Keeping Clean
Editor - Matthew Jackson makes one good
point in his letter in the March issue -
namely, that students should be more aware
of infection control procedures. 1 unfortunately, the remaining points have been a
source of amusement to me and my
colleagues.
It is suggested that medical students
should "politely challenge" staff who do not
follow procedure, and should get to know
domestic staff. I have experienced hospital
life as a medical student and as a hospital
domestic. The two roles are completely
unrelated. It is simply inappropriate for
medical students to "politely challenge"
domestics at work. It is not embarrassing as
suggested, but insulting. how can untrained
students criticise trained employees of a
hospital? I would be equally insulted if a
domestic criticised my history taking skills.
Domestics have to answer to their own
supervisors and not to students or even consultants. Indeed, students need to put their
own house in order - time after time I have
seen students go from patient to patient
without washing their hands, potentially
spreading infection.
Certainly, "politely challenging" would
only give medical students a bad name and
destroy any ethos of teamwork that Matthew
jackson claims to cherish.
I confess that I do not know the ward
cleaner's name. But I am sure that 99$ of my
clinical student colleagues do not either.
Students are expected to be on the wards, at
tutorials, at lectures, in clinics, and in the
operating theatre. That gives little time to
socialise with domestic staff.
I will also be impressed on the day when
extremely pressured consultants, junior doctors, and nurses can find enough time in the
day to get to know the hospital domestic
staff or any of the many other types of
hospital employee.
Amit Bidwai, fourth year medical student, University of Manchester
Email: bidwai2000@yahoo.co.uk
studentBMJ 2001;09:171-216 June ISSN 0966-6494
- Jackson M. keeping clean. studentBMJ 2001;3:78. (March.)
