catspajamas's Blog

P.S. How are the babies?! :)

The babies are doing okay 80's, thanks for asking. =0)

If you go to winnie palmer or arnold palmer hospitals or any of the ORMC hospitals they do not ask, they just send in what ever student is there and when you request to see the attending physician you get no where but the same student or resident that has already been sent. It's pretty stupid. I can't tell you how many times I have complained about this but it never changes. The last one I was sent was for my newborn daughter and was under the impression that I am uneducated and have no idea as to what was wrong that brought us there in the first place. In fact the stupid girl wrote the wrong information down as to the reason for our ambulance trip to arnold palmer. Believe me, she got a piece of my mind.

My father's life was saved at a teaching hospital Cat. He went to Shand's where the sugical instructor performed his operation. The students were involved in the after care, and I am sure they were present for the operation, but the students only followed the doctor's footsteps, they did not make any decisions. We chose Shands because of the excellence of the Doctor that was teaching there. Don't be so quick to condemn, especially when it comes to a disease such as cancer. The teaching hospitals are on top of what is considered "new technology" when fighting such a disease. I know for a fact that had dad chose his other option and had gone to Moffit in Tampa he wouldn't have come home. The local Doctor's here wouldn't have been successful either. We are very thankful that he chose to have his surgery in a teaching hospital. Less then 5% of the people diagnosed with what he had live an additional five years. We are now almost three years post surgery and cancer free. =)

Brenda, I'm glad to hear your father is doing well and is cancer free. I think that is awesome.

Heidi, I know how you felt being poked and prodded by several students and it is very stressful. I'm glad you and your baby made it.

I was supposed to have the twins at Winnie palmer, but when I was informed that I would have a half a dozen students around my lap while the attending stood back and was there just in case I said NO WAY. I opted to drive @ an hour from home to Celebration hospital to have the twins. The doctor who delivered them was great and had delivered my toddler almost 2 years ago. I wanted to have them natural but this wonderful doctor, after doing some tests and examining me thoroughly, told me that it would be in the best interest of my son to have a c-section. I certainly didn't want the c-section but I went with his recommendation and am grateful that I did. Because of this wonderful doctor my son made it and would not have otherwise. I didn't have to deal with any students or extra headaches and I believe I received a much higher standard of care than I would have at the teaching hospital. No, I know I did. I would much rather be seen by a seasoned professional than a student any day and in a quality facility such as Celebration.
My experience with the student hospitals and other facilities has been far from good. I even had one student doctor prescribe a medication with a warning that the medicine causes birth defects. I didn't take the stuff and the next time I saw her I asked about it and was told by this student to ignore the warnings because

catspjs- so scary. And you're right. We are always our own best advocates. Just because a doctor or intern says one thing doesn't mean you can't say no or check out your options!