Clinical Experience I

My opportunity to treat a patient with HIV came quickly on the second day of “real” patient clinic. When I first found out that I was scheduled for this patient I was scared and terrified by an inflated sense of transmission risk even I knew that I can't get the disease from casual contact. In addition, I was overwhelmed by the patient’s other complex medical conditions such as diabetes and hepatitis B. In absence of my clinic partner, I knew I needed to gear myself up by learning more about the disease and any possible complications with the patient. So I did some research prior to the appointment. I also sought for guidance and supports from the faculty.

My patient was a petite 5’2” tall male with a pale face. I started to feel ashamed of my fear, judgmental attitudes and assumptions as I was shaking hands with him at the waiting room. He was far from my expectation. Despite his complex medical conditions and medications, his oral health was maintained well. When the faculty gave me a green light to for the prophylaxis, it almost made me jumped out the chair for the excitement. This was my very first scaling officially.
The treatment was completed and the patient was discharged. It was a great feeling of achievement when he expressed the satisfaction of my service. Although this experience boosted up my clinical confidence level, it also gave me a chance to re-evaluate on my attitude toward the patients with blood born diseases.