Look at Your Feet

I recently heard a physician compare practicing medicine to balancing on a tight rope.  If you look at your feet - concentrate on what's right in front of you - it's easy to fall.  But if you can find a point in the distance on which to focus - think about your long-term goals - then it's a lot easier to stay balanced.  I often feel that way when I'm working a crazy shift or just having a rough day - looking toward my future goals makes it easier to deal with the mundane or ridiculous.  Sometimes it really helps to think about being a pediatrician and having a office in the community where I can help patients and families.

But there are also times, where I want to "look at my feet" and embrace the fact that they are balanced - at least for right now.  There are some amazing moments that I don't want to miss because I'm too focused on my future.  Today, I did a circumcision on a baby not even 24 hours old on my own.  An attending supervised me, but I did the procedure independently.  It's quite possible, even likely, that I will never do a circumcision once I'm in my actual career.  I could have blown off the opportunity as useless to my future goals - but it was an incredible experience.  I did a procedure on my own after having watched only two and received glowing praise from the attending (she told me I should look into surgical specialties, to which I could only laugh).

Look at your feet sometimes - look at where you are, right now, and embrace it - because you may never be here again.

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Attending: Where's the patient?
Resident: She's on the floor. (meaning in her room on the 3rd floor)
Attending: Well you should probably get her off the floor and into a bed.

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While discussing a patient's parents who were especially frustrating because of their refusal to feed their baby, an intern asked if there could be some mental deficits in the parents.  To which, my resident replied, "Just remember, 50% of people are below average."

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I went in to examine a five year old boy who was complaining of stomach pains.
Me: J, can you tell me what it feels like?
J: It feels wike I'm pwegnant.
Me: Oh yeah?
J: Yeah...Doug's in heewah.

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A four year old boy had a bruise across one of his eyes.  Anytime a young child has bruises, we ask what happened as an informal screen for child abuse to see if the story matches the bruise.  I was not expecting the story I heard (from someone born in 2007):
Me: D, what happened to your eye?
D: I was playing with my brother.
Me: What were you playing?
D: World Trade Center.
Me: (thinking I must have misheard) What?
D: World Trade Center!
Me: And how do you play that?
D: You build towers and then you fly things into them so they fall down.

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I thought I'd finish with one last joke about surgeons (told to me by my uncle, who happens to be a surgeon):

How many surgeons does it take to change a light bulb?

Only one.  They just hold the light bulb up and wait for the world to revolve around them.

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