Doctor.. an elite individual who is bestowed with the noblest profession, treads with the responsibility of saving lives and forever a subject of public criticism and praise. Elucidating the significance of a doctor is onerous. Hippocrates summed it up brilliantly by saying "Life is short, the art long, opportunity fleeting, experiment treacherous,judgement difficult."
Being a doctor, our version is slightly different... The basic essence remains the same... But the following incidents may offer a window of insight. There is more to a white coat than parading as god's gift to humanity!!
Flashback no.1
As a brand new intern in MMC , much to my dismay, i was prey to the common obnoxious notion that government college students uphold that a private college student is pretty much like the cheerleader in chick flicks.. On one hand, i was battling the urge to retreat at first chance and get back to my dear old college, and on the other trying to cope up with my already experienced co interns who were teaching me how to insert a catheter, ryles tube and iv cannula. The odds were definitely not in my favour and having a double OPD in my first week itself was cause for trepidation. Whilst i did learn the art of inserting catheters on my first OPD itself, and was looking forward to second OPD (which happened to be on my birthday..), little did i know what was in store. A 21 year old male patient admitted with history of Organophosphorous compound consumption. It does not take a genius to understand that soon after primary examination, the patient has to be catheterized before starting him on atropine... Having explained the condition of the patient to the two apprehensive male attenders, i proceeded to insert the catheter... And blimey... what the ???? the guy had a mammoth erection... while i was trying to insert the catheter... HOLY SHIT!!..H I would have gladly accepted a bottle of OP Compound rather than having to be part of this crazy incident. While circulation to my face seems to have escalated at rocket speed, and the patient's attenders were looking anywhere but me, and that incoherent moron who attempted suicide and scarred me for good was blissfully engulfed in a parallel universe, i took 20 seconds to finally look up, and said "i shall come back in 5 minutes" in a surprisingly calm voice... and dashed out before any further questions could be asked. Yahoo.. I was thinking i handled it real smooth and before i knew my happy bubble shattered when my cointern asked if i catheterized the patient... and thats not it... He went to check on him. *FACEPALM* eventful birthday *FACEPALM*
Flashback no.2
Drunk patient's attenders, atropinized patients, exhausted PGs and interns are definitely a DEADLY combination. On yet another duties, it was close to 1AM and being inadept at striking a conversation mostly because i was surrounded by half dead doctors who seemed to be wallowing in the land of fatigue, i heard someone crashing. I was up on my feet in a split second and rushed to see which unfortunate patient had a nasty fall. Surprise Surprise.. The recently admitted atropinized patient holding an IV fluid bottle in one hand, was having fist fight with a man( supposedly his brother) who was obviously drunk!!... while the duo rolled on ground throwing a bunch of profanities at each other, i stood aghast not just because of the warriors who had attracted a small crowd of nosy patients, other attenders, but at the look of indifference plastered on all the doctors. And before i could jump to some drastic conclusion about the issue, my senior PG motioned me to sit down and explained that there was nothing much we could do. The nurses seemed to successfully break the fight, secured the patient and the brother sobered down in time,and i had just survived a mini heart attack. yes, i am definitely not one for violence!
(PS: when a patient is atropinized, they act a little crazy, disoriented..)
Flashback no.3
When i was posted in casualty (casualty is where all the emergency cases, Medico Legal Cases such as RTAs, Poisoning cases, attempted suicide, burns, assualt cases are seen and directed to respective departments my a casualty medical officer (CMO).. ), it was around 11pm and it seemed to be a normal duty. The usual flow of cases, nothing extraordinary... no mass casualty.. And i definitely jinxed myself by thinking that way because within moments i was involved in one of the biggest scandals of the year. The case was simple. A 20 year old Primi gravid with 32 weeks of gestation with IUD and severe anemia ( in simple terms, a young pregnant girl with intra uterine death of baby and hemoglobin level of 3 gm%). Her anemia was being corrected before expulsion of the baby and she was in labour ward where no visitors are allowed. Apparently the patient was thirsty and she asked her neighboring patient to pass her a bottle of water. And do not question me how, but that neighboring patient gladly reached over and passed her a bottle. Its only when the young girl consumed about 300ml of liquid did she realize that it tasted weird. She started vomiting blood and immediately told the ward PG that she consumed something and pointed to that glass bottle. It was concentrated FORMALIN. In less than 15 minutes, she had collapsed and in spite of all resuscitative efforts, she succumbed. Destiny sure had a twisted sense of humour. What are the odds that you ask for water when thirsty and a stranger hands over formalin??? It will never be understood as to how she drank 300 ml of that pungent unpalatable liquid without suspicion. At that precise moment when we heard that there was a mob and the presence of CMO was requested, and my dearest valiant CMO asked me to go to the department and fetch the case file, i gave him my best "are you shitting me???" look..What was he thinking, feeding me the sharks?? And when he stared back at me unwavered, i reluctantly exited knowing that i might never return. Quick thinking.. i removed my apron, walked towards the obstetrics block, and unbelievably all my senses were heightened and and everyone who barely glanced at me seemed to be shooting daggers. MY heart lept to my mouth when i saw two trucks loaded with angry men, fully armed with lathis,sickles, axes and what not.The two hundred men would never understand the reality, for their grief was beyond limits . I walked as steadily as i could and tried to keep a straight face when i was practically nearing a breakdown. Miraculously having survived and having secured the case file, i was about to return when i caught a glimpse of that most unfortunate girl..The look on pale as a ghost PG, the senior resident on duty and everyone in that room will haunt me forever. I am thankful to that l***y CMO for it was because of him, that i learnt to walk even when your sixth sense is begging you to retreat. It is because of him that i saw what it really means when the world goes Topsy turvy.
Moral of the story!!
We are doctors, and moreover we are humans. Only thing, we learn to hide our emotions, keep a straight face and act as steadily as possible.
We witness the very very thin line demarcating life and death. We live with the burden of the lives we lost and
the minuscule proportion of the population we saved.
We live with some of the most embarrassing incidents and some heart wrecking ones.
The biggest challenge will be putting the health and well being of patients above any other priority including our own.
