GP Land in The Office

I am now at the end of week 6 of my first rotation. 2 more weeks to go. This blog which was conceived to be an ongoing chronicle of my highs and lows in medicine has now turned into something of a reflection piece. Blame the long hours? Blame the intense curriculum? Let me introduce you to the real culprit - The Office!

A friend gave me a plethora of electronic medical textbooks during the summer break. The intention was good but in the midst of all the electronic knowledge was a folder titled "TV shows". Trouble. Here, I discovered my new nemesis. Albeit, a rip off of the classic UK series, the Americans fared very well in my opinion. Every evening I found myself awww-ing at Jim and Pam, marveling Dwight Schrute's eccentric tactics, or falling in love with Ryan the temp in Season 1 and then utterly despising him towards the end. I have spent plenty of daydreams on being a Dunder-Mifflin employee and fantasizing about my role in the jungle. Somehow, the days started to blend as I spent hours at end watching this show and every season finished was another mission accomplished.

Now before you begin to question my devotion to this blog and medicine all together, let me remind you that engaging in non-medical activities is essential for a healthy balance. It gave me comfort each day knowing that I was in medicine and not selling paper for a buffoon like Michael Scott. Right.

On the medicine side of things, the clinic has given me its fair share of interesting times. The staff, mostly indigenous has some of the warmest people I have ever worked with. My preceptor is a multitasking super machine who comes fully equipped with plenty of compassion for her patients - inspiring. I had been reluctant to see myself as a General Practitioner till this rotation. But now, I feel as if I CAN DO THIS - this exact same thing, same patients, same diseases, same stories. This is GP with an edge and I like it. General Practice, like most things, is what you make of it. One can be a lousy GP who shies away from exploring beyond the cough and cold. Or a GP extraordinaire who can decrypt hypothyroid or unearth depression. The later being especially important at an Indigenous clinic and mostly overlooked or even downright ignored. It is for this reason that I have an interest in psychiatry. I truly believe that most organic illnesses stem from the mind. A healthy mind is vital to a healthy physical being. However, I am not so much in agreement with the current treatment approaches which rely so heavily on pharmaceuticals. Instead, I hope to see one day more CBT in place to condition the mind rather than drugs blocking and potentiating pathways of the body. A dreamer as usual.

All in all, the rotation has been a positive experience. And I must admit, it is relieving to realize that I do enjoy GP and that it is a strong candidate for a future profession. Perhaps one day I will have my own little practice.... an office....with a Pam as the receptionist.... and a Ryan as the sexy intern. OK, this is getting creepy, in a Micheal Scott sort of way...