ecouter
(to listen)
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| CHU La Tauvrais |
"Ecouter" - something I'm certainly doing a lot of recently (I know my parents and Pete right now are like... 'well you don't normally...' It’s been a good thing, I've definitely learned to be more observant. & I think other senses are important, touching a patient or holding their hand has an important place in consultations and here in France in greetings. Not being able to say a lot in French has encouraged me to really think before I speak and to perhaps just pick a few words, something which will hopefully stay with me when I return home.... even if it’s just in a professional setting....
Started the long ward round, comprehended a bit (I really struggle to remember the patients names though - they're not by the bedside like in England) and off we set. So slow... the second patient was a flamboyant elderly man, in I think Moroccan attire - I'm not sure the other staff understood him either, but he had no weakness, demonstrating this by exuberantly flailing his arms in the doctor's face... I could usually pick up the patient's medical problem from listening to a quick summary, which is a definite improvement. Lots of too-ing and fro-ing of doctors and while I don't think they're doing a bad job, not at all - I don't think for all the time they spend, they're doing the best job... I excused myself at half twelve, "je vais aller a manger?" (I'm going to go and eat?) - I'd meant to explain, because I have clinic at 1pm... but I got nervous... Imagine I annoyed the other medical students, they'd be stuck for the long run and I'd just asked (my only french words spoken in front of them) can I eat...?
Lunch, my bread from Saturday was tough... so I took one of the little pains - I later realized everyone does it (I’d been told before it was okay) and the sign saying 'DON'T' is often ignored... Stocked up on coffee... Ready to go to clinic, found out it was actually 3pm... so before I could catch anyone I escaped home for an hour! I did some cleaning, took the bins out and emptied the compost (I haven't smelt anything so disgusting for a while... sorry nature but I can't handle a compost heap up here!).
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| how cute? Just from the shop |
Having now also taken a bus and the metro in Rennes, I can say - not only are French trains nice, French public transport is beautiful. How luxurious... the bus had funny sized seats at the front, not quite big enough for two but roomy for one... The CHU hospital was stunning again, so huge and each department is housed in an entirely unique style building - I'm going to try and take some photos. Two patients this afternoon, unusual cancers. The first arrived with three of his children and I proudly understood about 80% of the consultation, well I got some of the gist anyway... good chat about the Tour de France, and they asked me about England and the French healthcare system - I hope I answered the questions they asked... really enjoyed that hour and a half. The second patient highlighted to me worries of patients living 'tout seule' - alone....
Home via the shop, nachos, roasted my mysterious vegetable (tasted like the inside of courgette), ratattouille and then crepes... Half a tub of nutella and three attempts, the first had a burnt black circle in the centre.. the second I covered in butter which went crispy... and third was perfect. Sat, j'écoute to the BBC World News... in English - it is amazing how easy it is in your own language.
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