Blog Week 7

Last Friday in the clinic was definitely one of the worst times I've ever had volunteering here.  I worked with an ER doctor that did not really know what she was doing.  The week before this the medical assistant had warned me that it was very difficult to work with her.  The reason is that as an ER doctor, she does not encounter patients with these kinds of problems.  She would question the patient normally but once outside, she would look up information online, ask the medical assistants, or even myself, questions concerning the patient's disease and wondered what the next mode of action should be.   At one point, she asked me what the best treatment would be for the person's high cholesterol, since Lipitor had resulted on mild side effects.  My opinion is that if her skills have deteriorated to this point, it would be best for the doctor and especially for the sake of the patient to stop practicing in this setting. This makes the doctor look really bad and it may be harmful to the patient's health, which ultimately, it is the most important thing.  At first, when the medical assistant told me about it, I thought that she maybe was exaggerating or just making it up, but then I got to see it first-hand and I was very surprised at what I was witnessing.