Page 10 - Humanism 2019

Humanism

By Ethan Chang, COMP student

o identify a patient, a health care provider looks at his thoughts and slowly became comfortable enough to
Ttheir name, date of birth, ethnicity, and sex. When a share more about his life. I learned that underneath his
person is asked to describe themselves, most often they reservations about medication, there was fear. A new fear
talk about their job, hobbies, and where they grew up. As of the unknown, of going through this by himself, and
health care providers, we ask for these things to dealing with a new condition that seemed out of his
understand our patients better and to direct our thinking control. He was afraid of the situation facing him and
toward their chief complaint. While talking to the patient, was clinging to what was most familiar to him — to do
our minds are furiously going through the vast knowledge life without medications.
we have accumulated to arrive at the appropriate
conclusion: the diagnosis. However, it is often the case I realized that beyond explaining what he needed
that when we are processing that information, we lose medically, what he needed was someone to acknowledge
sight of the patient there in front of us. Our minds drift to his feelings and understand his perspective. He needed to
the tasks that must be completed, caught by the business express his identity and let go of who he once considered
of medicine and the limited time to finish our work. himself to be: a healthy drug-free man with many more
years to live. I took this
When I feel like medicine is opportunity to help him
a machine and myself just a “I realized that beyond explaining understand his status,
metal part, I think back to what he needed medically, what he recognizing his feelings but
a patient I had as a third- needed was someone to also explaining that this
year student on the medical was a new situation that
floor — an older man who acknowledge his feelings and required the need for
was unfamiliar with the understand his perspective.” medication. As we talked, I
hospital, living on his own, could see him beginning to
and healthy with many accept the reality of his
years ahead of him. I could situation. His face grew
see on his face the unease sad, and I sat with him as
and confusion about being he began to take to heart
in a hospital. Though he what everyone had been
looked OK, his heart was saying about the
weak and was not pumping seriousness of his
enough blood throughout condition. He understood
his body. He took no medications, just supplements, and that this was a turning point in his life, that he was no
worked hard to maintain good health. Yet here he was longer who he thought he was, and that we had his best
with a weak heart, needing to take medication to help his interests at heart. Then he looked me in the eye and told
condition. He was approached by our medical team, with me he would take his medications. The next morning, I
the resident explaining his condition and the need for came to his room and just like he said, he had taken his
medication. He refused to take the medications. He did medications.
not understand the severity of his condition or why he
couldn’t recover through natural means. The resident I can’t say that he wouldn’t have taken his medications if I
tried to persuade him, but he remained firm in his hadn’t talked to him. Maybe all he needed was more time.
decision to not take any medications. However, I believe that it was our conversation, from one
human to another, that helped him get there. Now
I went back to see our patient later that day to ask why he whenever I see a patient, this memory serves as a
wouldn’t take the medications, something that was reminder about the importance of being human. No
neglected in the previous conversation. He told me he did matter how smart, quick, or even correct we may be as
not trust medications and heard too many bad things health care providers, unless we are communicating with
about drugs from the news and through his friends’ our patients on a personal level, as one human to another,
experiences. He expressed his concerns, and as I listened, I our explanations and suggestions may miss the mark
affirmed his feelings and empathetically expressed my altogether. n
own reservations. He was glad to hear that I agreed with
Illustration courtesy of shutterstock.com
7 HUMANISM IN THE HEALTH SCIENCES 2019 • VOL. 22