That's a quote from Hippocratic oath I vowed to follow during my graduation day of becoming a physician. From then on, it's been marked in my heart - I will keep all of my patients from harm and injustice. But some unfortunate circumstances (yes I call it unfortunate, referring to myself as the one suffering bad fortune) of being a doctor that I would like to plea to not be repeated. (i reckon many physicians would thumbs up on this one :-))
Situation #1: At 12 midnight when I was fast asleep after a long day of work, my phone rang for a missed call, then followed by one message : Doc, ano po ang gamot sa singaw, 1 week na kasi at ayaw pa rin mawala? Goodness gracious! My initial reaction was I would like to call back and shout at the person texting me, do you know what time is it now? Ang singaw ba ngayon ay emergency na at kelangan itawag sa doctor ng madaling araw? At bakit naman 1 week na pala yang singaw mo eh napili mo pa magtanong at 12 midnight, di na ba kayang maghintay ng umaga kinabukasan? Ayayayay! But since I was already awake, mag reply nalang, inom po kayo vitamin C, and put rowagel bukas po ng umaga after nyo po kumain ng breakfast. Hoping that the person texting me got the point that mouth ulcers can wait til tomorrow morning to be treated and we can go back to sleep undisturbed.
Situation #2: Still in the wee hours when I was retiring, my phone rang unceasingly that I had no choice but to pick it up: then a happy voice from the other line saying: hello doc ja, pasensya na ha? yung anak ko kasi may ubo at sipon magdadalawang linggo na, ano pwedeng gamot? I would answer back as polite as I could be, may lagnat po ba ang anak ninyo? nahirapan po ba huminga at hindi makatulog dahil sa ubo at sipon? An answer that got my nerve, ay hindi naman, okay naman sya, natutulog ngayon ng mahimbing. Goodness gracious! What in the world made you call me in this unholy hour when your child was sleeping well? Besides, if you've waited two weeks before calling me that you're child had cough and colds, then it may not matter too much to wait for few hours, til the morning before calling me. Justifiable right?
Situation #3: Still in the middle of my sleep I received a call, doc ano po gamot sa pigsa ko, mag iisang buwan na kasi to ayaw mawala? Grrrr! ang pigsa mo, pigsa parin yan bukas, kaya pwed matulog muna tayo ngayon at bukas pagusapan natin kung ano gamot nyan? I wished to answer, but no, doctors can't do that (at least I won't do it) So in the middle of the night I will discuss the treatment of boil, that is not so emergency. :-s
I loath of having a cellphone sometimes...
Hmmm...It seems like I'm complaining here, but I am not. I'm really not! Anyone who needs my help can still call me anytime they want. :-) I would just like to remind everyone, in a doctor's point of view, that not all diseases are emergency cases that need to be consulted in the wee hours. Doctors are humans too, they are not awake 24/7, they get tired like everybody, they need to rest and have a good night sleep. So if its not heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, seizure, or near death situation, I plea, wait until the decent time of the day, before you call a doctor and have a consult for free. :-)
in the middle of the night i keep on laughing di ko ma imagine face mo hahaha.... because nakaka relate din ako.
ReplyDeleteI work in a travel agency, at 12 midnight when u are asleep I received a call from our tourist guide waiting for our guest in the airport and asking me why the flight is delayed? oh my since you are their why don't u ask somebody right? and I'm not the flight controller ayun sira na tulog ko grrrr....
Good night doc ja i hope di ka nagising ...^_^ kenchin...
Good thing, commenting in my blog has no alarm! LOL I had a good night sleep last night, thank God! God bless to your work! and thank you very much for spending time reading my blog :-)
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