Patient Education

March 11, 2011, 9:33 pmDoctor Psychobabble4 comments

I just got home from a long day at the hospital and I’m currently “post-call.” I actually had a great day at the hospital today.

Tonight, I counseled several patients and their families on diagnoses and various topics such as the management of hypertension and diabetes.

Post Call

I was surprised to discover that several of my patients had no idea what their diagnosis actually was. I explained what it means to have a stroke, and the importance of rehab. Unfortunately, sometimes us docs get so caught up in managing our patients that we forget to actually inform the patient of our findings. Also, things which are very obvious and simple to us, are not always so obvious to patients. I explained to a patient and their family the importance of diet, exercise, and weight loss in diabetic management. I educated them on the importance of controlling the risk factors for strokes. Obvious and simple stuff for me, but less obvious and very important stuff for my patients and their families.

I really do enjoy my job.

Now, time to eat and sleep. It’s a golden weekend for me, and I plan on enjoying my time off quite thoroughly!

Photo: Taken just now. Me, post-call at my ‘puter.

  • http://koshercritternyc.wordpress.com/ Balebusta

    Golden weekend for the win! Huzzah! I had a pt come in once and told me that were feeling dizzy for a few days and had a couple instances where they were slurring their words…um can you say stroke watch?! They totally didn’t get the severity of the situation so I resorted to the old “a stroke is like a heart attack but in your BRAIN” — that got them moving. Glad to know there’s at least one doc out there trying to educate these folks.

  • faris al-bagou

    “things which are very obvious and simple to us, are not always so obvious to patients.”

    i am agree with u especially that spending some time in edu. pt. about his disease & how to do secondary prevention properly makes the pt. has satisfying life.

    finally,i wish good weekend

  • http://www.northcoaststables.com Jon

    I wasn’t going to say anything, but that really is a cute picture!

  • Dr. Psychobabble

    yes, indeedy! i’m guilty myself of sometimes forgetting that most people don’t have all this random knowledge in their noggins. i’m so happy to share the info in digestible tidbits with my patients and their families. :)