Survival hacks for doctors!

The cursory comment by my colleague while on his ward rounds, ‘You underwent commando training at the PGI,’ set me thinking. We were contemporaries at the PGIMER, Chandigarh, before settling down in our roles in a corporate hospital.

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He apparently had seen me dishevelled, unkempt, unshaven, famished and perpetually in a hurry during my training days. Perhaps my attire had changed a bit in conformity to my present-day duty demands but my availability in the hospital, at all hours, running from triage to the operation theatre and then to the OPD through the wards, had not changed. I smiled to myself, even an Army veteran shall be proud of my survival skills, courtesy my training.

The first piece of advice to me soon after joining was, ‘Sit down whenever you can. Whatever you can do in a sitting posture, like filling up an investigation form, or writing a patient’s case file, do it that way since you may not know when you shall have a similar opportunity.’

If this did not prepare me for the enormity of the task at hand, the second one was even more telling. ‘Whenever you find extra time, eat irrespective of the time of the day and place, otherwise you may end up going hungry for days looking for the elusive mealtime.’

The third suggestion was no less daunting though, ‘Whenever you find a little more time, sleep.’ I realised it soon enough that it was precious advice indeed.

My senior who gave me these pearls of wisdom added, ‘If you could still muster some extra time after these luxuries, then read,’ adding smilingly, ‘your work pressure shall not allow you to ever comfortably have enough time to study, but without that you cannot pass out of the institute. The PGI will not lower its standards for you.’

I was being suitably initiated in the realms of surgical training.

My sincerity to follow this holy dictum was put to test soon. After three relentless days sans rest, food or sleep, as I was shifting a patient late in the evening to the emergency OT, I could see through the corner of my eye, stale but inviting pineapple pastries in the doctor’s canteen showcase.

I stopped over to devour those rancid delights to prepare me for the long haul ahead. Horror of horrors, when I reached the OT pushing the bed of the patient, my senior resident was already there fuming and fretting, wanting to know why it took so long.

When I hesitatingly confessed about the reason for the delay, his fury knew no end and he reprimanded me gravely. I could slowly come to terms with my mistake.

His chastisement is still fresh even after more than two decades. I had understood that commandments were changeable. Food is important but the patient’s right to timely treatment was even more important. I have latched on to this important lesson for the rest of my life. My commando training was truly underway.