What Is A Typical Day In The Life Of A Doctor Like At A Government Hospital?

• 6:00 a.m.

Doctors usually have a very long day considering the spectrum of responsibilities hence they don't have the luxury of  starting their day late. They usually start their day at 6:00 am.

Doctors are quite particular about their health and ensure that they have a healthy breakfast to keep them going for the day.

• 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

​Doctors usually arrive at the hospital at 8:30 am

They Check their schedule to see whether there are any appointments for the day and prepare themselves according to the profile of patients who have taken appointments.

Government hospital doctors usually have non-appointment hours in which they see walk-in patients. Typical sessions with patients involve trying to understand and solve their health related concerns. Often, it might take some time to actually find out why they have come, as patients are not always very open to discuss their medical problems making it necessary for the doctors to learn the art of making their patients comfortable enough and creating a very friendly environment allowing the patients can get relaxed and discuss their problems openly.

A general practitioner at a government hospital is usually not a specialized in a specific domain so he handles a wide range of cases, from an elderly man with high blood pressure, to a new born baby with a sticky eye, and a pregnant lady needing a routine check up (some sessions tend to be busy and stressful).

(source: api.ning.com)

• 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Spends the next hour taking or making phone calls to patients who cannot make it to scheduled appointments, or who may not need to if it is just a follow-up consultation.

May also catch up with any paperwork from the morning’s session.

• 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The staff at the practice meet to discuss various aspects of the practice. These may be business decisions, or more difficult decisions regarding patients. A GP usually never works in an individual capacity rather a team of GPs perform their duties simultaneously. this approach reduces the waiting times at hospitals providing patients with timely and comprehensive treatments. Another reason why working in a team is preferred is because it doesn't put  a lot of burden on one doctor and the workload is shared.

• 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Like any other professions, doctors also need a well deserving break which they usually take between 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

• 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Makes necessary home visits and catches up with more paperwork. There are always blood tests to check, patient forms to fill in, and so on.

Stays until all the patients have been seen. If there are delays or problems with other staff’s patients, a GP may still get involved (due to responsibility for the whole practice) and often does not get to see last patient until as late as 6.30 p.m.

• 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Catches up with any final paperwork and then leaves the workplace. Once working hours are over, a GP no longer has any patient responsibilities until the next morning. although this is an ideal situation, but doctors usually have to make themselves available 24 hours in cases of any emergency or natural calamities.

(source: johnvalls.com)

If you are planning to become a doctor, we can assure you that it is a an exciting  journey ahead. Although a degree in medicine is considered to be very challenging but in reality it is not that difficult. Most medical schools in Malaysia have adapted modern and more practical teaching techniques ensuring that medical students do not have a stressful experience at university. Malaysian medical universities have been doing consistent efforts to improve the quality of education providing the country with medical professionals to serve the country.