A & E

*A&E : Accident & Emergency



Finally the 2 weeks of A&E came to an end. I have to say I found it so much more interesting now rather than before. I thought that A&E is all about blood before this, but realized it is much more than that now.





All the child abuse, sodomy, rape and battered wife cases are also seen in the A&E, which means that besides taking good care of the patient's physical state, the emotional and psychological state must also be taken in to account as well.





I have to admit, the A&E department was where I saw the most medical assistants ever. Period. It is actually hard to meet an MA twice in the 2 week posting. And most of them are very helpful, and willing to teach us medical students. Some even looked for us to show us how procedures were done.





And besides that, I cannot deny that the MAs in this department are the most good looking bunch I have ever seen eversince I entered the clinical years. :P And the best part is them always smiling at the sight of your face. :D The nurses were great as well, teaching us everything they know about the procedures we ask and all. Never once did a nurse shun me when I ask them about something here, unlike some other departments which is quite slow compared to this department.





The A&E is definitely challenging, the emergency physicians are required to know almost everything, and know which department the patient is to be channeled to for further treatment. The doctors were willing to teach us despite the hectic schedule (in between waiting for the patients to arrive in ambulances), and there was definitely something new to learn every single day.





But there are also doctors who are very sarcarstic too - saying that medical students are blood suckers and only know how to take blood. Just like any other department there will be some doctors who are so high up in the sky, thinking they are God and look down on us mere students who are actually trying to get experience. I don't get it actually, they were once one of us, they knew how it felt like to tag along to the doctors trying to get the hands-on experience and all, and they can actually say that we are doing nothing? Whatever. Obesity is a sin weh. *pissed off*





I've tried the branula, applying the nebulizer for asthma patients, wound dressing, ATT vaccination, numerous IMs, suturing of an open wound (this one was really cool la - thanks to the MA who offered me the chance to suture), bandaging and many other procedures that before this I could only see doctors do, or only watch on television series.





Most of the cases that come to the A&E is motor vehicle accidents, patients coming in with fractures, bruises, open wounds and so on. Besides that, asthma and chest pain cases are also quite frequent.





Once in a while (in this two weeks) there are psychiatric cases coming in. Can't wait for the psychiatric posting to start this coming monday actually, heard a lot of stories from seniors and MAs about these patients, hopefully I'll be able to share some interesting stories in the blog as well. :D