Interview Story - Took Initiative

As a 3rd year medical student on the trauma surgery team, there was a situation where a 14-year old female had experienced an ATV accident. As she approached discharge, the team decided that the intravenous antibiotic regimen would continue as an outpatient, which necessitated her getting a PICC line. However, I knew that there was an equivalent oral regimen that could save the girl from having the PICC placement and save her the stress of walking around high school with the line hanging out of her shirt. High school is hard enough.

I saw an opportunity to improve the quality of life for my patient, by using my ability to work collaboratively with my team and adhering to the hierarchical norm in surgery.

First I spoke to my interns about the alternative therapy and the advantages of this for the patient. Although they did not try to be obstructive, they were very busy. Therefore, later in the day, I brought the information to them again. They said that they were doing what was told to them, but that I could speak to the senior resident.

I then went to the senior resident and told her how I appreciated the situation and the alternative therapy. At this point, the senior resident said that I could speak to the attending. Finally, when I met with the attending, he immediately recognized that I was correct in my reasoning, and was glad that I talked with all of my teammates on this issue.

As a result, the young girl did not go for the PICC line procedure and was discharged from the hospital on oral antibiotics. For me, I learned that I should remain confident in my medical knowledge, and will continue to stick up for my patients, even when facing adversity. For my interns and resident, they had a renewed appreciation for thinking independently and realized the value of the entire medical team.