I was working on a consult service and was asked to
see a Pediatrics patient. She was a young girl, just under 7 years old,
and had initially presented with fever, rash, and pain. After an extensive
work-up, including evaluation for autoimmune diseases, she was diagnosed with
pediatric lupus.
Just as I was about to enter the patient's room to evaluate
her, the third year medical student on the Pediatrics team who was
caring for this patient, met me outside the room. He shared with me our
patient's story and his understanding of her hospital course up until that
point. He shared with me many of the details of our patient's history, which
could only have been acquired by someone who had spent significant time at the
bedside.
I asked him if he had any concerns about our patient, to
which he shared that he was concerned about the patient's emotional well-being.
He revealed that the patient's parents were rarely present, and that the patient
appeared scared and lonely. I later found out that this medical student had
been taking the patient to the playroom, giving her company and ephemeral
retreat from the confines of a hospital room. He had gone above and beyond the
expectations of a medical student in order to address the patient's
social and emotional needs.
I was impressed with this student's insight into the global
needs of our patients, and humbled that he did not feel it was outside of his
scope to care for her in this way. In the end, I am certain that our patient's
hospital stay was not defined by the nature of her diagnosis, but rather by the
exemplary medical student who went out of his way to make her feel at
home.
Meghna Motiani
UICOMP, Class of 2014
UICOMP, Class of 2014
