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Student Life

Communicating with colleagues

BMJ 2007; 335 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0710352 (Published 01 October 2007) Cite this as: BMJ 2007;335:0710352
  1. Baldwin Yeung, foundation year 1 doctor1
  1. 1Department of Surgery, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow G4 0SF

Most medical schools teach communication with patients. But how many teach us to communicate with other health professionals? Baldwin Yeung and Siu Kwan Wong discuss this gap in the curriculum

After a long night dealing with many sick patients, my registrar called and gave me a lecture to say that I should have consulted my on-call seniors earlier about the management of a patient, rather than waiting for a formal review in the morning ward round. He was concerned because I could have missed important diagnoses as a result of my lack in experience.

After putting down the phone, I contemplated why I had not called my seniors during the night and came to the conclusion that it was partly because I did not want to tarnish my image as a competent junior doctor. Just as I was recuperating from this lesson, my fellow junior doctor asked whether I had chased up the blood results of one of his patients. I realised this task had not been handed over by the doctor on late shift.

To convict me as an utter failure, a nurse stormed into the doctors' room just as I was preparing to leave. She pointed her finger at me and shouted that I had not unplugged the electrocardiograph machine after I had used it. By that time I was so tired and disoriented that I did not even remember using the machine. I wondered what …

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