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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder where the medical student was?

42 replies

girlfriend44 · 18/09/2024 13:26

Anyone work at the doctors, or just know the answer in general?

Went to the doctors yesterday I was told on the phone the doctor would have a medical student in with him and they were just checking it was alright. Thats when I made the appointment.

When I turned up to the appointment receptionist also said there's a student in with doctor.
I thought quite alot about this and wondered what it would be like?
When I went into the Surgery, the doctor was alone and no medical student was there.

I just sort of mentioned it but didn't get much of an answer, other than they obvs weren't there.

Might sound trivial but wondered why they weren't there after being told they were. I also thought about this alot because actually I.prefer to see the doctor alone but thought it would be a good thing to do as students need to spent time at a practice I guess?

Is this a normal thing?
How come the receptionist didn't realise they weren't there? I guess they hadn't been told?
Has this happened to you?

OP posts:
FixTheBone · 18/09/2024 13:28

Might have gone for a wee, or peeled off to do a recorded consultation. In another room.

Tulip8 · 18/09/2024 13:28

On a break? Using the toilet? Running a message or a other errand? Does it matter?

Greybeardy · 18/09/2024 13:28

Tea break/fainted/seeing someone else? There are many reasons they may not have been there.

TooHappyToday · 18/09/2024 13:29

The student might have had a lunch break, went into a different appointment with another doctor, or left early.

DifficultBloodyWoman · 18/09/2024 13:30

I had a similar experience. The doctor told me that they hadn’t shown up yet. I think it was a 9.45am appointment. 🙄 She did not seem impressed.

SecondFavouriteDinosaur · 18/09/2024 13:32

For a shit? Gone to make a cuppa?

Gettingbysomehow · 18/09/2024 13:34

Could be doing anything, quite often I send my students off to find something, do something, look something up online, or follow another practitioner who is doing something interesting for an hour.

SecondFavouriteDinosaur · 18/09/2024 13:34

The genuine answer is that it could have been for all sorts of very simple reasons. The receptionist will have just been told that the student was shadowing that particular GP on that day, but wouldn’t know their minute by minute movements. The student could have been sent for a break, been asked to run an errand, been asked to sit in on another appointment as a chaperone, been called to an appointment with another GP that they thought might have been of interest…

Alwayschangingthings · 18/09/2024 13:35

I’m putting my money on toilet, or making a coffee. Simples.

BobbyBiscuits · 18/09/2024 13:36

Presumably the student was contracted to be in with that GP all day, so all their patients would be warned. I guess you just happened to in when they were on their break. It's not a big mystery that they wouldn't just sit there solidly for 10 hours or however long it's open for. Or they could've been splitting their time between several GPs in the practice.
You say you didn't really want them there anyway, so next time that happens you could say you'd rather be seen alone. They won't mind if you refuse the student.

distractmeagain · 18/09/2024 13:39

are you usually an overthinker.. has your mind now decided there must be something wrong with you for the student not to be there?

you were asked if it was ok and you agreed, next time if you don't want them there simply say no!

i remember when i was in labour with my first, i was 29 weeks and the midwife called my labour 'pretty normal' and asked if i was ok with students coming in.. at the point she asked i was under a lot of stress and agreed, the room then filled with atl east 6 other people! it was then i decided i would never agree to students again!

Button28384738 · 18/09/2024 13:42

DD was seen by a medical student recently (with trained Dr in the room observing). He was lovely and very thorough.
I think it can be a good thing because they will be up to date with current research and treatments and are going to be thorough because they're being assessed

Mynewnameis · 18/09/2024 13:43

Maybe your appointment sounded too boring

SecondFavouriteDinosaur · 18/09/2024 13:48

I’ve just remembered it has happened to me once. I was going to see the community midwife for a sweep, and was asked if I was ok with there being a midwifery student there. Fine by me. She wasn’t there. Turned out I’d gone to school with her and she’d thought I probably wouldn’t want her up my vag, so excused herself when she saw my name on the appointment list.

Thegoodandbadlife · 18/09/2024 13:50

Could be due to break, got called into another consult if other doctors thought it was worth observing, could be off for scheduled online teaching at that time and lastly and most likely from my experience of medical students - they just never turn up to placement - do the odd bit here and there and get 'signed off' as present for that day and then head home or do the skill they need signing off and then go. Might be just my area but this University is notorious for these students not turning up for full days or scheduled hours and that is across 3/4 hospitals and GP practices.

GRex · 18/09/2024 13:54

I'm curious about where you think the student was. Are you imagining...
Lurking behind a spy mirror?
Lying on the ceiling panels peering down at you through a small hole?
Camouflaged including face paint and hiding in plain sight against the wall?
Crouched down under the doctor's desk?
In a cupboard?

ThePure · 18/09/2024 13:57

Was ill and/ or didn't show up for some reason
We have med students scheduled to be with us and therefore I have to let patients know but then sometimes they just don't show up.

Popadomorbread · 18/09/2024 13:58

Sometimes as a medical student you can get pulled into other appointments if it is something more interesting!
Also could have needed a wee

AliceS1994 · 18/09/2024 14:04

For about a thousand different reasons- none of which are related to you or your appointment so I wouldn't give it a second thought.

CherryValley5 · 18/09/2024 14:05

DifficultBloodyWoman · 18/09/2024 13:30

I had a similar experience. The doctor told me that they hadn’t shown up yet. I think it was a 9.45am appointment. 🙄 She did not seem impressed.

Why exactly does it matter to you?

FloofPaws · 18/09/2024 14:13

I work in a teaching g hospital and have had many students in the the nurses and doctors, they'd either be on a break or with another doctor perhaps with a good learning opportunity elsewhere

KrisAkabusi · 18/09/2024 14:18

I also thought about this alot because actually I.prefer to see the doctor alone but thought it would be a good thing to do as students need to spent time at a practice I guess?

I'm a bit surprised this was your first encounter with a medical student. I often see them at the doctor's. It's how they learn.

TimelyIntervention · 18/09/2024 14:20

They’d gone somewhere else? I assume the receptionists have to warn all patients, but they won’t know if the student has stepped out for some reason.

Alternatively, they could have seen your name and realised they knew you, so stepped out to protect your privacy.

GRex · 18/09/2024 14:40

Were the curtains by the bed partially closed?
A grate by the floor that looked like an air vent, but you know better now?