Absentees

(Our dinner discussion went on.)

“Don’t get us wrong. We do not want to be a nanny department. In fact, we are not interested in students who do not turn up once or twice in a rotation. All we want to pick up are the few who skip all the lessons – they are usually the marginal or problematic ones who need some help.” The man from Jupiter explained.

“But what would you do when you pick up these outliers?” A consultant asked.

“There are proper channels of helping them. Em… I mean, we have the associate dean for student affairs and another associate dean for education. Problematic students should be referred to them for counseling and assistance.” I gave the official answer. (The difference between the two associate deans, in terms of their function and types of help that they offer, is another story.)

“In addition, I shall try my best to meet these recurrent absentees in their clinical examination,” AK added.

I chuckled; everyone else raised their eyebrows.

                                                        

“In fact, I make this point very clearly to the students,” the professor of endocrinology explained, “There are high-flyers who could study on their own. However, if someone does not appear in all bedside teaching, we have no way to tell whether he is that outstanding. For that reason I must see him and have a proper, fair, unbiased, thorough, and complete examination.”

I believe she meant an autopsy.