Thursday, October 1, 2009

Thanksgiving to all patients

Truth be told, I feel a considerable amount of nervousness and anxiety at the prospect of starting my private practice. That’s on Monday, if all things proceed as planned. I try now to ‘cram’ my Consultative H--------- and T--------- book into my tiny brain. I worry about having forgotten my IM.

I remind myself that I can do all things because Jesus strengthens me. He has never failed me. I tell myself that I have been preparing for this for years. I turn my thoughts to the hundreds of patients and cases that I have seen during my training. My training amounts to thousands of hours of exposure to the clinics, to diagnosis, and to answering referrals from all specialties. I think of my mentors who are truly the best of the best. (Believe it or not, I also thank God for mentors who have yelled at me during the earlier years of my training. They contributed to my fortitude and determination, no doubt). And I think of all the hematologists who have long gone before me, now pursuing each of their own paths.

I thank God for books. I thank God for my mentors. Above all, I thank God for all my patients… from my first ‘patient’ (read: cadaver) in anatomy class… to my physical therapy spinal cord-injured patients at the Philippine Orthopedic Center… to my surviving anemia/leukemia/lymphoma patients. As the song goes, “some are dead and some are living…” In my life and training, I loved most of them and, I learned from them all.

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