MEDICAL CHECKUP IN RDF: By Lt Col (Dr) Byimana
Medical and non-medical practitioners must always be aware of the importance of medical checkups in preserving one’s health. When a patient enters a consultation room, the medical practitioner is faced with a series of challenges. First, the patient always expects a successful and accurate diagnosis of his problem, while the practitioner has the task of identifying the cause of discomfort. The practitioner must identify the cause of disease or possible set of diseases. For the practitioner to be able to identify the cause of disease, a series of investigations have to be done. It is these series of investigations which are done in a medical checkup. The medical check-up constitutes the significant part of the entire medical attendance of the doctor to the patient since it correctly establishes the doctor’s basis for appropriate action. A medical checkup is a series of medical investigations and tests conducted on a sick or non-sick individual with the aim to discover the possible malfunction of the body. The aim of this article is to illustrate the importance of regular medical checkup for Rwanda Defence Force troops with view to draw recommendations for ensuring continuous compliance.
The role of medical checkup is evident: Prevention is better than cure as the adage goes. For a medical practitioner, it is always better to take care of a patient in acute phase of disease; and much better when the discovered disease is not yet declared, than to manage a chronic case or worse, to take care of a case that has reached the severe stage. In the first scenario, the practitioner has on his side all the chances to restore the initial conditions of health, while in the second, he is in a dile...
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...ection of this practice is possible as it has been seen in other institutions: some people don’t understand why they should be investigated when they are not sick. Therefore, it is the duty of Military Medical Insurance to indicate the type of medical checkup to be routinely done in order to ease budget making since there is a contribution on cost of investigations per member. The check-up call for soldiers by medical practitioners is a formidable professional practice aimed at enhancing military effectiveness and proficiency in its mission. With the prevailing will and commitment of the government on health promotion the emphasis on medical check-up in the military forces requires special attention. It is in this regard that RDF has embarked on building the medical department and facilities to be the reliable institution in the entire medical and health services.
Commanders from all units across the world have thought about how to take care of their troops in times of war. Maybe one of the most heavily weighed thoughts is how much risk I am willing to take if I can’t provide my men immediate medical care at the time when they most need it.
In this present day and age, medical care is taken for granted and is losing its integrity as the boundaries between Doctor and Patient is becoming dimmer. With the rapid advancement in the science and medical field, there came hundreds of new machines and procedures that are being incorporated into new forms of efficient and safe treatments; however, with these new advancements, the patients would then need to be informed of the risks and benefits of the procedure before they are to undergo any type of treatment. Subsequently, this can cause the patient to feel uncomfortable with some of the procedures that the doctor may suggest due to the side effects and risks that were stated which would then limit the doctor on the type of care he/she
...health of a patient and a follow up check at the GP’s may be required.
Primary care physicians are trained in a number of diagnostic techniques such as interviewing the patients to get information on symptoms, examining the medical history of the patient so as to obtain more information, conducting a physical examination on the patient and most importantly, carrying out a medical examination. This might include blood and urine tests (Dahrouge, Muldoon, Ward, Hogg, Russell, & Taylor-Sussex, 2014). The physician then makes a differential diagnosis which is used to prescribe medicine for the patient. On the other hand, family nurse practitioners take part in preventive care which may involve screening patients, conducting health-risk assessment, facilitating immunization, providing counseling meant to improve the health of patients. Most importantly though, family nurse practitioners are directly involved in managing chronic infections, giving ways to improve the care provided by the primary care physicians. This is often because of their experience and in-depth research they are exposed
The improvement of medicine over the course of the human successes gave great convenience to the people of today. Science has cured and prevented many illnesses from occurring and is on its way to cure some of the most dreadful and harmful illnesses. As the world modernizes due to the industrialization, so does the ways of medicine. Some cures are approached by chance, some, through intense, scientific measures.
The doctor might also conduct a physical examination to confirm the diagnosis. This is carried out by listening...
... a health problem, incorrect supervision of medication to a patient, faulty or sub-standard performance of a diagnosis, surgery, or any other type of procedure, inadequate use of medical tools and instruments and devices and their lack of maintenance, and negligence towards patient records, test results, or any other kind of documentation (Goguen). Although, the list of problems and causes of medical malpractice seems rather endless and long, it can be cut short. Some ways to prevent and avoid malpractice or medical error is to be aware and involved. A doctor can take note of their patient and their medical history. A patient can be aware of their surroundings and the treatment that they are receiving. A patient’s safety should be a doctor’s primary concern, because it is their responsibility to tend to patients needs and to assist them to a proper nourished life.
