Medicine, Magazines and Mind

First Year Medical Student - 2008

I’ve just come to the end of my general practice placement during the fifth year of my medical studies. It has been absolutely fascinating and has definitely strengthened the appeal of General Practice for me.

 

One of my favourite things about General Practice is meeting so many people who are interesting. Beyond their medical challenges and concerns lie engineers, athletes, television producers, customer service representatives and students. They all have stories. That’s what I love because, in some small way, as a General Practitioner you play a part in people’s lives. You reassure them that their child is fit and well and will be running about again shortly; you comfort them when they are feeling completely low and run down; you advise them of ways they can help themselves feel better. In short, you are a trusted, medically-knowledgeable friend.

 

This week, while on my lunch-break, I picked up a magazine that was lying around in the staff room. I was intrigued because it claimed to be one of its kind – a magazine about the “mind, body and spirit”. I felt that there must be something fairly uplifting within to allow for such a claim and so I picked it up with high expectation for nourishment; if only in the form of a whole food recommendation. At school I love philosophy so maybe there would be some quote from someone famous that would cause me to pause for thought?

 

Quite frankly, I was disappointed.

 

I flicked through page after page of what I consider total mumbo-jumbo. Dream interpretation, was followed by coloured crystals, horoscopes, spas and the keys of the universe. Perhaps I’m closed minded but who really believes this stuff? To me it seems as much gobbledygook as to say that the meaning of life is “42”. It adds nothing to our human experience – it doesn't detract anything particularly – but to me it distracts from the real idea and purpose of actually seeking answers.

 

What is the world coming to if believing in and relying on God for answers is deemed irrational and unnecessary but carrying around a pink crystal in your pocket to promote your love life seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do?

 

If people are sincerely looking for answers and the best they can come up with is a horoscope, I would suggest that they need a signpost to a new way of thinking. Stat.

 

I read this week on BBC news that child psychologists are now seeing people up to 25 years of age largely because that many people are still in a child-like position; in many cases we are still relying on parents financially, living at home and without any other stable relationships. We clearly need something else to rely on – are coloured crystals the answer?

 

I feel like we look outside of ourselves for an answer so much of the time, but with a myriad of options presented to us it’s difficult to know which bits of life to accept and grasp and which bits to discard. We spend some much time dressing our façade we rarely seem to peek underneath to the foundations that hold us up. So often when people are shaken by a situation they come to a realisation that if their life was a building, they aren't quite sure what kind of ground they built it on or what foundations they put in.

 

In reality, the foundations of our lives are the things without which we couldn't exist. I very much doubt that anyone would honestly build their foundations on coloured crystals – but how about family? I see a lot of sensible, good people in the world who lovingly place their families as the centre of their world. In my humble opinion, that is a very good thing- in a moral sense and in the sense that it will make you happy. In fact I would suggest that there’s only one thing better than basing your life on your family.

 

You see, families are made of people and unfortunately there is a certain amount of changeability to people. I don’t mean to suggest we shouldn't trust and love and rely on each other – it’s so vital to have positive relationships – but even the best relationships may crack when under pressure. There are always “unless” factors; your sister will be there when you need her UNLESS her husband can’t be around to look after the kids - everyone has factors.

 

Recently we had an Ethics lecture at university and we were talking about some cases that were presented to us, one of which went something like this:

 

“It’s a Friday. Joe Bloggs is very ill at home and his son has called the GP surgery at 16:55 in the evening requesting a home visit. You were about to leave.”

 

Your options were:

aa)       Go and see the patient

bb)       Let the out of hours team go and see the patient

cc)        Speak to the patient over the phone

 

Really, they wanted us to understand that the ideal thing to do would be to go and see him. He’s your patient, you know him and the son didn’t feel like this required an ambulance. You don’t know what kind of care he’s going to get from the out-of-hours team and he is your responsibility.

 

Then, they threw in a few caveats.

 

Scenario 1) Your son made you promise to come and see his play tonight. It starts at 5.30.

 

Scenario 2) You and your partner have been struggling with your relationship for some time. You are going away this weekend and have arranged to meet them straight after you finish work. It’s likely to be a make or break weekend.

 

Some people decided at Scenario 1 that one of their “unless” factors would be putting their family and children first. Others decided that Scenario 2 was their “unless” factor. Others felt that actually neither of those factors shook their resolve to do something for the patient. Either way, most people have a point at which they have to prioritise something above your circumstance at that moment.

 

Families – people – change.

In the Book of Mormon we’re assured that there’s a foundation – an answer to the questions that we have – that we can completely rely on. God is an unchanging being who will love us always and can always be there for us as he’s not restricted by time constraints or distances. I've had times in my life where I've need to feel that foundation beneath me; the foundation that is there every day holding me up. I need it for comfort, I need it for courage and I need it a LOT for forgiveness.

 

People need these things and we can’t deny ourselves that comfort we get from being able to rely on something more without it affecting us. Friends and family can be our scaffolding, but we need a solid base to begin with. I've seen the need for comfort, reassurance, social interaction, conversation and non-judgmental advice on this placement. I feel that we underestimate the need for those things as we walk around getting involved in the trivial aspects of life.

 

Beyond all of these engineers, athletes, television producers, customer service representatives and students lay people that need to make sense of life. They all have stories. I want to play a positive part in people’s lives. I want to reassure, to comfort, to advise and be a medically-knowledgeable friend to those who need me. And if I can help them more fully understand this life in some small way, that’s what I’ll do.

 

So, next time I think about picking up a magazine – I think I’ll take a deep breath, get out my scriptures and look for inspiration in a place I know I can escape from trivial matters.