No Med Student Is an Island
Ali Tabatabaey -- For most of the X-generation robots attending med school during our times, life is about day-to-day patients, disease, prescriptions, discussions, and the whole thing all over again. Not many of us dare to disclose our human emotions, and even if we do have such feelings, it’s something we hold to ourselves for those lonely moments when no one is around to see. And so the real tragedy of being a med student unfolds: the lonely human, facing a world of emotions!
It seemed like a normal shift, checking on the patients, organizing the files, writing notes, going to the interns’ room to rest, seeing your colleague crying her eyes out…
“I’m sorry. Did I bother you? I’ll come back another time.” It was like being shocked with 10000 volts of electricity. She’s one of those disciplined interns who do the job and leave out the accessories, hardly losing her frown while at work. I was stunned.
“No. Thanks, I’m ok. I have to get back to work anyway.”
“You don’t look OK. You can go home if you like, I’ll cover for you.” And I’m one of those people who just can’t keep their nose out of people's business! “Is there anything I can do? I might be able to do something if you tell me what’s wrong.”
“Have you seen the patient in room 9?”
“Yes.” A 2.5-year-old girl who has spent the last 10 days in a coma. 12 days ago, she came down with a fever and vomiting. Her condition deteriorated by the minute, and now she is brain-dead. It was probably viral encephalitis or a complicated tumor, but no one knows for sure. Her family has not allowed further investigations. “What about her?”
“She came in a couple of months ago with a febrile convulsion. She wasn’t my patient, but I remember her clearly. She was a beautiful girl, bending down the side of her bed. I walked in and called her a naughty girl!” The stream of tears running down her face refused to be controlled by the pathetic attempts made by the wet tissue in her hand. “Is she really dead now? How could she turn like this in two days? We probably missed her diagnosis the first time.” Frustration, anger, sorrow and many more emotions flooded her. I was muted by the enormous emotions overwhelming her. I had nothing to comfort her. “Why her? Why so fast? Isn’t there any hope? Isn’t there any justice?”
The truth is that the girl is in fact dead, at least as far as the neurologist is concerned. There is nothing we can do except to keep her body alive. The story had become more tragic now that I knew a bit more about her, but still there was nothing we could do. We had been beaten by a virus. My fellow intern knew all this too but … In such times of hopelessness, we need someone stronger to hang on to. All I could think of was praying at the holy shrine. Maybe this way she could calm down a bit. She accepted.
I guess all of us X-generation robots attending med school still have a touch of humanity deep down inside. No matter how rock solid we try to be, the so-called everyday events around us are so powerful, that just when you least expect it, they will push you over the edge. One day we will all break into tears. It’s just not the same day for all of us.
Two days later, room number 9 was empty again.
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