Why We Do It

One of the other things I do during sports clinic is conduct pre-operative histories and physicals. I go over the pertinent medications, allergies, past medical history, etc. and do a quick heart and lung exam.

Over the last few days in the OR (probably tomorrow's post), I have been pleasantly surprised when I go see patients before their surgeries and they recognize me. I go in fully expecting to reintroduce myself, and instead, they turn to their family or spouses and say, "Oh, this is Craig, he was the medical student at my appointment earlier this week."

I don't know why I don't expect patients to remember me. But I always think of my role as insignificant; I don't do much that really counts, and everything I do is double checked by someone else. I'm here for learning; I'm only on the service for two weeks. Yet patients remember me. It really does feel nice to have some continuity of care.