Newsletter No. 379

10 No. 379, 4.6.2011 下回〈十方吐露〉將訪問中文大學出版社社長甘琦女士 Ms. Gan Qi, Director of The Chinese University Press, will be featured in the next instalment of ‘TEN QUESTIONS FOR’. 預告 Coming A&E departments mirror society. After all these years in A&E, I witnessed the progress of society. When I first worked as an A&E doctor, I treated a lot of industrial accident patients. The accidents might be results of the then poor social systems. Those days also saw a lot of crimes committed by armed robbers from the mainland. Gunshot wounds were common. Today, many young doctors may not have a chance to treat gunshot wounds even after working for a few years. 4 有何行醫心得？ Any tips on being a good doctor? 做醫生最困難的是開藥以外的事情，開藥反倒較容易。醫療 最難的部分，是醫生與病人保持良好溝通，教導他們怎樣面 對和料理病情，令他們接受你的意見。 The hardest part of our profession doesn’t lie in giving medication. Writing out prescriptions is relatively easy. What is hard is to maintain good and effective communication with patients. You have to teach them how to face disease and take care of themselves. The challenge lies in convincing them to follow your advice. 5 從醫生涯慣見生老病死，對人生觀有何影響？ As a doctor, you’ve seen a lot of life and death. How does it affect your view on life? 有一次急症室送來一個工人，他在修整一面牆時，牆塌下把他 壓死，家人很傷心。我剛處理完這宗急症後，又即遇有孕婦臨 盆，馬上跑去接生，把一個白白胖胖的嬰兒接來到世界。剛好 有只蝴蝶飛過，覺得很稀奇。在急救房那麼小的地方，生命每 天在來來去去。感覺是有點看破看透，不是覺得生命沒有意 義，而是覺得應把每天的工作做得更好。 I remember an episode where an injured worker was rushed in. He was working under a wall when it suddenly collapsed on him. He didn’t make it. His family was overwhelmed. After handling this case, I was told that a pregnant woman in labour was rolled in. I hurried to treat her and brought a healthy baby into this world. At that moment, a butterfly fluttered by. It’s a rare scene. Seeing so many lives come and go in a small resuscitation room, I’ve developed a fatalistic mindset. But that doesn’t mean that I see life as meaningless. Instead, I try to live every day to its fullest and do my job well. 6 前年校園曾有多宗豬流感確診個案，這經驗對於校 園傳染病防治有何啟迪？ There were confirmed cases of human swine flu (influenza A H1N1) on campus in 2009. What have we learned from this experience? 現在全球一體化，交通便利，病毒感染可以很快，一旦爆發， 對你從事的產業影響很大。比如我們是教育事業，如果控制 不好，課堂可能要停頓。那次豬流感在暑假發生，整個暑假課 程要停掉。幸好經過藥物治療、隔離和教導學生洗手戴口罩 等衞生防護措施，成功在一兩星期內把感染遏止。所得到的 經驗是：應付傳染病，需要防、控、治並重，不同單位之間的緊 密合作亦十分重要。 Now that the world is globalized and transportation is easy, viruses can spread very rapidly. A disease outbreak can bring your business completely to a halt. For example, we’re an education provider. If we let infections get out of hand, classes will have to be suspended. It was summer when we detected the human swine flu cases on campus, the International Summer School was disrupted. It’s fortunate that after we treated the infected students and isolated them, and taught other students to take precautionary measures such as washing hands and wearing masks, we brought 1 你是中大醫學院首屆畢業生，當年有何深刻記憶？ You belong to the first class of medical students to graduate from CUHK. What do you recall most vividly from your undergraduate days? 任何事情都有承前啟後，我們首屆學生卻沒有了承前，沒有 學長可以給我們意見，無論課程安排或找實習醫院都遇到困 難。始終是剛起步，很多事情都不是很暢順。但反過來，由於 是第一屆，師長花了很多心血在我們身上。 我是第一屆醫學院院會會長，常與蔡永業院長接觸。他是很 有學識和智慧的學者。當年醫學院尚未得到英國醫學總會的 承認，蔡院長常說：「你們要用心唸書，不然人家不承認你。」 故此身為首屆學生，特別有種使命感和責任感。 As the first batch of medical students, we didn’t have any upperclassmen to turn to for advice and had no examples to follow. We had difficulties arranging courses and finding clinical placements at hospitals. Many things didn’t go smoothly for this fledgling school. Having said that, as the first batch, we received extra care from the teachers. I was the first president of the CUHK Medical Society. So, I had many interactions with Prof. G.H. Choa, the founding Dean of Medicine. He was a learned and intelligent scholar. In those days, our medical school was not yet recognized by the UK General Medical Council. Professor Choa always said to us: ‘You have to study hard. Otherwise, you won’t be recognized.’ As the first batch of CUHK medical students, we had a sense of mission and a sense of duty. 2 創院時期物資缺乏，對你的教育有何影響？ Did the material inadequacies during the medical school’s infancy affect your education? 很多創院教授都說，學醫最大的寶庫是你面前的病人。只要 虛心向他學，不需要美輪美奐的校舍，不需要最先進的醫院， 任何一個病人，只要細看他的病歷，細心檢查，你最終都會成 為一個好醫生。這是我們至今沒有忘記的教誨。 