Posted in fun general personal work

“Publish Or Perish”: A motivational Post

Taking a circuitous route across many cities and countries before finally reaching a specialised unit in an academic institution is fun. I received two warnings as soon as I made this my permanent plan: You need to do a three year DM course and pass exams to stay employed You need publications to work your way up from registrar to assistant professor to associate professor and finally professor. The first warning was not too difficult to negate – without NEET in those years, it was an uneventful in-and-out-in-three-years trip, thanks to a God who cares, a family who understands and colleagues who taught me so much. The second warning brought fear and trembling to me and my team. Two main…

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Posted in work

Game On! A World Of Parallels.

Maybe this is a parallel world. Maybe it’s imaginary. Maybe it’s reality that slowly blurs into imagination. It was the world’s largest cricket stadium. The crowds screamed and cheered. KV ran full throttle towards the ball. His signature shades and beard gleamed under the lights. Just when the crowd felt that the ball was too far away from him, his athletic body did a superman dive and twisted mid-air. The ball plonked into his outstretched hands. He watched it pop out before his fingers could curl around it. He grabbed again as he fell to the grass, but it was too late. His body hit the ground and he grimaced – more due to the dropped catch than the pain….

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Posted in God work

June 2021 – A Personally Signed Sneak Preview

Isn’t it amazing that in June 2021, the second wave will probably stabilise and come down. Isn’t it amusing that a man will be everywhere, taking credit for showing the world how to control corona. Isn’t it humbling to see a photo, a punchline, a slogan and an e-printed signature on theĀ  certificate that you will need to show everywhere in order to travel, get admission and move on in life. Isn’t it paradoxical that the certificate that will have the handwritten signatures of the people who worked the hardest in the pandemic is only needed to enter a graveyard, cemetery or a crematorium.Or is on a paper summary that chronicles how your life was saved – a paper that…

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Posted in fun general work

A little bit ‘late’

FACT“When called in for an emergency, she always takes a few minutes more than him to arrive in the ICU” YOUR INTERPRETATION “Yes. She asks a lot of questions on the phone and probably spends more time getting ready before she comes in” REALITY HIM12 midnight:“Sir, we have a deteriorating patient in the ICU and need you to come in”“Which patient is this”“Rakesh – the patient with viral myocarditis”He jumps out of bed in his tshirt and trackpants and puts on his crocs. 12:02 AM“I’m on the way”He pats down his hair as he skips down the stairs and jumps into the car. As he drives onto the road, he honks at the bikers and pedestrians to get them to…

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Posted in fun general work

How To Save A Life – By A Neonatology Intensive Care Unit Physician

I am a Neonatologist. I am a doctor who works with newborn babies. Most of my work is inside an Intensive Care Unit with fragile prems, sick babies struggling to breathe and monitors beeping all around me. As usual, today I saved a lot of lives I return home, unmask, shower and plonk down onto my sofa with my overjoyed daughter. With a twisted smile on my face, I think about all the lives I’ve saved today. My deft fingers, practised hands, quick thinking brain and tireless feet have once again given a second life to many…. and all that within those 12 hours that started as I skipped down 5 flights of stairs from my home and ended when…

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Posted in general personal work

The wonder of it all

You didn’t pay your taxes. You didn’t question it when the government allotted a meagre percent for healthcare. You were busy buying IPL products and spending money on movies. You were assured that you were contributing to the economy. You questioned every rupee that was needed to treat you and your parents when you were all sick. You didn’t follow the advice to control your mom’s diabetes and didn’t heed the healthworker who wanted to help you stop smoking at home.Now you’re wondering why your mom can’t get an ICU bed with a ventilator and why your favorite doctor is not able to treat her –  because he was given a cloth mask instead of full protection and is now…

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Posted in academics fun general work

Not Enough Publications!

In an academic institution, a large part of progressing through a career is having enough publications to get to the next rung. It’s a battle I was aware of when I joined, but have not been motivated enough to fight well. Maybe I’m not equipped, maybe I’m not a battler, maybe I’m just plain lazy. “Not enough publications” is a yearly ordeal I hear every June as I settle into a stagnant life in my C grade quarters and I find myself unable to remove the Asst. in my designation. This is also an easy excuse for not being allotted a car park at work. But it hasn’t impacted on the joy factor in life thankfully. Only my overall impact…

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Posted in friends God music work

Nobody loves me like you do

Once a year the departments of OG, Neonatology and RMU get together to sing a special song at the hospital chapel for the Sunday evening service. Today was the chosen day and I must say it turned out to be quite a good time. We started the ball rolling quite late (Thursday afternoon). After hurriedly choosing Chris Tomlins “Nobody loves me like you”, we had the priceless task of coordinating practice. Try getting a group of doctors ranging from interns to Heads of Departments in the same room at the same time to practice the same song….it actually happened! As usual we discovered talent and enthusiasm and dedication. On Friday we threw in a cajon and recorder and some variations…

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Posted in fun general personal work

My job update

Time certainly flies and I can’t believe that in 2020 I’ll be due for my job confirmation as I would have completed 3 years since doing my DM (Neonatology). This will ensure a permanent career in Neonatology  I’ll have to ensure I tick the correct boxes so the confirmation happens easily. So here is a list of things I’ve done or plan to do. If I don’t get this job confirmation I may need to hunt for a new job across oceans and maybe even over a wall. 1. I got my friends to make a movie about me called DM Benji. My childhood friend played ‘me’ and the guys promised to just call it coincidence that it was released…

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Posted in friends personal travel work

Fatehpur

A memorable 10 day visit to Broadwell Christian Hospital, Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh. My biggest achievement was coming back with my name unchanged. Or maybe not A sprinkling of NICU, deliveries, NRP, community visits, training, opd. I felt I received more than I could give. The reality of healthcare is starker than it looks.

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