II.III.IV OFFSIDE With my rotation in geriatric medicine being a pretty chill one, I suddenly found myself with more free time on my hands than ever. It was around this time that I started working part-time as a team physician with the Malta Football Association (MFA). I was never really interested in football – hell, I actually kinda resented its […]
Ageism
II.III.III AGEISM Much can be said about why things were the way they were over at the geriatric hospital. As controversial as this might sound, I think it all boiled down to one thing – ageism. That old people’s lives seem to matter less. I gotta admit that before starting this rotation, I too was guilty of this kind of […]
Toxic
II.III.II TOXIC I have to admit, it all appeared too good to be true. And in a way, it kinda was. As fate would have it, Dr Sleazy would be joining our firm. Dr Sleazy was a resident specialist renowned for his medical ineptitude, inappropriate behaviour, and all-round hatefulness. Not a single person had one good thing to say about […]
Geriatric Medicine – First Day?
II.III.I FIRST DAY? My next rotation would be in a specialty I never quite liked. One I was kinda forced to choose in order to get neurosurgery and general surgery. One I’d be stuck with for three months. Geriatric medicine. Blech. Imagine going from this wannabe hardcore neurosurgical trainee to working in a hospital for the elde… zzzzz. Sorry, I […]
Privilege
II.II.VIII PRIVILEGE Halfway through my rotation, I started to realise what neurosurgery really entails. All the bureaucratic and administrative nonsense we dealt with on a daily basis was just clouding the bigger picture. The work that truly matters is the work happening down in the operating room. Neurosurgery is a specialty of extremes. When it goes well, the outcomes can […]
Floating
II.II.VI FLOATING As time went by, our situation in the neurosurgical department improved somewhat. Whereas before it was us house officers and a single higher specialist trainee (HST) keeping the department running, we now had two shiny, brand-new HSTs – Gary and Bob. Having only just started, they weren’t quite exceptional yet, but at least they managed to offload some […]
Scotland
II.II.V SCOTLAND While the Basic Surgical Skills course itself didn’t allow much time for us to enjoy the city of Glasgow, we had a few extra days afterwards to explore more of Scotland. First up was the incredible city of Edinburgh, which genuinely felt like stepping into a medieval haven. Over the two days we spent there, we had the […]
Soaring
II.II.IV SOARING Coming back from Turkey, I was relieved and somewhat humbled to find out that the department had actually survived my absence. I guess that’s when I realised that no one in the hospital is indispensable and that business goes on as usual with or without someone – no matter how much responsibility they have. Looking back, I find […]