Yes patients can be rude too

The customer is always right. Right? Maybe. Such a sense of entitlement is only heightened by the fact that the 'customers' of the National Health Service (NHS- the body which provides public healthcare in the UK) are largely taxpayers who quite rightly expect their money's worth.

Sorry to disappoint those who thought this was going to be a rant full of juicy gossip fresh from the bedside. I would prefer not to be stripped of my GMC (General Medical Council) number before I get a chance to properly use it. People with power to do that tend not to look kindly on those who break patient confidentiality. However, I would like to draw on some of the negative experiences I have had with patients and their families to share with you some of the sentiments of those on the receiving end of hard criticism and raw emotion.

Now don't get me wrong. I do not mean to be overly critical of the patient population. Many a patient has let me stick them with needles when I barely knew how to open the packet and stick my gloved fingers in places which, under ordinary circumstances, would not be appropriate for a person you have just met to expose- and often with a flippant "Well you've got to learn sometime haven't you!" For this, I am exceedingly grateful. Those willing souls have either knowingly or unknowingly contributed to building my skill set and my confidence. They have also ultimately contributed to building a better NHS full of competent future doctors.

What these slightly grandiose statements are trying to convey is that medical students are just that: students. Students for whom the majority of their learning takes place in a high-stress environment: between nurses taking a temperature and doctors rattling off numbers down a phone. Patients and their relatives are under their own stresses: between a new diagnosis of cancer and an Xray that was supposed to be done 2 hours ago. In this setting sparks fly easily and the one to get the brunt of the force can sometimes be the poor medical student who has just conveniently appeared to take the 5th blood test for the day.

Patients have said some unkind things to me out of frustration that I'm sure they would not have said had the circumstances been different. At the end of the day, you get paid to be their punching bag (within reason as assault is not appropriate) and that requires depth of understanding and empathy. Often I wonder what my response would have been had I walked a mile in their shoes....

However, it so happens that patients' most vulnerable moments are often my greatest learning opportunities- to grow as a clinician and to grow in compassion.

I've got to learn sometime haven't I?