Millennium Medical Center (MMC) is a primary medical care located in Falls church. MMC is Multi-lingual clinic offering a full range of adult and pediatric care. I visited MMC as an assistant physician. I visited MMC on a Thursday early afternoon. It was a busy day barely lacked time to take a breath.
In some cases, particularly when the physician is attending to other patients, the assistant physician is left to attend to patients that are not having severe cases. As an assistant physician it is important to first conduct a brief interview with the patient as you take notes in order to get an idea of the kind of treatment or service the patient requires. The assistant physician welcomed his patients in a warmly and with a smile. This seemed to make the patient feel comfortable around the assistant physician. After welcoming the patient, the physician would greet the patient once more and welcome him/her again. From there, the physician asked of how he would help the patient. After the patient explains his/her problem, the assistant physician would go ahead to ask if the patient has undergone any other medical procedure and the type of treatment he she received. On questioning the reason for asking about the medical history of the patient, the assistant physician explained that some illnesses could be triggered by medication received earlier.
The assistant physician would then go ahead to conduct physical various tests on the patient. Depending on the injury, the assistant physician would first conduct physical tests using his hands and observations. He would then proceed to conducting other tests using medical kits and equipment. These tests help in elaborating the extent of the injury, the possible cause and how to best treat it for full recovery.
The injury assessment method utilized by the assistant physician was History of the injury, Observation and inspection, Palpation, and Special tests (H.O.P.S). However, regardless of the injury assessment type chosen by the assistant physician, all information must be document on a medical report and must be consistent with the set medical standards. Medical reports are usually written using abbreviations, therefore, a physician is required to have the ability to interpret and write common medical words abbreviations.
When evaluating a condition or an injury, diagnostic symptoms and signs are taken and interpreted in order to determine the extent and form of injury. Symptoms can be determined through hearing, feeling, seeing or smelling during assessment. Symptoms can also be provided by the patient about his/her view of the injury. One of the patients that the assistant physician attended to was feeling pain on his leg, and he constantly pointed to the leg where the pain was coming from. In order to determine the exact point where the pain was coming from, the assistant physician gently massaged the leg on different points as he asked the patient if that the point where the pain was coming from. From observation, the patient seemed to be in a lot of pain and the assistant physician recommended that he should undergo further test, which is an X-ray. Before taking an x-ray, the assistant physician gave the patient pain killers in order to help calm the pain. An x-ray would help in determining any internal injuries or fractured bones. According to the assistant physician response, this patient seemed to have had a chronic injury. It must have been chronic and that is the reason for his pain as expressed by his facial expressions and why the assistance physician recommended that he should take an x-ray to determine any internal injury or any fractured bone.
While patient 1 was sent to take an x-ray, the assistant physician attended to another patient who was on line. The patient seemed to have a shoulder injury. He held his left shoulder as he sat next to the assistant physician. After a brief questioning, the assistant physician went with the assumption that patient 2 must have had a shoulder dislocation. However, in order to fully determine that it was a shoulder dislocation, the assistant physician conducted various tests. To begin with, he made patient 2 swing his injured hand from side to side, which was impossible for him. He also tried to pull out the patient’s hand but it was too painful for him. The assistant physician gently massaged the patient’s shoulder as he was trying to determine the point of pain. This patient was given painkillers as he sort for other services. Before concluding that it was a shoulder dislocation, the assistant physician recommended that the patient should undergo further testing which is x-ray.
Meanwhile, patient 1 had already undergone an x-ray and it was determined the reason for the severe pain. One of his leg bones had fractured and ha is the reason he was in so much pain. The patient had slipped on a slippery floor, and he accidentally fell on his leg. In order to treat this patient, the assistant physician recommended that he patient’s leg be dressed in cast for the next 6 months. After six months the patient was advised to visit the hospital for further checkup in order to determine if the fracture had healed.in order to prevent such injuries from taking place, the assist physician was advised on reading notices set on walls close to slippery floors, additionally; he was advised on choosing the shoes to wear and in what occasion.
Meanwhile patient 2 had arrived from taking the x-ray. It was determined that it was a shoulder dislocation, he fell from a tree as he was trimming it. The assistant physician first engaged the patient in some exercise, such as moving is hand round, swinging it from side to side and tightening it. He then prescribed a cast dressing on the shoulder for three months. In order to prevent such accidents, the patient was advised to chose the right shoe as well as weather while climbing tree.
Dr. Shayma Al-Mudhafar