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Showing posts with the label Conflict

Culture of Medicine and Surgery (2): Malignant Trauma

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Preface : I have written several views into my experience on Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, a rotation in which I spend the majority of my preliminary surgery year. The description that follows is the mildest of these. The underlying theme in all of the writings is that Trauma Surgery purposefully maintains a culture of malignancy, perhaps out of some warped fealty to a stern, militaristic tradition of the past century. This has been my experience while working in different hospitals and in talking with other Surgery/Surgery subspecialty residents. It is important to note that my description of trauma/acute care surgeons does not apply to all attending surgeons. At my institution, there are a few very intelligent, civil, and able trauma surgeons, but their general decency is often overshadowed by the bad actors, of whom there are not just a few. 09/15/2019 A few months ago, I made food deliveries for GrubHub. It was simple, honest work. A notification would pop up on my phone i...

Memorable Movies: Garden State

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Large: I've been having these really intense headaches. They only last for a split second and then they're gone. It's like a lightning flash; almost like a surge of electricity and then it's gone. Doctor: You're Gideon's kid. I didn't even put the two together. Large: Yeah. Doctor: I'm sorry about your mother. Large: Yeah. Thank you. Doctor: I must have missed you at Shiva last night. Large: Yeah. Doctor: So how long have these headaches been going on? Large: Well I think I've had them in some form since I was a little kid. But they've been getting more and more frequent over the last year. Doctor: (looking at chart) How long have you been on Lithium? Large: Oh uh, I've been on some form of it since I was ten or so. Doctor: And what about Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Depakote; did any of that ever help you? Large: No. I mean I don't know. It's recently occurred to me that I might not even have a problem. Only I'd...

This Room is Dark

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How much time is spent in a room, spine bent in attentive position, reading, writing, and unbending to sleep? Or what do you make of the things on your daily to-do list, written in earnestness, but failed from procrastination? What drama pervades everyday life more exciting than an unexpected e-mail, unveiling new possibilities - "now I must respond decisively, proving my worth." Much daily work is performed in a hip-flexed posture, sitting stationary but restless. Exercise is scrawled on the to-do list but gets passed over for the comfort of bed - an easygoing old friend - and a movie or two. Every few seconds to minutes, a notification pops up, and the attention wanders: GrubHub - More blocks available for Today. Piqued, I think: "Why not? I'll go for a ride." Two orders in, 13 dollars and 25 dollars (good), another comes up for 13. I accept. On closer inspection, it's actually split into two orders from one place, an ice cream shop. In examini...