Gawande’s writing shows that doctors are people, prone to mistakes just like everyone else. He writes that on occasion, doctors do not know what to do. They are faced with a case where the patient shows no troubling symptoms, yet they are unable to shake the feeling that something is seriously wrong. On these
As a result of the importance placed on preventive services there is no shortage of studies examining preventive service utilization among various groups. Many studies have examined the factors affecting preventive service use with the most important including age5,6, race/ethnicity7-10, marital status11, and income. 6-8,11-13 The literature has documented disparities by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status in use of preventive services and shown that minorities are generally not as likely as Whites to receive services such as blood pressure checks, cervical cancer screening, and blood cholesterol screening. 14 Other studies have looked at the effects of education 9,15,16, usual source of care 15, and insurance 17-20 on the utilization of preventive services. While still other studies have sought to explore the role of health status 15, health beliefs 19, region of United States and whether a person lives in an urban or rural environment. 8
“Behind every good doctor is a great nurse.” Nurses assist doctors by carrying out the instructions by which they have instructed to the patient. Registered Nurses perform the duties of taking care of their patients and making sure they understand the seriousness’s of their estate. Registered Nursing is an interest because it promotes the wellbeing of people. Documenting symptoms and recent medical history from the Registered Nurse help assist the doctor in diagnosing the patient. The career of a Registered Nurse resorts back to the history from which it derived. Becoming a Registered Nurse requires an established career in healthcare helping improve the aspect of the lives of everyone.
Thirdly, the science of nursing is exemplified in the fact that nurses are partakers in the lot of people who are lifelong learners. With the presentation of new and diverse challenges by the day, new skills are gained. The medical profession being as dynamic as it is, requires efforts commensurate to the fast changing picture of the medical arena. New outbreaks emerge which prompts the development of new procedures and interventions.
...e to organise though the number of side rooms in University college hospital is very limited. The staffs were well trained in following the trust policy regarding infection control and the procedure on isolation of patients. It is also vital that the important details of a patients is checked such as allergies, past medical history, family history, social history in which it can be linked to the present condition of the patient as given on my patient scenario wherein the he had a history of tuberculosis before migrating in United Kingdom in which it can be related to the patients present condition. Furthermore,the patient was also given advice by the doctors and dieticians regarding to make some necessary changes on his lifestyle mainly on his smoking habits. The possible spread of infection was prevented and the patient had a safe journey during the admission.
In our society, it is not rare to hear people die suddenly without signs of serious illness preceding the death. A critical examination might show that such individuals were suffering from serious health condition that they and their family were not aware of. These critical health issues are often diagnosed during regular medical checkups.
The physician inquires about how the patient is and begins the process of finding out what is wrong with the patient. The first thing that the doctor does is to put the patient at ease and to make them as comfortable as possible. The physician should begin the conversation with an open – ended question, such as, “How are you feeling”. The physician then encourages the patient to mention all of the ailments that they are experiencing. This is when the physician can learn the most about the patient’s personality and environmental influences. It is important for the doctor to be attentive and take good notes. The doctor explores in great detail the time of the ailments and the severity. The physician inquires about the patient’s past health and any family history that is of relevance. The physician then checks the accuracy of all the data and details collected to date and informs the patient of the next step in the process, the diagnosis. It is important that the patient does most of the talking throughout the interview, so that the doctor can elicit all...
"The rise of Surveillance Medicine" discusses about how the medicine system evolved in serval centuries and let the global citizens become more healthier. From the beginning "Bedside Medicine" - the doctor will go to the patient's home and patient need to describe the symptoms to doctrine. After that as the following advance of hospitals system in eighteenth century, they created "Hospital Medicine" to replace "Bedside Medicine" which located in the normal hospital system and also a revolution in medical thinking, patients no need to describe the symptoms to doctor but detected by doctor and laboratory tests performed by medical staff and discipline the changes in three terms of "spatialisation" of illness. The advantage of "Hospital Medicine"