4 - Alpha Omega Alpha

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The half-tico, half-gringo robot top of his head. Patrick did the same. The doctor’s forehead creases grew deep as he lifted his eyebrows in surprise. In the same rigid, mechanical way, Dr. Izaguirre put both arms straight ahead. Patrick did the same. The creases moved into the corners of the doctor’s mouth as he began to smile. They mimicked each other’s robotic movements for some time and then began adding machine-like sounds to the narrative. I will never know what they communicated in this intermission, but Act Two had begun. With the same mechanical gestures and kindness, I watched the staff administer lung treatments, change bandages, and maintain a sterile environment for Patrick’s open wounds. In these moments humanity transcended language and the art of medicine rose above critique. Dr. Izaguirre ultimately discovered the source of the hallucinations: one of the medications used for pain. Patrick recovered in time for his birthday, which was spent in the hospital dining on cake and Coca-Cola. Two days later we flew home. We settled back into the comfort of our lives, but remained unsettled by the experience. We were changed. With an appreciative eye, I realized that medicine knows no gender, no age, and no language. I knew this was my calling. I am a fourth-year medical student. I am the shadow of my intern, the gatherer of lab data, the student baffled, humbled, and challenged by her attending’s knowledge. Tempered by the daily grind of medicine, my naïveté has been tested. Still, I see glimpses of humanity all around. I have not yet met another half-tico, half-gringo patient who thinks he is a robot—I probably never will. Instead, I see remarkable patients each with their own idiosyncrasies and challenges. The physicians who manage these patients preserve their stories in an imaginary toolbox equipped for the unexpected and extraordinary. For anyone unfamiliar with its therapeutic use, I recommend storing a few cans of Coca-Cola. The author’s address is: 4 Windy Knoll Grapevine, TX 76051 E-mail: finlelb@evms.edu 34 The Pharos/Spring 2009
I learned from Dr. Lynn Carmichael that when you make a house call, you excuse yourself to go to the bathroom and peek into the medicine cabinet to check on the pills you’ve prescribed. And there they all were, in chronological order, unopened. From Seeing Patients: The Sketchiest Details by Alan Blum, M.D. From his earliest days as a medical student, Dr. Alan Blum (AΩA, Emory University, 1985), Gerald Leon Wallace MD Endowed Chair in Family Medicine at the University of Alabama, has captured thousands of patients’ stories in notes and drawings. The sketches and jottings bring back the essence of a conversation, a detail of personality, and the fragmentary clues patients give their doctor about the experience of illness. Dr. Blum’s address is: 26 Pinehurst Drive, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401- 1148. E-mail: ablum@cchs.ua.edu The Pharos/Spring 2009 35
Page 1 and 2: THE PHAROS OF ALPHA OMEGA ALPHA SPR
Page 3 and 4: David P. Hill Editorial Marat and H
Page 5 and 6: Issue New medical terms The plague
Page 7 and 8: The Pharos/Spring 2009 5
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Page 11 and 12: est evidence for the differentiatio
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Page 21 and 22: Marat’s daily rants against the a
Page 23 and 24: The name of Marat dishonors your ra
Page 25 and 26: death lies harmlessly on the floor.
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Page 29 and 30: New medical TERMS James G. Gamble,
Page 31 and 32: Four Season Haiku S wirling snow te
Page 33 and 34: learning on, not learning from. Wha
Page 35: shut he recognized my voice and beg
Page 39 and 40: Discarded and but not forgotten No
Page 41 and 42: Philippe, who was brought up strict
Page 43 and 44: homestead, and the sheriff and the
Page 45 and 46: Life in the Balance: A Physician’
Page 47 and 48: Dr. Lois relates one sobering incid
Page 49 and 50: Announcing the 2009 Alpha Omega Alp
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Page 53 and 54: cording to the authors is that the
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