling experience.
Through my experience I’ve found that sometimes when I explain a child’s diagnosis to his mother, mom simply nods her head to signal that she’s understood, when in fact she doesn’t quite understand how to properly give her child his medicines. So I’ve learned that the most effective way to make sure mom understands everything is to ask her to explain back to me the doctor’s advice and how she is going to use the medicines when she goes home – only then can I rest assured that she understands everything I’ve told her. Working with moms who sometimes don’t understand everything when it’s first explained has made me realize that it would be a good idea to find out just how well the patients in general are understanding the doctors and their directions. So I began brainstorming with Dr. Rhee about a good way to assess this level of understanding, and we agreed that a great way to do so would be to conduct a quick interview with patients after they finish seeing the doctor, to learn how well they understand their child’s condition and to ask them to explain to us how they will be taking their medicines. From there, we can use the surveys to provide the doctors with feedback about the things they are doing well and those they can work on. Hopefully, this little project will be a good way to help our clinic continue to improve and to ensure that we are providing our patients with exceptional care.
