Hepatology week 3, day 1

It is the last week of 2021. Can you believe it?

My last rotation in Belgium is now halfway through, and in just two weeks, I’ll be returning to Hungary. I am lost for words…I still have so much that I want to see and do in Belgium. I guess the next two weeks are going to be busy.

Anyways, about my practice. Today started a lot like Friday. My doctor started downstairs at consultations, and I started upstairs on the ward. I began by reviewing what happened over the weekend and jotted down some things that needed chasing up. Those would be the priorities. Next, I wrote the notes for today. 

Typically, the order of notes are:

• Parameters/Vital signs - blood pressure, pulse, oxygen saturation, temperature, and respiratory rate. These are usually taken by the nurse periodically throughout the day and can easily be checked in the Care tab.
• Anamnesis/Clinical examination - this includes what your patient tells you and what you find when you perform your clinical examination
• Labs - here, you summarise the most significant findings of today’s lab report.
• Plan - based on the above, you decide what you will do for your patient and make a list, so nothing is forgotten. 

I typed out the above for each patient leaving out the Anamnesis/Clinical Examination and the Plan. Some plans could be made while looking at only the parameters and lab results on the computer screen, but the majority of the plans would be based on the physical examination at the bedside.

I had some time before my doctor returned. I grabbed a coffee and a snack until she came. When she arrived, there was nothing urgent, so we decided to have lunch first. Once we got back upstairs, we quickly went through the patients together before the professor came. After we’d discussed everyone, we went to do the rounds. 

Now I could write in the missing part of my notes. I filled in the Anamnesis/Clinical examination and Plan parts for each patient while my doctor made some phone calls. 

Following this, we had three new admissions. Luckily, the other doctor took one of the admissions, but that still left my doctor and me with two more patients to see. We had to do their whole workup before we could leave go home.

This is where this post ends. I am off to make dinner. See you tomorrow!