Complications (Book)

 Complications 

        Notes from the life of a Young Surgeon          

 

  

          You know when we are little, and someone asks us what we want to be when we grow up? At that point of time, we believe or at least I believed anything was possible. I could be a doctor, teacher or an IFS officer. I genuinely believed I could become anything or anyone. As time passed, I didn’t think about what I wanted to become. People told me that they could imagine me as a doctor. I was told that I had the composure of a doctor. I was overall a good student. Good at studies but not a topper. I played sport but I wasn’t part of any national team. I enjoyed drawing but I was no artist. I loved writing and reflecting so, I started a blog. 

          Do I regret pursuing MBBS? Sometimes. Honestly, I find MBBS to be a fun course. There is so much interesting things to study. The subjects are unique and most importantly, relevant. To see how far we have come as a humanity in terms of disease and cure causes me to be awestruck. It’s the pressure, the exams, the competition which make it suffocating. All these combined together can result in adverse outcome. 

          Now that I am pursuing MBBS, people ask me what do I want to specialise in ? Again, speaking from the heart, I don’t know. I do think surgery is okay, I find medicine boring, crying children are not my forte nor are the yelling mothers. I don’t like to see the world black and white, playing detective seems fun but there is little future for forensic in India. To narrow things down a little bit, I picked up a book about a young surgeon.

          The book consists of a range of short notes. These short notes are about various cases that Atul Gawande encountered as well as his experiences. The book is divided into three parts.

The first part: Fallibility talks about the errors that a surgeon can make. A good surgeon is not the one who has steady hands or inborn talent. But is the most tenacious. He/she won’t give up. If a mistake is made, it will be rectified. This part talks about the education of surgeons, how a particular hospital becomes a specialty hospital, what happens when doctors make mistake, the conference of doctors and when good doctors go bad…

The second part: Mystery talks about superstition among doctors. You know how in television E.R., the doctor is never supposed to say it’s too quiet in the E.R. Otherwise, there will be a massive trauma load. Well, many doctors believe in such superstitions and they may not be wrong. This part also talks about full moon Friday the thirteenth, the pain theory (you know gate control theory of pain), nausea in pregnancy (specifically hyperemesis gravidarum), excessive blushing, and about a man who couldn’t stop eating.

The third part: Uncertainty talks about importance of autopsies. Earlier in the 19th century autopsies were a sure thing. However, with advancements in diagnostic technology, doctors have more confidence in their diagnosis and don’t believe that they need to perform an autopsy to find the cause of death. Ironically, there have been no studies which correlate better diagnostic tool with more of a correct diagnosis. Hence, autopsies still remain a must. This part also talks about patient autonomy and its pros and cons. Finally the book ends with an interesting case of red leg. Could it be cellulitis or necrotising fasciitis?

Just as there is art to being a doctor, there is art to being a patient. You must choose wisely when to submit and when to assert yourself.

Rating: 4/5