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Got Your Back: Patient Jekyll, Mr. Hyde; Over Her Dead Body; Paralysis to Pen Pal

— Three Anamnesis physician stories about friendship

Last Updated November 26, 2019
MedpageToday

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In my emergency medicine practice, we really are a team-based sport. Most of medicine has this in varying degrees, but there is nothing as beautiful to me as the perfect orchestrated chaos of a code in the emergency department.

Nothing is clear, there are needles flying, blood flowing, sweat smearing, yelling, drugs passing. But if you stand back and watch for a second, you see that amidst the complete chaos, everyone knows their role.

The nurses are pushing meds, the techs are getting IVs, the doctor is calling out orders, the pharmacist is passing meds, the respiratory therapist is preparing the endotracheal tube. Everyone operates both independently and completely cohesively and together because we trust each other that we've all got each other's back.

Then you see the moments when the nurse can't get an IV, and the doctor steps in with the ultrasound to help when the tech starts to tire from doing chest compressions and a student steps behind him, ready to take over.

These are the signs of a great team, and more importantly than anything, the immense amount of friendship and trust in a great team. I highlight the "got your back" of a healthcare team, having the back of one of another for the good of the patient.

But in medicine, that friendship is not limited to your team. You can independently have the back of your patients; your patients can have your back too. We exist in a large interconnected web, and in one way or other we are all players on the team.

We have three awesome stories today, all very different, but all showing how someone has "got your back."

Note: We produce Anamnesis for the ear. If at all possible, we strongly suggest listening to the audio. Much as we love the written word, voices convey nuanced intonation and emotion. We provide an edited transcript, but please double-check the actual audio before attempting quotation or reference. Click through for the edited transcripts of each story:

Chapter One. Patient Jekyll, Mr. Hyde: (3:07) A med student's friendly bond with a young VA patient turns into a grain-of-salt dose for "fresh meat." Story by Rambling Resident.

Chapter Two. Over Her Dead Body: (17:41) Tim finds friendship in anatomy lab with fellow students ... and their cadaver, Melba. Story by Tim Hlavinka, MD.

Chapter Three. From Paralysis to Pen Pal: (25:34) High-heeled swagger of an accomplished attending paralyzes a new intern, but the relationship takes an unexpected turn.

Story by Ronil Shah, MD

Episode produced by

Hosted by Amy Ho, MD

Sound engineering by

Theme music by Palomar

Want to share your story? Read the Anamnesis Storyteller Tip Sheet and when you're ready, apply here!