The Patient: A Cornerstone In The Study Of Medicine
Author: Lauren Spaeth, OMS III, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine: Dublin Campus
Faculty Mentor: Sanjay Patel, MD, FACP, FHM Associate Program Director, OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital
As a third-year student in the midst of a pandemic, I am enjoying the challenges of clinical rotations—a stark contrast to my pre-clinical years. Patient experiences were infrequent-to-nonexistent due to COVID-related restrictions and the uncertainty surrounding the onset of the pandemic. The COVID pandemic challenged traditional medical education delivery and accelerated a rapid transition to remote learning. Gone were in-person interactions with classmates and teachers, along with clinical opportunities to learn medicine from patients. I had to complete the remainder of my first year and all of second year remotely. As a student, spending hours studying in isolation with online didactics, the need for in-person human interaction was never more apparent. Staying connected with friends, family and classmates was difficult. My laptop and phone were the only ways to “see” people. The same tools were used for watching countless hours of videos and online review materials. By the end of the day, my body was stiff from sitting at my desk, and my eyes fatigued from staring at my screen. The dimension of human contact was suddenly taken away from me. I quickly realized the patients and the value of human connections were the cornerstone to studying medicine. Learning remotely in isolation brought new meaning to Osler’s notion that “[studying] the phenomena of disease without books is to sail an uncharted sea, while to [study] books without patients is not to go to sea at all.”
During the summer of my first year, I participated in a summer research externship program (SREP) at my medical school’s partnering health system. I was accepted to the program prior to the pandemic. I saw it as an opportunity for mentorship, to learn about quality improvement, experience hands-on patient care, and connect with other medical students. The COVID pandemic cast uncertainty on the future of the program. I constantly checked my email for updates and ultimately was approved. During the program, I was met with unexpected challenges that allowed me to grow in ways I had not imagined. Our orientation took place virtually which sadly would have been a time of connection with other students, preceptors and research coordinators. I was fortunate to know my project mentor, but he was also working remotely. We communicated via phone for the duration of my experience. After orientation, I spent most days alone in the hospital basement library entering data from electronic medical records of clinic patients. I enjoyed reading about those patients but wished I could have been at the bedside learning from them instead. I was thankful to spend time at the clinic and hospital, but that time was lonely.
As restrictions were lifted, I began to see textbook clinical presentations come to life at the bedside before my eyes. I realized the importance of the hundreds of hours spent at my computer learning the foundations of medicine. I could finally walk into a patient’s room and identify the stigmata of disease or develop a differential diagnosis. Without studying the phenomena of disease in books and online lectures, I would not have appreciated the connection between the patient lying in the bed before me. Each week those bedside experiences brought new energy and direction to my studies.
The importance of weaving patient experiences into my lifelong study of medicine was the biggest lesson I took away from the SREP. Though COVID altered the delivery of my education, I am thankful for the opportunity I had. I was afforded a unique opportunity that many of my classmates did not experience due to cancellations. As I am on clinical rotations now, it is patients that drive me to return to my textbooks to study and become a better student. I am driven to continue reading about the natural history of disease, including COVID, so I can apply that knowledge to help my current and future patients at the bedside. Despite the ongoing limitations on my clinical rotations, I am still convinced I could not be any luckier to be a medical student in middle of a pandemic. With my books and patients in tow to guide me, I am enjoying sailing the seas of medicine.
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