(One of my favourite departments – the Nuclear Department. Pic cred: the author.)

A week at Lanka Hospitals on an observership

(Note: this post is more of a reflection of an interesting experience over summer rather than a normal CAS post).

Towards the end of summer, with senior year looming in the near future, I was introduced to an observership program by Saesha (from the class of 2022). It was held at Lanka Hospitals meant to be a chance for students aspiring to be doctors to get a firsthand look into the various departments that make up a hospital.

On the first day was the Customer Service Department, whilst this wasn’t entirely my FAVOURITE experience of the observership – it was interesting to see how complex and thorough the network of a hospital was. I was quite in awe of the team managing the hospital’s main lobby area and the way they kept track of everything, the stream of patients, staff, and doctors trickling in through the doors seemed to never cease!

Later on that day, I was observing in the Emergency Department, and was able to talk with many doctors that worked there and observe their jobs up-close. On one occasion, I was able to have a discussion with one doctor that gave me extremely beneficial advice and insights into a plethora of related topics such as applying for medical school and the departments to work in at a hospital.

The following days were a similar routine, I was able to visit multiple hospital departments and talk with the doctors and other staff that worked there. I do believe that it was advantageous to talk with people about their experiences in medical school and what led up to them working as medical practitioners.

Additionally, there were some departments outside of the usual Health sector – such as the Pharmaceuticals Department and the Medical Records Department. I think this observership was quite effective in opening my eyes to the other types of components that constitute a hospital. Moreover, it stopped me from having any bias against departments I might not be interested in – such as the Medical Records Department, which was surprisingly one of the most fun experiences (this was likely because of the high confidentiality of the records and the fact that the department head, Mr. Jagath, had memorized all 68,000 ICD disease codes!).

Other departments that I went to included: Physiotherapy, the Dental Ward, Nuclear Medicine, Radiology etc. Something interesting I realized during my experience at this observership was how things I had learned in my school subjects were applied in certain aspects of medicine. For instance, in the Nuclear Medicine Department, the doctor there talked about the prevalence of isotopes and ionization of various elements in medical therapy there.

All-in-all, it was quite insightful to attend this observership and I’m quite glad I did it!

Learning outcomes:

• LO2 – Challenge and skills 
  • At one point a doctor in the Emergency Department started quizzing me on certain scientific concepts as he worked, I admit that whilst I was able to answer some questions – other things he asked were on a very advanced level.
  • This spurred me into action, and I went home ready to research the concepts he had explained and find out more about them.
  • I think that while it was sometimes a challenge to fully comprehend the concepts and vocabulary used by some of these doctors, I was fully ready to learn them and expand my knowledge some more.
  • I definitely broadened my skills in communicating with people that were very different from me and worked in a sector I aspire to. Furthermore, this observership has increased my knowledge on the fine details of some medical departments.

• LO 6 – Global engagement
  • While on this observership, it was inevitable that I would meet some patients, I think that I was able to see many different people suffering from various diseases in a very short amount of time. 
  • I got to understand what procedures would be conducted in certain medical instances – such as the requirement of emergency healthcare, assault, cancer, etc.
  • Additionally, when talking with some doctors I got to hear their perspectives on the global issue of many hospitals being understaffed and what more should be done to ensure global healthcare.