The day before my last

The day was like any other. I was upstairs on the ward, and my doctor was downstairs at consultations. Before heading to the clinic, she asked me to handle everything this morning because she needed to leave by 5 pm. This means an early day for me too, so why not?

There was so much to do. Twelve patients to see and write day notes for. Three of which were ready to be discharged. Typically, I would see the patients I knew spoke English on my own. Afterwards, I would ask the other stagiair to accompany me for the clinical examination of the non-English speaking patients, but yesterday was his last day. 

I quickly remembered none of our patients this week speak English and the other doctor on the ward had his patients to see, so how exactly was this going to work? We agreed, I’d look over everything, and if there were any acute problems, he’d go with me to see the patient.

I checked with the nurses to see if there was something special with any of our patients. Anything at all that required urgent attention. They all said no. This was good news; it meant I could go to the doctor’s office and begin writing patient notes while waiting for the lab results.

I got a coffee and sat down to look at our patient files. One by one, I went through each. I started by reviewing what we wrote yesterday as our plan for the patient. I made sure the requests for all their labs and examinations had been placed. Next, I checked their parameters for last night and this morning. I was jotting down little notes on my paper as I went and making today's note in the patient’s file following the structure I described in a previous blog. Parameters, anamnesis/clinical examination, lab results, and finally, plan. 

The consultations finished early, and my doctor was back on the ward by noon. Together, we went through each patient and took a break to have lunch. After eating, I went downstairs to observe gastroscopies and colonoscopies, while my doctor went upstairs to see our patients. By the time I returned upstairs, my doctor and the Professor had done the ward rounds for the day. 

They say all good things must come to an end, but I am not sure I am ready for my last day at the hospital tomorrow.

Entrance at the UZ Leuven Hospital.