We were told by many founding professors that the best way to study medicine is to learn from your patients. You don’t need a magnificent teaching complex or an advanced hospital. What you need is to examine your patients thoroughly and read their medical records carefully. Then, you’ll become a good doctor. 3 你曾是急症科醫生，有否難忘經歷？ You were an accident and emergency (A&E) doctor. Any unforgettable experiences? 當年在威爾斯親王醫院，每天都有南北越船民打鬥，接收大 量傷者。另外是SARS，因為威院在疫情爆發後停止急症室服 務，我當時在大埔那打素醫院工作，那兒幾乎承擔了新界東的 所有急症服務，而同僚中也有人染病過世。 急症室是社會的縮影。做了這麼多年，最主要是看到社會進 步。我剛工作的時候見到很多創傷性的意外，這可能是因為 當時的社會制度不夠完善，導致很多工傷意外。當年還有「省 港旗兵」，常見槍傷。現在的醫生，做了幾年可能都沒有見過 槍傷呢！ When I worked at the Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH), fighting between boat people from South and North Vietnam broke out every day. We had to admit many wound patients. Another unforgettable experience is the SARS epidemic. I was at the Nethersole Hospital in Tai Po. At that time we had to treat almost all emergency cases in New Territories East because the PWH stopped its A&E service after the outbreak. And one of our colleagues was infected and passed away. the situation under control in one or two weeks. What we learned from this incident is that a concerted effort is needed to prevent and control epidemic diseases. 7 你在外面醫療機構的經驗，有哪些可以運用到中大 來？ How does your past experience help your work at the University Health Service (UHS)? 除個人累積的治病經驗外，網絡也很重要。大學的醫療服務， 除了由保健處提供外，還有公私營醫療機構。我服務公私營醫 院所建立的網絡，對於我們安排校外夥伴提供或加強某類醫 療服務，有很大幫助。 Besides my personal experience in medicine, connections are also important. The UHS is not the only medical service provider at this University. We also involve public and private hospitals to provide medical services to staff and students. The connections I built during the days I worked at those hospitals are helpful when we need to involve external partners to provide and enhance particular services. 8 醫療科技日新月異，器材和藥物也愈來愈貴，如何 保證保健處能提供最佳服務？ New medical equipment and medicines can be very expensive. How can the UHS provide good service with limited resources? 這是醫療管理的問題，也就是善用已有的資源和做好配對。人 手方面，我們的醫生集中診症，而行政、教育、諮詢、輔導等工 作，就交給輔助醫療人員去做。藥物方面，我們已引入許多新 藥物。治病是要有策略的，短期靠用藥，中長期則靠教育，教 導大家怎樣保持健康或自行料理的簡單問題，從而減少需要 來這裏見醫生的次數。 This is an issue of medical management. In short, it’s about better utilization of available resources. Doctors at the UHS focus their time and energy on treating patients. Work related to administration, education, consultation and counselling is left to allied health professionals. As for medicines, we’ve introduced many new drugs. Optimal patient care requires strategies. In the short term, we give them medication. In the long term, we teach them how to stay healthy and deal with minor problems, so that they don’t need to visit us so frequently. 9 2012年開始新學制，人口多了，保健處的服務有哪些 加強的地方？ How will the UHS respond to the increase in the campus population after 2012? 大學向我們增撥了資源，以增加人手和添置儀器。另外，我們 也投入資源建立新的醫療資訊系統，這是提高效率的重要環 節。現在同事每天要爬上爬下提取和儲存幾百份病歷，醫生 又要把病歷逐頁逐頁翻看，非常廢時失事。以後這一切，無 論開藥、分享資料都可以在電腦屏幕上進行，病歷紀錄一目了 然。捧着沉甸甸的病歷搬來搬去的日子始終要過去。 The University has provided us with additional resources to hire extra hands and buy new equipment. We’re also developing an electronic medical information system, which will significantly improve our efficiency. Now our colleagues have to climb up and down to retrieve and store hundreds of medical records every day. And doctors have to flip through pages of these paper records for information. It’s troublesome and time-consuming. With the new system, all these, including viewing patients’ medical histories, giving prescriptions, sharing information, can be done on computer screens. It’s about time for the piles of paper medical records to go. 10 有何健康之道可提供給讀者？ Any tips on how to stay healthy for our readers? 這有身心兩方面，身方面自然是適當運動和均衡飲食，心方 面就是凡事要知足。我喜歡散步，每天會散步半個至一個小 時，這樣既能給自己構建寧靜的空間，又能做一下運動。有時 候，疾病不一定能預防，當疾病來臨，應以平常自然的心去正 向面對。 Physically, a balanced diet and regular exercise. Spiritually, a contented mind. I go for a walk for a half to one hour every day. This daily walk gives me exercise and some tranquil moments. Sometimes diseases are unpreventable. When you suffer from a disease, it is important that you face it with an unruffled state of mind, and correct knowledge and attitude. 陸偉昌醫生 Dr. Luk Wai-cheong Scotty Director of the University Health Service 大學保建處處長