Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Cats and dogs


The ongoing war between surgeons and anaesthetist will always be the story to tell in the coffee room everyday. Ask any surgeon , or any anaesthetist ; how we would talk badly about the other person is ! Should this be the way of the future ? Obviously not lar..

Common quotes :
Anaesthetist..
"Mr X insisted on doing that case and he didn't mind us ventilating the patient in the ward post op.. Palliative case what he said ..."

Surgeon
"PAtient came all the way from Penang and they cancelled his case because his BP is not well controlled .. short procedure only , takde otak ke ? "

" Don't worry .. it's a 20 minutes job.."
and we ended up 8 hours in the OT with 10L blood loss !!

Patient is being resuscitated ; CPR on table...
" Can i continue with the case ? "

It all boils down to communication between the two professionals. I myself would not be throwing tantrums if the surgeon was nice to me. Nice not in the sense of "ampu" or begging for mercy but for sharing information and being professional . Being open about the operation ; whether it's a f**ked up job or not should be the way because at the end of the day it is about the patient and not one's ego. People make mistakes and by excellent , well mannered communication will ensure optimum management and ultimate results for everybody's benefit.


this "RUmah Tumpangan Chow Kit road"-style bed awaits me tomorrow as I will be on call.. again..and again..and again...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't say much as i am not from medical fraternity. But i do notice -- surgeons always in the limelight, be it in the movies, tv series or real life -they're always stand out. The patients rarely wake up to remember who puts them to sleep and who wakes them up....
*eh sorry terpanjang pulak*

Sue Tiramisu said...

i totally agree with mzayam - an anaesthesist's job is a thankless one. I think a lot of surgeons take the gas person's job for granted lah. Patient pulak tak khabar langsung. Sedar2 dah sampai ward.

mafeitz said...

I suppose from my side , as long as i am sincere and doing things for the right reasons ,I don't look for rewards or returns.

But i do try to emphasize my patients when seeing them either before op or in the ICU..

"I am Dr. M... , your anaesthetist. Your life is in my hands for now... " hahahahaha !

Anonymous said...

i think all anaesthetists already realise they will be in the background before pursuing the specialty.... and i don't think they mind