As a student, it seems horrifying- rushing through patient after patient, not having enough time to address questions or show empathy, forgetting to ask questions and then oops, the patient already left. I noticed this especially in gyn onc clinic, where I would hope discussions with patients would be longer. Instead, even surgeries were discussed very perfunctorily and it was clear that the attendings showed signs of compassion fatigue. In ophtho, too, I noticed the physicians trying to keep things going along. All the patients had to wait for 2 hours to be seen. There was also not enough time to fully show compassion and be there for a patient who just found out that she had a rare retinopathy that would severely limit her vision in the future.
I like these 2 fields but clinic as a whole turns me off, as I feel that under these circumstances, I cannot possible do good doctoring. Not to mention that on top of all this are administrative duties and communication battles with technicians/PAs. As an attending, does clinic get better? Wondering if maybe I'm just wearing mud-stained glasses.
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