True stories - Inspiration
Every 6 months, among the new residents in Medicine, there are the "runners". These are the guys who are shocked by the amount of work that a first year medicine resident is expected to do, that they quit or move on to lighter specialties. They can't be blamed either, u know. These are probably guys who topped every exam in their life and were probably the only ones to crack the tough entrance exam from their states, that their egos would be dancing among the stars. Such inflated egos can never comprehend the fact that they are expected to pull trolleys, collect reports, arrange files, beg for ct scan dates and what not.
Hence it was no surprise when our new first year JR dint turn up for blood sampling one fine morning. He messaged, "I can't work among these people" and bunked. He was a prodigy from the apex institute in India, had cracked PGI without batting an eyelid and hence, expected to be treated like a king. One rounds in the morning by the Professor J and a grueling evening rounds by his SR painfully made him realize that, at this point, neither he is efficient in his work, nor does he know the head and tail of medicine. We thought he was gone forever, but somehow he decided to give it all a try again. He returned the next day and started working. When his SR was about to reprimand him, Professor S intervened. He told the SR in private, "Look beta, we have all felt like running away, all of us, you and me. Although bunking without informing is ethically wrong, since he decided to give it a try once again, lets act mature and appreciate his spirit to fight." Turning to the JR, Prof S told, "I'm glad that you are back beta, let me tell you a story.
" Around 35 years back when I was doing my senior residency in this very same unit in this ward, my JR came to me one day and announced he is quitting. He had already prepared his letter and booked his train. I was surprised as he seemed a nice guy who was interested in the subject, so I tried to sort out what his problem was. It turned out that, all his troubles were because both his senior residents were allotting him work at the same time. Trying to do everything, he ended up doing neither of the sr's work and was getting scolded everyday. He actually took it upon himself thinking that he was not efficient enough to continue here. Me and my co-sr sorted out his problem by giving him a combined list of things to do and just that simple step sorted out his problem. He became efficient and showed amazing interest in the subject. He completed his MD, did some period of senior residency, did his DM here itself, as well as some foreign training and went to be an amazing physician. Since he was a very good person by heart, he couldn't ignore the poor, downtrodden and sick in this country and thus got active in social work, in between his busy practice. Last year he was awarded the Padma Shri by the President of India. I was real proud at that moment, because I realized that one small step I took, one moment I spent just listening to somebody, had made a difference. Not just to that resident's life but to thousands of people, patients, their families, and a lot of unfortunate people in this country.
One can never gauge the potential of a person and the heights a person can reach by a small amount of inspiration at the right time." Professor S concluded, before continuing with his morning rounds.
Good teachers share all they know, they instruct.
The amazing ones, inspire.
Happy teachers day
