The Friendly Restaurant Owner

 

 

Dr. Dev (fictional name) came early to the hospital. He called his surgical unit’s junior resident Dr. Vijay (fictional name) to come for the ward round. Dr. Vijay replied on his mobile phone that he and his fellow junior resident were eating breakfast at the small husband and wife operated restaurant just across the hospital, as he was on emergency night duty last night and become free just some time ago.

When the junior resident came to the ward, a curios Dr. Dev wanted to know why did they go to this particular restaurant and did not have their breakfast in the hostel mess.

Dr. Vijay, the junior resident replied that the owner’s wife herself makes a very tasty breakfast of paranthas with plenty of Ghee (Indian Butter). Being regular customers with a friendly nature himself, the junior resident and his friend had also they had gotten very friendly with the owner-couple and they used to even have friendly banter between them while having breakfast.

A few days again Dr. Dev reached the hospital ward earlier than usual. He phoned Dr. Vijay,  the junior resident to come for the ward round. Dr. Vijay replied that he and his friend had come for breakfast at a restaurant some distance away from the hospital and will reach the hospital shortly.

When Dr. Vijay reached the ward, Dr. Dev wanted to know why they had gone to have breakfast at the restaurant far away from the hospital, when they were having such an excellent breakfast at the restaurant just across the street.

The junior resident replied that the breakfast was very tasty in the restaurant across the street and it was also very convenient and time-saving being so near the hospital. The problem occurred that the owner-couple got too friendly with the junior resident and his friend and start talking to them in a manner suitable only among real friends and not the dignified doctors they were.

One particular morning the owner made a remark which Dr. Vijay’s friend felt was particularly unsuitable for a future neurosurgeon and feeling offended he refused to ever go there in the future. So now Dr. Vijay and his friend had to go to a restaurant some distance from the hospital but here they are treated as honored customers and not as some informal friends.

Most businesses like to form a friendly relationship with their customers to increase their loyalty and support to their business. But there can be something as being over-familiarity. They should not forget the customer is always customer first and a friend later and deserves an appropriate dignified behavior.

You never know when they may feel offended by your informal friendly behavior and take their business elsewhere if they feel they are not getting the respect they deserve.

— ND

(Based on allegedly true incident.)

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DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purposes. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use the information herein is at your one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal, and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Practice should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost. 

DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purposes. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use the information herein is at your one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal, and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Education should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost and according to NMC and other Board norms. 

Where is the time?

Whenever a doctor advises his/her patient to do some exercise, do some relaxation and meditation, take better care of his/her body, the common excuse we hear is that, ‘I don’t have the time’. 

I received a WhatsApp message a few days back that stated,

‘After this lockdown, if you don’t come out:

With a better body, a new degree or skill,

Then it was never a question of lack of time

But a lack of discipline and will power.’

True?

Although the work of many essential service providers like doctors and other para-medical staff, the Police, the administration, etc., might have increased, many others are indeed having extra spare time on their hands due to the lockdown to contain the coronavirus infection. Even those working from home are saving time in traveling to and from their offices. Out of these, how many have done the things they had justified not doing previously because they did not have the time?

Deep down I knew it to be true, as I had seen this in action right in my post-graduation (MS) days.

Dr. Dev (Fictional Name) was MS Surgery Junior Resident in AIIMS, New Delhi. This is the same AIIMS whose junior residents had challenged Indian Prime Minister Shri Narender Modi Ji to work a single day like them. Under the pressure to complete the Sisyphean task of the ward work to the perfection of the senior resident and consultants, Dr. Dev and his fellow junior residents like Dr. Murari (Fictional Name) struggled to find time to eat even a single full meal in a day.

In contrast, on many nights, the same unit’s final year junior resident, Dr. Robert Gupta (Fictional Name), even before the evening round started had done half the work, finished most of the work within few minutes of completion of the senior resident’s evening round, and then giving a list of the remaining work to be completed to Dr. Dev and Dr. Murari, he will be off to dinner with one of his lady friends.

While Dr. Dev and his fellow junior residents struggled to have a decent meal a day in the hostel mess, Dr. Robert was able to find/create time to take his lady friends to dinner in restaurants. So it was a question of prioritizing, smart work, short cuts, delegation, not running after the impossible target to complete the ward work to perfection and not just lack to time, which Dr. Dev was too stupid to realize at that time.

