This artwork which features an array of different colours, different blocks and pieces – which are all identifiable as a singularity, can be related to my experience this year on my clinical rotations and more specifically, with each patient that I have encountered upon this journey.
One interpretation that I have experienced is the process of the subjective and objective assessment and how that ties together with the patient-specific social history. I’ve found myself in the situation of trying to be empathetic towards a patient’s current experience but I always found myself in an abyss when learning about a new piece of information which ultimately revealed how much I truly thought I knew about an individual and their circumstances. One encounter which I remember having was when I asked a male if he had any children. His response was that he had 3 who lived in another province with their mother. At the present time, I felt an immediate urge to suddenly judge the poor Stab-wound patient on his answer for not being with his family or for being there for his children but when I soon learnt that he spent the last 6 months in cape town in order to provide for his family as he was the only working parent, I had a new sense of respect for the patient. I discovered a new measure of desperateness and integrity that this gentleman had and how his whole family’s welfare depended upon his recovery and working capacity. This picture reminds me of that situation -of the fact that by having one mere piece of information, its becomes difficult to understand a patient’s hardships and outlooks, their perspectives and decisions which make them a whole person with past experiences and a life to live, it could never truly express the individuals entire story and the complications which may accompany it. Each information, as colourful and meaningful as it may be, could shape itself into an even greater piece of work that may not even be comprehensible to someone who has only spent 45minutes trying to do a subjective assessment.
3 thoughts on “The Bigger Picture”
The text links well with your picture, as well as your experience. It makes me think of an experience I once had where I judged a patient too soon., and later found out a lot more information which made me think twice about judging a patient before hand. I feel like the text just needs some referencing backing your position. Other than that, it’s really good. Well done 🙂
This is an interesting piece of writing which i also encountered during my clinical practice, and i find it very important for us not to judge patients regardless of the story behind because in that 45 minutes we spend for subjective assessment we can not get to know the patient very well or know the bigger picture hence judging them in accordance to the information we get through subjective assessment, could negatively influence our treatment and empathy towards them. i enjoyed reading your work and feel that you just needed to add some literature for reference otherwise great job
Hey, Mashardo. I really like the picture you chose as it is well explained by your clinical experiences. I’ve found that treatment is almost always better when you as the clinician see the patient as a whole and not just their current situation. Good job. The only thing I’d add is a reference or two to further link your picture and reflection, and to brush up on grammar and sentence structure.