The Art of General Practice
Anna Brown
This drawing represents the skill of the general practitioner. It is based on a number of consultations I observed whereby the patient presented with numerous problems. The G.P.s used their skills and experience to pick out which problem required most attention at that immediate point in time whilst acknowledging the patient’s situation of juggling numerous problems. Whilst the G.P. ‘honed’ in on one particular problem to deal with immediately, they also reassured the patient as regards the other problems and encouraged them to come back another time to discuss them.
Whole Person Care – Year One
Simple yet amazing drawing! Message well conveyed through it!
This piece highlights the issues facing GP’s today; with an ageing population, more and more patients have numerous problems. With a 15-minute consultation, often only 1 or 2 problems can be dealt with. Good drawing!
I chose this piece because of how it directly relates to what I am learning in the EC course at the moment and what I am learning from attending GP placements. Using different colours for the juggling balls simply but effectively depicts the multidimensional nature of the patients that GPs are faced with: they have many, greatly varying ‘aspects’ or problems that the GP must explore in order to holistically assess the patient. Arbitrarily assigning each juggling ball a different colour does not allow us to distinguish the medical problems from the psychosocial problems of the patient, and thus perhaps illustrates how these are equally as important. This, of course, is in line with the need for any good doctor, in this case a GP, to view the patient as a whole, not just a condition. The juggling act powerfully conveys the pressure that patients are under from having to juggle and balance such a wide variety of problems, and thus the power and importance of the GP in alleviating this pain and pressure.