Doctor’s Dilemma

Origin
PA said “No more pleasure to gain, than to relieve somebody in pain
Of all professions, none is nobler than the one who makes the disabled able again
Even Ma nods, “Next to god none else serves the sad one”
So also thought I, and acted to become one.

Education
Eleven to twelve years, many finish their education
Seven to eleven years, again to complete medication
Greek and Latin to decipher, papers to present and volumes to study
Takes another decade to become steady.

First Posting
Peanuts, they pay for many a sleepless night away
‘Noble Profession’, powerful politicians talk off the talk of pay
Drugless Dispensaries, day and night, what to dispense?
Only spiritless workers, with ‘spirits’ at exchequer’s expense.

Night Call
‘Doctor Doctor!!’, a restless patient knock at the dead of night
Little he cares about the resting physician’s plight
“I didn’t have time, had to see off friends in the weekend”
The beach and the movies have left him weakened.

In the Hospital
As you see the medic with a sea of troubles
Expect him to give a magical cure to see off all his troubles
Only the doctor knows the diseases he has so many
Even half of them can’t be cured with all his money.

Chamber
As I analyze umpteen symptoms and systemic signs
He asks me to detail the treatment designs
Even before I say we are in the site of diagnosis
Eagerly he asks, “What is the prognosis?”

In the ICU
As the fingers crossed, I wonders, “What is the GOD’s will ?”
One of the relatives asks, “Should we prepare his will 7’
When I say for all his ills, there is no panacea
Another one asks, “What do you think of euthanasia?”

Billing
“You are the GOD in Human form, saving me from all bother,
From deathbed thee brought back in good stead, my father.
What can I do for you? “asks he, Say I, “Pay only my fee”.
“What can I do? “(change tone), again asks he, as if I fleece.

The Ultimate
With trauma you see the experienced surgeon, who sewed the tissues intact
Traumatic experiences, he gets, being sued for non issues, in fact.
Let not the people shower praises, in abundance, as their gratitude
Enough if ‘sense’ prevails over ‘nonsense’ to change their attitude.

- Dr.R.Ravindranath