5 years of work in 5 months. That’s a lot of work. And I just realised why sometimes, doctors marry doctors, or why the medical community can be pretty insular. Who else understands with such great clarity and empathy of what “busy” means, and what “I’m tired” means. “Busy” means not having had more than 5 hours of sleep for months, perhaps not having a single off day for weeks. “I’m tired” means I spent the night taking blood for an endless list of patients, answering calls of sometimes unhelpful nurses and responding to belligerent superiors… instead of sleeping, like everyone should be. It means 36-hours of on-your-feet serving and a home to go to later where you only want to sleep in. To someone else, not replying an email or a text message may just be plain rude, or show an inability to prioritise one’s time; to someone who understands, it means you nearly crashed trying to finish your work to be a responsible healthcare professional.
How do we tell you we still love you when we don’t spend time with you? How is it possible to study all day?
