The First Week

This first week at the hospital has definitely been a unique experience. The first few days I was in the internal medicine/neurology units and shadowed residents. Unlike American doctors, I noticed that most people dressed more casually. The woman I was with most of the time wore 4-inch heels! Everyone looked like they were ready to go out for the night- let’s note that I wore black pants, running shoes, and a normal t-shirt… talk about underdressed. Anyway, everyone seemed extremely relaxed and easy going. The majority of the time I was in their meeting room where the doctors went over their patients’ files- it did not seem like a working atmosphere. The doctors went around gossiping, talking about their days, and their plans for the next weekend. Thursday was a slow day for the unit so I went to urgent care. I found this more interesting than internal medicine/neurology because I was able to actually see the patient-doctor interactions more clearly. It was strange to hear the details of the patients’ medical issues because it was something I would have never been able to hear if I were in the US (since there are strict laws for patient confidentiality). As far as I know, I will continue to stay in urgent care and the internal medicine/neurology units for this next week and look forward to it!