Wait! You are probably shouting now. A young male under the influence of his male hormones and driven by the passion of love can accomplice impossible tasks. The same cannot be applicable to doing things like exercises and self-improvements.

For that we will have to hear the story of another junior resident, Dr. Biplab Mishra, who joined as a junior resident in the Department of Surgery, AIIMS, New Delhi, around the same time period.

During the residency, the junior residents are posted in different departments of AIIMS, such as CTVS, Neurosurgery, Urology, Orthopaedics, etc. Since the junior resident is seen as a visiting doctor on their rotation postings, some department gives some more free time to the junior residents on rotation as compared to the parent general surgery department. Instead of wasting this relatively free time in just watching movies and TV, Dr. Biplab, when on rotation used the free time to do the basic course of Meditation and Pranayama (Yogic Breathing Exercises) and Sudarshan Kriya® of the Art of Living Foundation.

During the course, the instructor highlighted the importance the doing the yogic exercises daily without a gap of even a single day. If the person misses doing the daily Kriya even for a single day, the cycle gets broken and the beneficial effects on the mind and body get interrupted. A person has to start counting again as day one when he restarts doing this yogic practice once again. Also, the entire breathing exercises, which take around 40 to 45 minutes, have to be completed without any interruption; not even opening the eyes or talking to someone.

Unperturbed, Dr. Biplab resolved that he will do the pranayama and Sudarshan Kriya® daily without any gap. When people learned of his resolution, they thought that it is impossible to find the uninterrupted 40 to 45 minutes daily to do these yogic exercises while working as a junior resident in the Department of Surgery in AIIMS.

With the great determination that there should not be even a gap of a single day, Dr. Biplab Mishra managed to do this Pranayama and yogic exercises daily even when working as a junior resident in AIIMS, New Delhi. Even now, while working as Professor in AIIMS, New Delhi, Dr. Biplab takes time out from his busy schedule to practice his daily yoga exercises.

These two example shows without a doubt that it is never lack of time, but your interest, your priority, your time management skills, your dedication and discipline that determine if you do something or not. Don’t justify your laziness and lack of interest by labeling it as a ‘lack of time’.

On a lighter note, when next time I ask you, ‘Have you read my blog?’ and you say, ‘I did not have the time’ ……. 

(Based on allegedly true incidents)

— ND

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DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purposes. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use the information herein is at your one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, leg,al and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Practice should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost. 

DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purposes. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use the information herein is at your one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, leg,al, and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Education should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost and according to MCI and other Board’s norms.

The Party Invitations

A common grouse by non-medicos friends of doctors is that doctors get invited to so many parties either as part of conferences or CMEs or social events.

On this, one of Dr. Dev’s (Fictional Name) senior commented, unless some doctor has been born into greatness, i.e. in a well-established doctor family, in the early part of the career of the doctors the invitations to free lunch and dinners are few and far between.

The professional invitations are linked to the doctor’s practice, i.e. the number of patients seen by him. The social invitations are linked to a doctor’s social network and social prestige, which is again indirectly linked to his flourishing practice. It takes years of hard work to build a flourishing practice.

By the time the number of invitations starts flooding his calendar, the doctor is usually middle-aged, obese, riddled with diabetes and hypertension, and cannot enjoy either sweet, salty or fatty food.

In the early part of careers: no invitations. In the late part of career: no health to enjoy freely the invitations.

This is true in other fields also. Recently there was a small article in a newspaper in which, Sunil Chhetri, the captain of the Indian national football complained that sportspersons don’t receive support and sponsorship in the early part of the career when it is most needed.

A new sportsman may not have money to buy proper shoes in the early part of career but at that time he will not get any sponsor to finance his requirements. Once he has made a name in his field and can afford to buy any shoes, he will receive offers to buy him shoes from various companies.

 (Based on true incident)

— ND
© Author. All rights reserved. 

If viewing from Mobile, switch to Webpage view to see a list of popular posts and index of topics of previous posts.

DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purpose. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use of the information herein is at you one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Practice should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost. 

DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purpose. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use of the information herein is at you one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Education should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost and according to MCI and other Board’s norm. 

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