Monday 1 September 2008

Patients

In my time when I'm working with younger adults I recently saw a colleague from a nearby hospital.

She's in her 20's. We went through a neuropsychiatric assessment, discussion of changes at work and home, talked through her agenda (a couple of diagnoses she thought she had), undertook a neurological examination then mused over formulation and diagnosis.

She was well, she was simply worried and needed some time, space and objectivity to frame what was going on as understandable and normal, rather than her not coping and pathological.

I thought nothing further of it.

It was only on reading a Nice Lady Doctor's post on treating colleagues that I stopped and thought. What she's said resonated. I remember, when working in General Practice and when in hospitals, feeling exactly as she describes. What's changed? Although a couple years older, I guess what's changed is that it's simply I'm more comfortable recognising that as Donald Winnicott would say, I'm a "good enough" doctor.

Seeing myself as "good enough" I can have a stab at working with most anyone, comfortable that I can do a decent enough job, even if they are experienced or clinically very savvy or have a brain the size of Saturn and are far cleverer than me.

5 comments:

Nice Lady Doctor said...

It's good to hear there's a chance I might grow out of this!

ditzydoctor said...

that's a big relief that someday hopefully i'll feel the same way! :D

frontierpsychiatist said...

I must say that I thought you were an old age psychiatrist!

There's always an issue of who should see a doctor patient. Normally it's the consultant. But I worked for one once, who said that he refused this as he thought that everyone was entitled to the same incompetent treatment....

The Shrink said...

I am indeed an Old Age Psychiatrist but I work in a neighbouring Trust in a Consultant physician role too . . . medical training, GP training, neuropsychiatric training, I got dragged in to a very creative Job Plan!

frontierpsychiatist said...

That sounds like a good job - I thought for while that I'd like to dual train to be a psychiatrist and a GP, but I think with training as it is this would be rather difficult!