Name: OJA, JUSHMITA ANN O.

Group: A
Rotation: PSYCHIATRY
Date: December 5 – 18, 2022

Clerkship Journal Entry Day #5

The week is almost over and everything went by so fast! I guess it’s true that time

flies so fast when you’re having fun! In the ward today, I met the new patients Lamera

and Trimucha. They’re both from Southern Leyte. It was fun talking to them although I

know that they’re both manic so they have the high energy to talk to me. I also noticed

that Piedad and Ando are already friends with Lamera and Trimucha. They bonded

together while they’re having their breakfast at the dining area. It’s really satisfying to

see the progress of the patients from being agitated to finally having their calm state.

After I bonded with our patients, I went to the OPD. Routinely, I checked all the charts of

all the patients of Dr. Mato. I wrote their respective prescriptions before consulting them.

As I finished, Dr. Mato and I went to our patients. We talked to them and

examined if they still have their psychotic symptoms. I realized that understanding the

nature of interpersonal relations, recognizing different styles of human interactions, and

learning to utilize these in our experiences with others, are quintessential skills for

therapy trainees to master. This major task of residency education is often overlooked,

underemphasized or left unstructured, assuming that trainees will "find their own style"

somehow, even by some sort of "mental osmosis". It is very important to learn to listen,

to be empathic, to follow associations, to observe feelings and reactions to patients and

the character of the relationships between them and himself. Regardless of one's

cognitive abilities, the interpersonal abilities of a psychiatrist remain as the most

valuable aid or tool in psychotherapy. These skills must be formally taught, specifically

monitored, and improved when necessary, as trainees prepare to become the future

representatives of psychiatry. Mornings are best spent on the wards or in clinics and

educational hours between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. are reasonable to provide on several

weekdays.

Compared to other specialties, psychiatry cannot currently offer a field with

technical procedures, rigorously predictable responses, immediate results or high

reimbursements. Instead, psychiatry can offer an intriguing, dramatic, and challenging

field that is wide open to growth and development and critically needed by society. As a
career, psychiatry can offer man y different lifestyles and types of practice to fit the

desires of the practitioner. Finally, the study of psychiatry can be an enriching and

rewarding personal experience, with many practical applications to everyday life and to

understanding human beings more fully.