Personal Reflection on Ten-Day Placement Program

PERSONAL REFLECTION ON TEN-DAY PLACEMENT PROGRAM
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Personal Reflection on Ten-Day Placement Program
My ten-day experience as a placement at a healthcare center treating leg and toe infections of diabetic patients allowed me to learn about the issues related to this healthcare treatment. My working there exposed me to various previously unknown aspects of patient treatment and my expertise; I learned that a patient's beliefs and culture matter greatly in their adequate treatment. Besides, this helpful experience facilitated me in learning about values, ethics, and safe approaches, which form an integral part of the working of a public healthcare facility. In the same way, my encounter with various types of patients and learning about their complications broadened my exposure and knowledge of this healthcare issue. However, the most significant observations I made in this period are about the negative impacts of absentees on the National Health Service's investment and the impact of denial of treatment on patients' responses. Therefore, in the following paragraphs, I intend to make an in-depth day-to-day discussion about my experience and the learning it accorded to me; moreover, I would use this reflection to make suggestions regarding the management of patients' punctuality as too many absentees deteriorate a student's learning experience and waste NHS's investment.
My first-day experience at the core clinic involved treating patients with toe or leg infections caused by diabetes. I spent the day exercising my skills in debriding (removing the damaged part) the friction callus of a patient with type-I diabetes. My first-day experience exposed me as a too-cautious healthcare professional showing hesitation while removing the patient's nails. Moreover, this day's work made me understand the significance of showing a much quicker treatment response than I did that day. The second day of my placement brought other learning opportunities for me as on this day, I successfully removed traumatic nails from three diabetic patients and learned to use phenol as an antiseptic for wounds.
The most significant aspect of this day's work experience was not related to the patient's medical history or diagnosis and treatment; instead, how three patients were turned away from getting treatment stimulated me to look at the matter through a different lens. The first patient to be turned away was a female who was feeding milk to her child; since the application of phenol as an antiseptic may cause harm to the child, the patient was not allowed to get the treatment. The second patient was an eleven-year-old boy who was not administered the treatment since he no longer had pain in the leg, and his ingrown appeared almost invisible. The other person who was turned down was a person who was planning to go on vacation within eight weeks of the duration of treatment. Since this holiday trip would significantly deteriorate the chances of healing wounds, he was not allowed to have the treatment due to possible complications and failure. This day's work experience was also insightful as it helped me learn about anesthetics to be given to these patients before the treatment; I learned about the use of phenol as an antiseptic and using 3% Mepivacaine or Scandonest as an anesthetic before carrying out the treatment.
My third day at the healthcare facility was unique as on this day; I got the chance to treat diabetic patients' wounds; I treated patients' wet wounds using antimicrobial dressing (Inadine). Besides, I also used other chemical substances to check the blood flow. This experience was a newer one, and on this day, I faced confusion regarding where various dressing materials and substances were placed. Consequently, I made a few mistakes in locating these things that caused unnecessary delays in the treatment procedure. So, the key takeaway from this day's experience was that I must locate all the requirements before manually treating patients' wounds. This knowledge is imperative for me to carry out wound dressing quickly and effectively and earn patient satisfaction.
My day four at the healthcare facility was not hectic as many patients did not attend the treatment. However, I did a GAIT analysis of a patient with pain in the feet; the person was supposed to have osteoarthritis. Various physical options for treating foot pain, such as hiking boots, were suggested. However, the key issue of the day was the too many no-shows of patients, so I had much time to reflect on the problem of patients' lack of interest in their treatment. These absentees direct me towards a graver issue: patients' absence puts an unnecessary financial drain on National Health Services. This day's routine was not very productive for me as I could not get enough practical opportunities to learn about musculoskeletal medication and its use in a public health facility. Thus, my lesson of the day was that authorities should adopt measures to ensure the maximum presence of patients to avoid the loss of financial resources and learning opportunities for medical students like me.
The fifth day was more productive in terms of theoretical learning of the trade as I spent my day reviewing my information about diabetes in written format. This review was based on my experience with diabetic patients; this review provided advice to patients regarding the nature and effects of diabetes. During this review, I made patients aware of the significance of consistently monitoring blood sugar levels for effectively tackling diabetes. Besides, it enlightened patients regarding the physical and psychological effects of diabetes, specifically emphasizing the relationship between high blood sugar and delay in wound healing. Based on this day's experience, I may affirm that this review day helped me learn the significance of communication between medical staff and diabetic patients in promoting awareness harm of diabetes. Besides, I believe this discussion is also useful in encouraging less cooperative patients to adopt a more careful attitude toward diabetes. I believe these awareness sessions should occur more often as they would directly reduce the proportion of patients' absences.
On day six, I once again conducted core clinic; however, I focused on occlusion formation in diabetic patients; occlusion is the formation of a blockage in arteries that leads to damage, ischemia, or disruption in the blood flow (Anonymous 2022). During my treatment on this day, I concentrated on advising patients with occlusion to apply antimicrobial cream to the wounds as it would prevent them from acquiring bacterial infections. I further informed them how antimicrobial cream...