white coatedness.

today was the first time i got to wear my white coat.  rachel and i went to the VA hospital to do a comprehensive history on a patient.  he was a vietnam vet and chatted with us about his life for about 45 minutes.  i figured i'd let him talk a bit, since it's not like we had other patients to see and he seemed to be enjoying himself.  i definitely got a VERY comprehensive history.  he took two tours of vietnam and lost his hearing because of a bomb explosion and was riddled with bullets all the way from his lower left leg up through his abdomen and left flank.  no good.  he also bragged for a bit about his big truck that could got 150 mph and was a "chick magnet".  i felt pretty spiffy when i left my apartment in my white coat with my IDs dangling, but once i got to the hospital i just felt regular.  i guess that's good, but much less exhilarating.  ;P

in our interprofessionalism class today we actually had a pretty good chat.  it was the first time i felt like we were getting some insight into each other's positions.  we each shared about why we chose are particular profession and we got into some good discussions and interprofessionalism -- how it is today, how it should be and what could be the potential benefits or problems with it.  we also chatted a bit about how health professionals are viewed on TV, and what kind of qualities should be in a health professional.  as far as the interprofessionalism, what it came down to is pretty much we really need to be more knowedgeable about what each other does.  so that way we know what we each can do for a patient and what we can't, and also to help us have a little more humility and not to be afraid to send a patient to get more help from someone else, rather than trying to handle everything ourselves.  //shrug.  will it all actually happen?  unlikely, but maybe one day...