Practicing from the Heart in the age of Technology - All articles and poems are by Reza Ghadimi, unless otherwise noted.
It was the third surgical case of that morning and the second knee arthroplasty. It was close to noon, we’d been working since 7AM and were getting hungry. I was assisting Dr. T. A very competent, mild-mannered surgeon. With us was Dr. A. a senior resident from our university orthopaedic department. The patient was in her mid-fifties, an obese and short lady. We had a little difficulty positioning her on the table for the procedure.Dr. A. who was a tall, athletic young man seemed disgusted with Dr. T’s meticulous attention to detail and, with a disdained (rude) voice, murmured something about her being too overweight and needing to lose weight.
“She can hardly walk, let alone exercise,” said Dr. T. in his usual calm and mild manner. “Why don’t we fix her knee, then she can work on losing weight.” Everyone in the room smiled and moved their heads in approval, including Dr. A. The procedure went well, and the patient moved to recovery. Above like objections and protests are familiar and, in today’s hurried and demanding environment, frequent. Sometimes we forget that we are there for the patient, not the other way. Another great surgeon and humane physician, I had the privilege of working with, used to say: In every case, I am grateful that I am not the one on the table. It makes me appreciative of being a doctor, and I’ll do everything to live up to the respect this job deserves. Such reverence makes for a happy and satisfying life. Especially in these days of for-profit practices.
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