Doctor-Patient Relationship: How Far Am I Willing To Go?

Bonedoc, my colleague in more ways than one (fellow orthopod, fellow blogger, fellow...nature lover :D) posted a link to an interesting read in our Facebook group page hours ago. Titled "Can Patients Be Facebook Friends With Doctors?", the article is something that I could have probably written a few months earlier. It is not a secret to most of you who have come across some of my posts that I am not much of a Facebook fan mainly because of security and privacy concerns, though I am still holding on to my present account for purposes of keeping in touch with family and friends.

Of course, doctor-patient relationship is but one of the many relationships that I have to protect, not just in Facebook world. I may still be (relatively) young in the specialty practice, but already I am quite aware that most patients appreciate it so much when their attending physicians take time out to know them a bit more. Things like remembering the patient's name and being able to associate the name to the right face are just but the first steps in helping the patient speak more openly, not just about his illness, but also his concerns about its impact on his personal and social life. However, and this is a personal opinion, a line has to be drawn somewhere, somehow. And "friending" in Facebook is just one of the places where this line has to made distinct. 

Cartoon comes from this link: http://doccartoon.blogspot.com/2010/07/facebook-friend-requests-i-will-refuse.html

Endocrine-witch did make me think about how much I would want to get involved in a doctor-patient relationship, and I came up with this list.

1. I would not be so inclined to accept Facebook friend requests from patients. Probably the only exception to this is when my account is created for the purpose of disseminating general information relevant to the medical field; however, I have no such account.

2. For security reasons, I do not also wish to give my mobile number to patients. In the past, I had been a victim of numerous stalkers. Sadly, some stalkers actually got my number from my co-workers (one incident involved a stalker asking for my number from a nurse(!)). While I have many times contemplated to get another number solely dedicated to patient calls, at the moment the hospital landline seems to suffice.

3. Will I accept invitations to attend social affairs from patients? (i.e., birthday party, wedding etc) Filipinos are generally the type to involve everyone in their social affairs; I say generally, and yes I think is a cultural thing. This is quite an iffy situation that has to be answered out on a case-to-case basis.

4. What if I fall in love with my patient? I have never been in this situation, have never envisioned myself to be in this situation, and I do not, by all means, intend to be in this situation. As far as I am concerned, carrying on a love affair with a patient is so out of the question. The only acceptable time for me to be in a romantic relationship with a patient is when that person first became my partner before becoming my patient - certainly not the other way around. 

There are likely more situations where the extent of the doctor-patient relationship will be tested. I am not one to impose my personal beliefs, and I welcome opinions and constructive criticisms. Let me know what you think. :) 

By the way, the absolutely cute cartoon is courtesy of this entertaining blog A Cartoon Guide To Becoming A Doctor. Do check it out.

Today Is A Special Day

Actually, for the most part of my life, the first 15 days of April are some of the most special days of the year and are the days that I look forward to spending. If you have been reading this blog for quite sometime, you will know my recurrent references to summer, the sun, and the memories that I attach to them, whether joyful or the reverse.

Today is no exception. You see, a few weeks ago, I made a crucial decision to try an opportunity in a place that I have only been once. I know of no one in this place, nor do I have a fair idea of its ins and outs. All I know is that this place is bisected by a highway that is hardly lit at night. This place is so different from my home in Makati where I could just go out of the house at whim and feel safe even in the middle of the city.

Where I am

Not in here. Step gingerly out of this establishment at night and a provincial bus will likely crush my physical being into a horrendous mush. There are hardly any bars that play the music that I want. The nearest decent pizza place is, like, 30 minutes away. And since I do not have my own PC yet, I only get to go online at night, when no one is around, on a borrowed computer and borrowed connection. Ad infinitum. Alas. So different in here.

And yet, I am doing fine. For one, the food is fresh, the vegetables taste so good. The air is definitely cleaner. The people whom I am with are mostly nice, and I am still accorded my precious privacy, somehow. I get to eat more broccoli and cauliflower now more than ever. :)

It was, in so far as I regard it, a well-made decision. This is the change that I direly need.

Today, I had a good meal as usual. I had loads of mangoes and papaya that I eat with boiled purple yam (great combination!). I got to take a 20-minute joyride to the main city, my ride blazing the road that is flanked by green rice fields as far as my eyes can see. I gave the staff and my host some pizza. A little later on, we went to hear Sunday mass in a beautiful church that is more than a century old.

It has been a tradition among people here to make a wish when entering a church for the first time. In the church, the crowd was singing to a familiar religious tune, while birds kept on flying to and fro, darting through open doors and flying all around the place.

I made my wish...

Stepping out of the church, my mind was filled with earthly concerns, but was being consoled by a constant thought.

Today is a special day, as will be the rest of the days. I may not be immensely happy yet, but I am comforted, and that will be good enough for now.

Sometimes, You Ask For Something and Get Another (Not That I Mind)...And More Musings

For many weeks, I have been working on certain changes in my career and have been wishing hard to see their fruition. And as always, the heavens play a lot of practical jokes. Because, as I was about to gear up for some thing, along comes another opportunity.

So I suddenly find myself somewhere, hundreds of kilometers north of my homebase in the highly urban Makati City, getting a re-taste of the quiet rural life. I say re-taste, for I have had a taste of this rural life many times, although in punctuated time periods. Mountaintop, seaside, ricefields...ah, the quintessential "been there, done that".

That means less nightlife (aaaaaaarrrrrrrrgh!), less perks associated with urban living (from where I live, I only need a few steps to get a nice slice of pizza, or watch a cool movie, or pick up a book, etc), less internet (another aaaarrrrrrgggh), more quiet. The latter is the hardest to get adapted to. Silence has an eerie way of deafening me, but I guess I could use some of it these days. :)

So, no, I am not dead yet (forgive me, morbid is my occasional middle name), nor is this blog dead...far from it. Just, the sudden and unusual transition.

Change is good, more often than not.