My first morning of adolescent medicine began in one of the worst parts of town. A long brick wall was broken by a video camera bizarrely angled toward the nondescript metal door. Admittance was only achieved after a long hard pull, followed by an appropriate creek of welcome. I had arrived at the specialized clinic for young opiate addicts.
Here I would spend about a third of my time observing adolescents participating in a Suboxone treatment program. Truth be told, I have a special interest in drug addicts. This population so desperately needs coordinated psychological and medical help, and generally addicts are treated terribly by the health care system. They are not only underserved, but seemingly under-cared for.
I learned from my preceptor that adolescents have an especially difficult time seeking medical help because most adult rehab programs don’t feel comfortable taking care of young people. Unfortunately, most pediatricians aren’t comfortable with addicts either. This leaves extremely limited resources for a large at risk population.
My preceptor was extremely calm, and demonstrated how to take a full history about addiction. This is something I was never taught in my medical interviewing classes. When did it start? How much were you using? How did you split the dose? How many bags? Did you ever sell sex for drugs? Ever share needles? Ever drive while you were high? Did you smoke it, snort it, shoot it? Which veins did you use? Any skin infections? When was your last use?
“Observing,” as I quickly learned, also meant watching the women give their urine samples. After performing rectal exams, vaginal exams and other procedures, I thought watching somebody urinate would be no big deal. However, I felt awkward when I got in the stall for the first time. How close was I supposed to be? Did I need to visualize the urethral area? Look or turn away? Suddenly I felt a great appreciation for nurses, who usually are involved intimately with bodily functions. I later asked my preceptor, who explained it was more important to “look and feel for the appropriate color and temperature” than visualize the details.
One patient* came in quite obviously “high.” As I watched her urinate, she laughed insidiously. “Oh boy, you must be so excited to watch me!” I kept silent and tried to seem “professional.”. Her urine came back the following week positive for several different drugs, and she never showed up for her next appointment.
A new patient* showed me remnants of a huge abscess, which had destroyed her last good access point. She told me “I’m here because I can’t get my veins to pop anymore.” With shriveled surface veins, she felt forced into treatment.
The experience was poignant-not simply invading someone’s privacy for greater good- but learning more about the people behind these addictions. These were hard-working, friendly young people with career aspirations. Most of them had started going down the path of addiction because doctors or dentists had prescribed Percocet or Vicadin for “legitimate” reasons (broken bones, wisdom teeth, surgery, etc.). How many times had I helped prepare these prescriptions? Perhaps too many times.
*Please note all patient identifying information has been intentionally changed or omitted. While the details are modified, my overall experience remains true.
Posted by Liz