Thursday, September 20, 2012

Dismiss

(The conversation between that experienced medical officer and the young intern went on.)

“Oh, my god,” the medical officer took a deep breath, “This is gout – a simple straightforward obvious diagnosis. Why didn’t you do anything about it last night? Haven’t you heard of this disease?”

“No, I learnt many four-letter words in medical school, but no one taught me this one. I believe this disease does not exist, and I would declare there’s nothing wrong with this old man.”

Dr. W collapsed and had a seizure.

***********************

The medical officer recovered quickly. She soon sent away the ingenuous intern and continued with her own duty round. A few hours later, she found herself in the canteen with Dr. L, a cynical colleague of hers, and she could not refrain herself from telling her friend the remarkable story she encountered that morning.

To her amazement, Dr. L did not appear surprised. Instead, he made an irrelevant remark, “Did your intern tell you anemia does not exist?”

Dr. W wished to say it deserves more than a Nobel prize for the eradication of such a common medical problem. But, instead, she grunted.

“Same problem,” the cynical physician smiled, “They’ve not been formally taught on any blood disease either. You know, teachers on these topics were dismissed one after another.”

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