Expert patients - a truly humbling experience

I am in a love-hate relationship with Clinical module: I enjoy learning about the pathophysiology and treatments of different conditions, but much to my incompetence I find this very challenging at the same time. Each week we have a two-hour lecture: first hour in the knowledge side of learning and the second hour in hearing the patient's point of view.

One thing I truly enjoy though, is the talk by the expert patients and their carers.

It is a truly humbling experience that takes us students from the lecture theatre to the 'real world' where patients are not mere 'case studies' with single condition and almost too typical complications to manage. It is there when I began to appreciate what is expected of a healthcare professional of any kind in contact with a patient (especially with chronic conditions). It is easier said than done to achieve 'patient-centred' principle but what does it really mean? These talks began to scratch a little bit of this on the surface: you must think of your patient as a human being with physiological and psychological needs like yourself. Try to move away from thinking them as a 'case' because this can only simplify them into a piece of paper or a Patient Medication Record (PMR). This week's expert patient was a retired pharmacist who has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes from a young age and what he said really strikes me (still!) 'I am not a DIABETIC. I'm a person with diabetes. We are not defined by our conditions.'

This brought me back in previous year's lecturers when a patient also said 'I'm not SUFFERING from Parkinson's disease. I live with and manage the disease.' Why do we automatically think patients are 'suffering' because it is a medical condition that requires attention? For us we might see them once a month to collect their repeat prescription but in fact they have to manage to live with the condition every single day of their life. Not only they have to adapt to the condition, their family and friends also need to quickly adapt and understand the condition in order to look after them.

I used to work in a charity shop at home when I was in Sixth Form for a charity called Scope and they seek equality for the disabled. They taught me how they wanted to be treated like everyone: love and respect. That extra 'kindness' sometimes felt a little intimidating. Linking to my life experience, I have always been a very petite girl and people often joke about 'the weather down there' and how my height is the perfect arm rest for the guys. These comments, although I have learned not to take them literally at heart, were very intimidating at first too. After all, we do not choose to be of a certain body size and shape, nor do we choose to have a medical condition. The bottom line is we are all human and we all want to be loved and respected by others. All we do, as healthcare professionals, should be using our knowledge and assist our patient to manage their conditions. We should also bear in mind that although we might think we have gone through 4-5 years of university education to get to this point, we should not regard ourselves a cut above the company, especially with patients. Care is a very personal thing and patients should be viewed as individuals, not a case study fitted around guidelines.

Ask yourself: how would you help this patient if he/she is your grandfather/mother?

Much love,
Jenn xxx