A day in the life of a medical student from Pakistan

“It was a night shift and the doctors went to get some rest because the nurses would contact them if they were needed,” says Nishwa Azeem, a medical student from Lahore, Pakistan. “A patient burst into the lounge where the doctors were sleeping, filmed them on a mobile phone, and told them that they should be on the wards. I think the patient was trying to make a political statement, to say that our health system is broken. Most patients are respectful and empathetic, but there’s been an increasing number of incidents where people have filmed doctors without their consent and uploaded the videos on social media. It’s frustrating, but I don’t think people realise that a doctor can be on a 36 hour call.”