Sending out an SOS - police

Clinic manager D called me into the clinic yesterday, subject line of the email was "SOS," and when I got there I found out she was under a lot of pressure, probably from budget cuts from donors and was being evaluated so she brought in "the best." After my 2.5 month hiatus I couldn't wait to get back in the trenches and to hear this just made my week.

Three patients yesterday prefaced their chief complaint with "this might gross you out" or "this is a little embarrassing." I responded to all the same way: try me.

Patient 1 had several stitches on his scalp piecing together a rather nasty blow to his head, sort of looked like an Astrix of skin but judging from the yellow and white discharge billowing out of his sutures it was pretty clear he had an rather severe infection. Though his stitches were done at an excellent local hospital, what about when he leaves? All you can do is give them the best that you have while they're under your care and just pray for them when they leave.

Patient 2 had another head injury where what used to be a staph infection had eaten away at a good part of the back of his neck, what remained was under another infection, the tissue soft and inflamed. After walking him to the exam room I started wondering if homeless shelters change their sheets on a regular basis... and who else might be out there with this problem that hasn't found our clinic yet.

Patient 3 was of a personal nature and not the first, nor the second, that I had come across. I kept a straight, serious, attentive face with un-flushed cheeks as he described his situation to me. I would post it here but I suspect others who read this in the future may not be as understanding or calm about such subjects and don't feel right describing their memory here unless under total trust.

I've learned over the past few months that not everyone is at my level of tolerance, and that meals should be kept separate from graphic descriptions of pus and blood. **but omg! I'm so lucky to be on my way to this career... so exciting! There's so much work to do! And no, I dont feel overwhelmed by it, in fact, I am completely inspired!

Oh it was so good to be back! The staff remembered me and hoped I'd stay. I told them about my interview and D said to name drop the clinic, that way over in cow country in all likelihood they'll have heard of it. This is my favorite place to be, how could I not brag about it :)