@mlz

I have never kept a medical journal but they can be helpful. I review my electronic medical records when I don't remember something. I had access to all my doctors over the years so I communicated with them frequently. I was a nurse at the same teaching hospital where I received my medical care. I would get questions answered sometimes while I was working.

The University Hospital where I worked was an early adopter of electronic medical records. Old paper records were also entered into the system. Most of the doctors liked to teach so it was a good environment to learn.

As a nurse, I was a good listener. I still remember some of the interactions with many of my patients. I could relate to them from a patient's level.

Since I worked at a teaching hospital, I had to be a good listener which helped me to learn a few things directly for doctors. I made patient rounds with doctors. I needed to know about my patients. During rounds, I was often the person being asked what questions the patient had so I could relay the answers. When I didn't know an answer to a question, I wasn't shy about relaying the question to the doctor,

Another thing the helps me to remember was how traumatic things were for me. Some of the things will be hard to forget.