Thursday, May 24, 2007

it's been so long since i've had any measure of fun that i've been procrastinating in blogging. so.

today, i walked past a mum, with 2 young kids in tow, one in each hand. when i walked past them, the kid nearer to me reached out, saliva-covered hand removed from mouth, and gave my hand a punch.






my instant reaction?

"OMG I HOPE HE DOESN'T HAVE ANY CONTAGIOUS DISEASE!"

before medical school, it would have been:
"oh man, what a spoilt (insert swear word of choice here) brat!!"

how much medical school changes you. who were you before medical school? that's a very good question i need to remind myself of, every now and then.

i mean, i know you aren't a fixed personality, you grow and change with time. your personality, (and you, for that matter,) changes as you grow older (and wiser - hopefully. or grow more mature, to put it euphemistically), and you find your tastes changing, your values changing, your priorities changing.

but that aside, it's different from how medical school changes you. is cramming all you're interested in now? is the library the first place you head to in the morning upon waking up and the last place you see before you sleep? EVERYDAY?

i don't think we need robot doctors. we need human doctors. who know how to relate to patients, who know how to communicate. to empathise, to heal.
so it's really important to me not to lose myself in the heady world that is medical school, but to look at it in the grand scheme of things and to keep a part of myself human, someone you might actually want to know better.

ps. yes, i did swab my hand vigorously with an alcohol swab after being punched by the saliva-covered fist.

pps. don't you lot carry alcohol swabs with you too? ok, fine, i'm a dork. i know it. but i'm a clean dork!

1 comment:

XE said...

"yes, i did swab my hand vigorously with an alcohol swab after being punched by the saliva-covered fist."

Ahahaha I love it!! I probably would have done the same thing!!

I carry around a travel sized bottle of purell with me, because you never know when some person with a bad cold will sit next to you on the subway! That is how I ended up in bed for a week last summer so now I'm more cautious.