So earlier this week I was at a major head and neck surgery as part of my surgery my elective (always fantastic!) when the surgeon mentioned to me that if I’d like to visit this patient on the ward afterward to see how he’s doing, to go right ahead – just walk right in whenever I like. Now, of course I’d love to go pay him a visit, see the results of our efforts and find out how he’s doing post-op, but it occurs to me: can I really do that? Just don a white coat and walk into the room of this man who’s never seen me before, and say “Hi, I’m a first year medical student and I helped remodel your face the other day - So how’s life with only one eye?” How would he feel, being descended upon by a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed stranger barely 2 months into her training and apparently already wielding a scalpel (even if that’s not quite the case, in reality)? How would I feel?

Since then I’ve happened to hear a number of similar stories from some of our classmates – being invited by their preceptor to “join in” a peri-anal exam, poke around in some poor soul’s arm with an IV, just to name a few – all of which seem to centre around the issues of permission and respect for patient privacy. Can patients expect to have the same right to privacy in the medical world as on the outside, or is that checked at the door upon entering the hospital? Should we not be asking permission of patients to pry into their physical persons and personal lives, at least offer them some semblance of privacy and control, or does that acceptance letter we all received to med school give us an all-access pass to the most intimate information? “Welcome to l’Hotel Hopital, we hope you enjoy your stay, dignity is optional and please check your privacy at the door”?

And what do you do when your lowly med 1 opinion differs from the doctor’s, who says Go right ahead or looks at you cock-eyed for thinking otherwise?

Just a few thoughts running through my mind this week. Never a dull moment!