Two decades ago, I passed out of the medical school
Fresh as mint, cucumber cool.
I was always best in class,
Full of knowledge, no one could surpass
Medical textbooks were Bible to me,
ECG, ECHO, Angio were the diagnostic key.
Looking for pathology was the main issue,
To me, it was all disordered blood, bone and tissue.
Day in, day out like a robot,
Finding the correct diagnosis was all I sought.
Updating knowledge, what’s latest and hot,
Delivering it to the patients was most vital, I thought.
Pills, injections, catheters and balloons
I believed were medical miracle and boon.
Two decades later, I now realise
In such a practice there is no prize,
I forgot, there was something more,
Left out in the medical curriculum core
To hold a hand and wipe a tear
A hand to support, a pat to cheer
Even the worst disease, on a deadly trail,
Where all the medical high-tech fail,
A little compassion can make us sail,
Through rough waters and sudden gale.
A child’s smile and parent’s thank
Is all the balance that I have in my bank
Looking back, I think I was a fool,
Mint fresh, cucumber cool.
( The writer is Head, Dept of Cardiology, PRS Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. Email: tinynair@gmail.com )
