Medicine Archives — Insaniyya

This month, I had the honor of delivering a Grand Rounds presentation to my hospital’s Department of Surgery as part of an annual tradition to display the passions, accomplishments, and career goals of the graduating resident class.

Below is the presentation I delivered but in a slightly elongated form as there is no time constraint here. Each paragraph represents a slide in the presentation. I have included relevant images and photographs directly referred to during the presentation.

The title of my presentation is War: Perspectives of a Surgical Trainee.

Here, I will share the circumstances that propelled me toward a career in medicine and then, more specifically, the circumstances that shaped my trajectory toward trauma surgery and surgical critical care. I will also share what I imagine my future will look like as well as the lessons I carry with me every day as I continue my surgical training. Continue reading “Grand Rounds: How war shaped my surgical training and career pursuits” →

Part of the standard doctrine we are taught, in parallel with doing no harm, is that the service of providing care to another is and must remain entirely apolitical. I have always thought this to be wrong.

There is nothing apolitical or politically neutral in providing care to the ill, the injured, the scared, or the underserved;

in establishing a free clinic for the uninsured;

in watching a patient die but having to sanitize your hands and immediately visit another patient without letting them see the cracks in your shield;

in reviewing radiographs to weigh your suspicion of elderly abuse;

in demanding the prison guard leave the room to provide the county inmate even a modicum of privacy;

in risking your license by subverting elected officials who wish to outlaw or restrict maternal health services;

in referring a drug-dependent patient to a methadone clinic or two;

in rapidly transfusing blood into a pregnant woman hit by an intoxicated driver who, by the way, happens to be recovering rapidly in the adjacent trauma bay; Continue reading “Politics in the workplace” →