The usual practice in the outpatient clinic is that the interns or the junior residents write histories of new patients. Then the senior residents or staff members examine the patients. We confirm the history and ask additional questions when we see patients. But someone writing the history makes the job easier. After all, it is quite a job seeing more than 200 patients in 3.5 hours.
When we read the histories written by the juniors, sometimes we find something that could be unheard of. The following is an example of this. A patient's chief complaint was recorded as 'Samenorrhea'. It apparently was a menstrual disturbance, but I had not come across this term before. I asked the patient what her complaint was, and discovered that it was 'secondary amenorrhea'. I looked at the word again, and realized that someone with unique thinking powers had made a new word for 'secondary amenorrhea'.
"This person will be using the term 'pamenorrhea' for 'primary amenorrhea'" I said. I went out to the waiting hall looking for the maker of that term and found her.
"What is samenorrhea?" I asked her.
"Secondary amenorrhea" she said.
"What is pamenorrhea?" I asked her.
"Primary amenorrhea" she said.
"These terms from your text book of gynecology?" I asked her.
"Um ... no. I picked them up from a senior intern" she said.
"Why such lengthy terms?" I asked. "Why not just 'Sam' and 'Pam'?"
She was smart enough to catch my sarcasm and sensitive enough to blush a little.
When we read the histories written by the juniors, sometimes we find something that could be unheard of. The following is an example of this. A patient's chief complaint was recorded as 'Samenorrhea'. It apparently was a menstrual disturbance, but I had not come across this term before. I asked the patient what her complaint was, and discovered that it was 'secondary amenorrhea'. I looked at the word again, and realized that someone with unique thinking powers had made a new word for 'secondary amenorrhea'.
"This person will be using the term 'pamenorrhea' for 'primary amenorrhea'" I said. I went out to the waiting hall looking for the maker of that term and found her.
"What is samenorrhea?" I asked her.
"Secondary amenorrhea" she said.
"What is pamenorrhea?" I asked her.
"Primary amenorrhea" she said.
"These terms from your text book of gynecology?" I asked her.
"Um ... no. I picked them up from a senior intern" she said.
"Why such lengthy terms?" I asked. "Why not just 'Sam' and 'Pam'?"
She was smart enough to catch my sarcasm and sensitive enough to blush a little.
