So Peri wants to know when I will have kids of my own...
Well, if the gods allow it (or the state of California), that may happen sooner than later. You see, recently I've grown quite attached to one of my patients. OK OK.. he's 6 days old, an orphan, drug-addicted thanks to mom (she had it rough), and has nowhere to go and has nothing of his own except for the tiny t-shirt and diapers that the hospital provides.
He doesn't even have a name.
It's utterly heartbreaking and gut-wrenching. I spend hours holding him each afternoon when my work is complete and then hand him off to someone else when I leave so he doesn't have to spend the nights sleeping alone in a cold crib.
I am trying in vain to help find a foster placement for him soon. I have vowed that if social services can't do that, I will become his foster parent. I really can't afford it - both time and financially, but I can't watch this little guy suffer another day.
Sadly - he's one of thousands.
Sigh.
Contrary to everything I ever imagined for myself as a possible career as a doctor, I am suddenly, strangely leaning towards Peds/neonatology. It either calls to your or it doesn't, and I've not felt a stronger pull. It's a bit overwhelming, unbearably frightening, yet intensely rewarding. And it just kills me a little every day...
Posted by LA at August 29, 2007 09:24 PMFor starters, am glad you have enjoyed your pediatric rotation , and even considering a career in pediatrics despite getting inputs from a quasi-preceptor (or shall I say pseudo-educator), foreign med grad (3rd world country), community pediatrician (rural Appalachian clinical background). You surely do fit the profile of an excellent primary care physician. As a pediatrician (who once considered a career in neonatology post-residency), I believe your passion as a patient advocate can be more expressed in primary care because there’s continuity of care. Dedication is the essence of primary care….You’re just starting, you will encounter more baby A. Get the feel of other clinical rotations. If you still lean towards peds, then it calls for another bottle of beer, just half for me :-)
Posted by: ritchie on September 8, 2007 09:10 PMThanks for the input and vote of confidence, Doc! I plan to keep an open mind the next 8 months and see where medicine takes me. It's been a hell of a ride so far, and I know I am just getting started.
Thanks for the help with Baby A. He changed my life in ways I never expected. And so has ARMC Peds. You all are amazing!
Posted by: Laura on September 8, 2007 09:26 PM