Chaotic mind, girl meets inner confusion part 1
Alyssa spent the rest of the night thinking about the little fountain incident. The moments kept on playing in her mind even when she tried to stop it, she could not help but overthink and relive the moments again especially since she did not see him again after he left her alone by the fountain. She felt sad and disappointed that the doctor left without saying bye.
However, each time she thought about the fountain, she got a warm fuzzy feeling and she would feel the heat creeping up on her cheeks. She was blushing over a man who left without a word! 'What was wrong with her?!' she thought to herself.
At daybreak, Alyssa and the other students shuffled into the hallway waiting for the ward rounds to begin before they could go home after their night shift.
A ward round refers to the time when doctors come together in the morning to review patients who came in at night and to brief the morning team about the patients. The night shift doctors had to present their patients to a senior consultant and their colleagues so that they could discuss further management of the patients. All attending doctors and students needed to be present at the ward rounds if they had a night shift or if their shift was a morning one because the ward rounds started at 8 am sharp. The senior consultants could ask anyone questions even the students
...
" This patient came in with a sudden onset of breathing difficulties, with her respiratory rate above 60. We stabilized her and looked for the cause..." One of the senior doctors said as he presented the patient to one of the senior consultants of the paeds department but he was stopped mid-way by the consultant who turned and asked,
" We have students here with us today, right?" He asked the other doctors present.
" Yes, we do. They are at the back." Said the senior doctor presenting the case.
The senior consultant turned to face the students and picked a student who was last on the line of students standing at behind the group of doctors " You there, what is the name of the condition this child presented with?"
The student nervously said, " The patient presented to the hospital with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS)."
" Okay, and what are the signs you would see in a child with RDS?" the consultant answered with a follow-up question.
" Tachypnoea(breathing fast), intercostal chest indrawings(a dip of skin underneath the ribcage when a baby breathes in RDS), ahem..." The pressure was so immense that the student was so nervous that he forgot some of the signs.
" So what about the rest of the signs? If a patient does not present with what you mentioned would you not consider RDS?" the consultant coldly remarked.
The student remained quiet and looked at the floor but the consultant was not done! " Tell me, how many hours do you spend in a day studying?"
" 4 hours" Replied the student
" and you expect to be a doctor with that? How will you survive the harsh environment of medical school. Which institute are you from? said the consultant
" The university of..." The student did not get to finish his sentence because the consultant cut in and said, " Oh so it is a non-military based one, never mind.No wonder you are of poor quality. Just quit because you will be wasting people's time just like you wasted mine." The consultant said with a flicker of emotion on his face.
This was the magic of the ward rounds! The reason why many students would often go home crying and hate themselves!
" Next." The consultant said as he found his new target, a girl in beige scrubs with black hair and deep, focused grey eyes. It was Alyssa!
Meanwhile, Alyssa was lost in her thoughts when the student standing next to her nudged her bringing her back to the reality that she was the student the consultant had picked.
" I am sorry sir but could I get the history of the patient again?" Alyssa said to the doctor who was presenting. The consultant was amused by Alyssa's confident reaction and her courage to actually ask a senior doctor to repeat himself.
" You should pay more attention instead of zoning off so do not expect me to..." The doctor who was presenting said to Alyssa but could not finish his sentence as the consultant interrupted him yet again.
" You can give the history again." Said the consultant to the shock of all the people present and so the presenting senior doctor bitterly gave the history to Alyssa again. Alyssa said thank you and then asked, " What was your question for me sir?"
" I asked your fellow student over there for the signs of RDS and he gave me only two, add on to his list." He commanded
" Use of accessory muscles to breathe, decreased level of consciousness, tired child, grunting, stridor( loud snoring-like sound after breathing in) ..." Alyssa swiftly listed all the signs she could remember of RDS. The consultant asked Alyssa a lot of questions and Alyssa answered all of them.
...
" Lastly, What would you find if you listened to the child with or without those other signs?" asked the consultant
" A silent chest sir" replied Alyssa
" Which is?" asked the consultant impressed with Alyssa so far
" I would not hear any air entry in the child's lungs as she breathes sir," Alyssa said
" Where are you from?" The consultant said instead of acknowledging her answer.
Before Alyssa could answer the doctor she was assigned to last night scoffed and said, " She is also from a non-military based institute, sir. She is the same student who dared to question the assessment we made last of one of the paeds patients from the accident scene."
" Oh?" Said the consultant. His impression of Alyssa changed drastically and he thought, 'Let's put her in her place before she gets overconfident.'
" Student, did they not teach you how hierarchy works at your Institute? Who are you to question an assessment a senior doctor from my team made?"
Alyssa remained silent, she knew that answering would put her in a difficult position.
" What? you suddenly can not talk? You are a thousand years too early to question doctors at specialist level especially doctors from Senior Malden's team." Said the doctor she was assigned to.
The students laughed while the other attending doctors shook their heads thinking, 'It is such a shame that a student who showed potential a minute ago unknowingly ruined her future. Did she think that she would go head-on with the overly qualified specialists of Areela, what a foolish student!'
Alyssa remained quiet and kept a clear facial expression with no emotions.
" Ahem, student you should quickly apologize so that we can continue with the ward rounds, we do not have all day here." Said one of the attending doctors. Still, Alyssa did not react.
" What? She is even ignoring her seniors now! What a brave student! Does she think that after answering a few questions she is a queen or something?!" Remarked one of the military med school students.
" She is just embarrassed to acknowledge her mistake." Scoffed one of the attending doctors.
" I heard that she is from a prestigious family in country C." added an intern doctor
" Tsk,tsk. She is a typical child of the elites in Country C alright. " Said another doctor
" Too bad, this is not her country." Said another
The doctors were being vicious towards Alyssa because she dared to question a doctor who was one of the best doctors in the paeds department. To them, she had done the most despicable thing ever!
" A group of doctors against one student? I never thought I would see such a day in the prestigious 'Areela'." Someone said and everyone turned to look at the brave soul who dared to take part in this.
He was none other than Dr Calix Evans. He strode in the ward with his aura dominating the entire room, even the consultant could not help but notice!
" Dr Evans you are late." Said the consultant as he frowned.
" My apologies for my tardiness but i do not think that I would appreciate coming here to observe such childish acts." He said calmly
" What childish acts?! Dr Evans do you think it is wise to speak to your colleagues in that manner?" Asked the doctor Alyssa was assigned to.
" Hang on, wait for your turn Dr Steves, I am not done here yet." He dismissively said to the doctor ( Dr Steves) Alyssa was assigned to.
" Is this the way of Areela dear consultant?" Calix Evans said
" My attending doctors were simply educating a student, I do not see anything wrong with that Dr Evans." The consultant responded.
" Is that so? May I be a part of this education team?" He said which confused a lot of people, What did he mean? Was he not defending the students?
" Certainly, Dr Evans." Said the consultant. He was worried for a second there when Dr Evans sounded like he was helping the students. 'It turns out, Dr Evans also disliked non-military students! The exchange program burdened specialists like them to teach students from outdated institutes, they were not worth their time!' the consultant thought to himself.