Alright I have purposely stayed away from what I have been learning here because it was medical and sometimes dry, frustrating, or disgusting. So if any of these things sound not for you, please stop reading at this time.
My time on the John Warin Ward of Infectious Disease in the Churchill Hospital in Oxford was different everyday. It was often painfully disorganized and frustrating because some people did professional jobs, others did not. So it goes in medicine. I happen to be someone that prefers to do a complete job, and keep the patient care as my focus at all times. I am lax about professionalism I know this, and honestly my command of American English is pretty terrible so I did all kinds of foibles in British English.
For instance, when nurses are ignoring me, I informed my team, "they are blowing me off" this has a different meaning in British English and it was embarrisingly pointed out to me at that point. Other things, I just do not remember all the technical terms of things but I hope I learn them as I progress in my professional career. At this time I am woefully inept at using correct terminology and it tends to make me sound unproffesional and unknowledgable. I really see this as a self correcting problem and I cannot make myself learn it any faster if I put more pressure on myself to get it right. So I put up with lectures and try to figure out if I was true to my patient's issues they have with their health. That being said, I would feel like I had just inserted my foot into my big mouth frequently at the end of the day. Never with patients, with my professional colleagues and seniors.
When I was not being an outspoken "plain speaking" US American I was being harrassed for being a surgeon in a medical ward. However I did get to do some interventions here. I plucked larvae nesting in a patients skin and causing inflammation and unease as it moved around inside his skin. That was pretty intense and fulfilling when I pulled one out. I have taken care of AIDs patients at different levels of disease, HIV patients, TB patients, leishmaniasis, shistosomiasis, cystercercosis a lot of psychiatric patients that had questionable infections--(really medicine and surgical teams just dumped them on us b/c they did not know what to do with them) the nurses were always very good with patients, the abusive, the psychotic, the catatonic, the senile, the demented, the drug abusers and the prisoners.
what did I learn about the United Kingdom's health care system? Both the UK and the US system have their problems and fail their patients at some level. I cannot tell you which one is better or which one does the best job. I get very frustrated with both of them and feel there is a need for change but know that is as likely as me being out of a job because there is no need for medical care.
Sorry to disappoint but I did not walk away from this experience a convert to the UK health care system. I also continue to be disappointed by the US Health care system as well. I think it is inefficient, not cost effective, and not patient friendly. I am a product of this system so I continue to want to work on changing it for the better. However after experiencing another health care system and working in it for a very brief time as a student I have a little perspective on general problems all health care systems experience. For that I am grateful and will be learning from this experience for years to come.
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