There are people who are principle-centered. they are true to everything in their lives. Then there are those who tolerate no hanky panky business where their work is concerned, but will take the remaining part of their lives quite lightly. Finally there are those who are not true to any part of their lives. One would expect a doctor to belong to the first or at least the second type.
We had this senior person in the department, whom no one really understood. Having been trained in a prestigious medical college like ours, one would expect him/her to have knowledge and integrity. Having spent quite some time in a prestigious foreign university hospital, one would expect from him/her discipline too. I was never concerned with private lives of any of the people working for us, because that had nothing to do with us. But I liked them to be true to their profession. This one person stumped me.
Once I was passing by the obstetric operation theater, when I saw this person standing in the corridor outside the operation theater wearing theater scrub suit and footwear. He/she was gazing into the distance at something.
"Dr. XXXX, what are you doing outside the OT in scrub suit and OT footwear? The clothes and especially the footwear will carry germs into the OT and contaminate the theater environment. That will increase our postoperative infection rate. As Associate Professor, you not only have to know this, but also teach it to your students."
"It was ... I was just ... I will go back inside" he/she said and went into the OT, wearing the same contaminated clothes and footwear.
Two weeks passed. I was passing along the same corridor at the same time of the day as the last time, on my way to the postoperative ward to take ward round. He/she was in the same spot as the last time, clad the same way, wearing OT footwear, gazing into the distance at some far off spot.
"What are you doing?" I said. "Just two weeks ago I asked you not to do this, explaining the reasons for the same, though you should not need anyone to explain them to you. Don't you care even a little bit about the well being of our patients?"
He/she mumbled something, turned, and went back into the OT, wearing the same contaminated clothes and footwear.
I knew this person would not improve, because he/she did not care. I knew he/she was in the wrong profession, and also that he/she would always be in the wrong profession no matter which profession he/she chose.
I am writing this blog post not to bring up those memories which bring up strong negative feelings and hurt myself again. I am writing this to request my readers to be true at least to their profession at all times.
We had this senior person in the department, whom no one really understood. Having been trained in a prestigious medical college like ours, one would expect him/her to have knowledge and integrity. Having spent quite some time in a prestigious foreign university hospital, one would expect from him/her discipline too. I was never concerned with private lives of any of the people working for us, because that had nothing to do with us. But I liked them to be true to their profession. This one person stumped me.
Once I was passing by the obstetric operation theater, when I saw this person standing in the corridor outside the operation theater wearing theater scrub suit and footwear. He/she was gazing into the distance at something.
"Dr. XXXX, what are you doing outside the OT in scrub suit and OT footwear? The clothes and especially the footwear will carry germs into the OT and contaminate the theater environment. That will increase our postoperative infection rate. As Associate Professor, you not only have to know this, but also teach it to your students."
"It was ... I was just ... I will go back inside" he/she said and went into the OT, wearing the same contaminated clothes and footwear.
Two weeks passed. I was passing along the same corridor at the same time of the day as the last time, on my way to the postoperative ward to take ward round. He/she was in the same spot as the last time, clad the same way, wearing OT footwear, gazing into the distance at some far off spot.
"What are you doing?" I said. "Just two weeks ago I asked you not to do this, explaining the reasons for the same, though you should not need anyone to explain them to you. Don't you care even a little bit about the well being of our patients?"
He/she mumbled something, turned, and went back into the OT, wearing the same contaminated clothes and footwear.
I knew this person would not improve, because he/she did not care. I knew he/she was in the wrong profession, and also that he/she would always be in the wrong profession no matter which profession he/she chose.
I am writing this blog post not to bring up those memories which bring up strong negative feelings and hurt myself again. I am writing this to request my readers to be true at least to their profession at all times.
