Our Hospitals’ Unsung Heroes

Being a medical student on clerkships often feels like performing on a stage while wearing a straitjacket. You’re unsure of how your personality and tics might be perceived, and the goal — besides absorbing as much knowledge as possible — is to make a good impression in order to land a good evaluation.

The composition of the team changes often, sometimes weekly. The audience shifts quickly; you must be agile to meet their expectations. Some attendings always like to hear the patient’s vitals on rounds. Others don’t if they’re stable. Some like to hear your plan by organ system, others by problem. Sometimes, your anxiety is assuaged by an attending who makes jokes with the team. Sometimes, you are on edge the entire time. At the end of the week, you feel drained. You dread the change that’s coming.

On the other hand, the non-clinical staff — the floor secretaries, medical assistant and maintenance people — never change. They are not on a rotation. So, they can be anchors as you try to stay afloat, as you are rocked by never-ending waves on a shoreline.

Internal medicine was my introduction to the hospital. After one week, I was still shy in my interactions with the team, figuring out logistic and team dynamics. I made it to the hospital on a Saturday morning, in pain from a stiff neck. The first person I spoke to was Ms. K, the weekend and…