I hate that phrase... it implies that the only important things are those which are going to be examined, or those which can be questioned through tick boxes...
Yesterday whilst doing interviews, I was stopped half way through. What was this woman saying, I asked the translator? She was saying:
"Okay, I've answered the questions you asked, now look at my child Doctor... he's ill"
She carried on...
"Is it my fault? Because of the foods I ate during pregnancy?"
What have I done? I thought. Thinking on my feet, looking around, assessing the situation. I said, okay got to deal with this... turned off my recorder and explained to her that there are many reasons that a child can get ill - one is nutrition, but there are many reasons... and I explained various of them. I then explained that it wasn't her fault, and that a good thing to do would be to take her to the local primary health centre. Unfortunately, this family refuse to go anywhere but the civil (district) hospital, transportation to which is beyond their means unfortunately. So - that child won't be seeing a health professional.
What was the right thing to do? Should I have pretended to examine the child? It would have given them so much reassurance - but it's not right. What if I'd said that everything was fine, and it wasn't? "Doctor from UK said..." etc.
It's a tough one, being partially medically qualified. The partial bit being the most important. As a medical student I think limits come very very quickly...
"A little bit of knowledge is a bad thing..."?
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