an itinerant observer

Photo-credit: Saniya Kamal, AKU MBBS ' 18 I enter the corridor of my new work place. I’m welcomed and introduced all around. For some reason, best known to her, the human resource lady took so much of my time that I am already pissed and looking angry. I don’t feel comfortable in this different setup and I terribly miss my old working place. Every single thing about it which previously used to get on my nerves is acutely missed. However, I succumb to my new work because it has been over a year since I practiced medicine and the sole reason for me to be here is to get distracted from my mental chaos and to focus elsewhere. In a matter of hours I find myself adjusting here, understanding the work dynamics, and the system around here. It’s easy - not challenging, likely because there’s ample time at hand which I can utilize to study while earning. Not a bad deal!    This is a dialysis department of a semi-private hospital. Every single patient here is dependent on dia...

George Clooney wielded immense power in the very popular TV show ‘ER’. The uber confidence he exuded probably factored into my decision for that field. After all there is a certain charm in being part of an adrenaline-driven ER team that is resuscitating an adult trauma victim or a baby suffering from septic shock. I think the emergency room is a microcosm of what the outside world is really like. Working in an ER of a major metropolitan area provides a fascinating view of humanity, irrespective of location of the ER under consideration. Whether inner or outer city of a developing or developed nation, you tend to manage not only the emergent needs of your patients, but also get to learn about effective and ineffective health systems. Armed with the above awareness, I recently travelled to Dallas, Texas to attend the annual meeting of the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine. I had thought that in addition to learning about improving efficiency of the emergency department t...