an itinerant observer

I love working- but truly detest taking exams. However, as life only gives you more of what you fear, I found myself responsible for my program’s weekly Clinical Grand Rounds—an exercise in which I was expected to present a case and be judged by my program for my clinical acumen and physical exam skills. Passing would be a quiet victory; failing, on the other hand, would be public humiliation. My anxiety kicked in hard as the presentation drew closer. As I rehearsed and revised just before my moment of truth, I was stricken with a revelation— I hadn’t cut my fingernails . Alas, my personal grooming had become another casualty of my daily workload and brewing burnout. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t have been a concern, but here, my long fingernails would make percussion during the physical exam almost impossible. I would end up scratching, scarring, and bruising the patient’s poor abdomen with my taps, earning a brutal shaming from my attendings in the process. “Damn, I need a nai...

The huge poster at the mall grabs my attention. There’s a mom in her kitchen with her kids around her. The children are creating a supreme mess in the kitchen (in the said poster), as expected, but mom is peaceful - levitating in a yoga-like posture, seemingly practicing mindfulness meditation, hence the caption ‘Breathe Mama, Breathe!’ is quite appropriate, I think.       Happy Mother’s Day it says at the bottom of the poster, albeit in small print. That’s what it’s likely advocating for. It is, after all, one of the busiest ‘C’ days per my lexicon, i.e. commercialistic/capitalistic/consumeristic, when people shop till they drop at all kinds of sales events at malls. Perhaps some of what they purchase is for their moms.   I’m also there, but unlike most, I believe I’m actually there shopping for my Ma. She has given me a list of what to obtain for her kitchen in Karachi. I’m in Houston for a work-related trip and on that last day of my visit there, t...

Have you ever been in a situation where you have a final exam coming up and the syllabus is too extensive, the subject too confusing, and the time not enough? You and your friends make jokes about how you guys haven’t studied anything and have a good laugh. After the exam, you make jokes about how you were all going to fail. The result comes out and you’re relieved to know that you guys passed. Great! You find out that one of you has the highest marks in class. You’re happy for your friend but you make fun of him for participating in the “I’m going to fail” banter because he clearly knew a lot more than the rest of you. But you also find out that one of your friends actually did fail. Would you make fun of him? Objectively speaking, failure is great fodder for comedy but something doesn’t feel right in kicking someone who is already down. It feels unethical. It is also possible that there are bullies in your class who do make fun of your friend for failing the exam. I...