THE INTERN"S PREAMBLE>
we the unwillingones..
led by the unknown ones,
are doing the impossible tasks,
for the ungrateful ones.



we have done so many impossiblesfor so long,
with so little knowledge that,
we will one day qualify to having done everything,
without knowing anything.
be proud to be an intern...

The Intern-al Journey

Long ago, when the new order world was being formed.. the wise men came to a conclusion that a healer or otherwise known as a ‘doctor’ is an essential part of the human society-[sigh] and thus the birth of the world of medicine.
So what does it take to be a doctor? A brief overview for non medicos.

First year...
A tough year where u have to get used to dead bodies soaked in formalin, the pervading smell of formalin itself, get used to the voluminous books and an undiscovered world of medical jargon.
Anatomy - study of normal human body. Both macro and micro versions!
Physiology - study of normal human functioning.
Bio Chemistry - study of normal human metabolic cycles, cellular structure, genetics etc.

Second year....(actually it is more than a year)
Just when u give yourself a pat on the back for making it thru first year…things start to go wrong. Actually this is the year we study about what all can go wrong with the human body. so...

Pathology - The abnormalities that take place in different organs of the body and cause disease..
Microbiology – The micro organisms that affect the body and cause disease.
Pharmacology – Drugs and medicines used to treat the diseases.
Forensic Medicine - Criminology, medical laws, toxins and poisons, autopsies….you get it!

Third year... This year is actually 2 years. These two years is what the lay man thinks MBBS is all about.

Preventive and Social Medicine – Medical Statistics, national and international medical programs, self explanatory actually…

Otorhinolaryngology – Diseases of the ear, nose and throat and management of the same.

Opthalmology – Diseases of the eye and its management.

Medicine – Diseases of other organs  and their management

Surgery – Operative management of diseases.

Paediatrics – Children, their diseases and management.

Obstetric and gynaecology – Management of women both pregnant and non-pregnant.

So that is 1+1 1/2+ 2 = 4 ½ years of mind boggling amount of knowledge. An approximate 25.7 kg of textbook weight! (And this is the bare minimum).

You’ve just waded through a sea of knowledge and you see the glistening white sand of the snow…
‘Ah! I have reached my destination,’ you think. The pristine shore beckons you. The land of ‘Doctordom’! But just as you step on the sandy beach of ‘Doc-Land’….OUCH!! Internship!

Internship is the interim period between being a medical student and being a registered medical practitioner.

The proverbial sandy beach joining the sea to the land. The scorching sand, which leave blisters on your feet. And so we interns have to hobble, skip, jump, stumble, limp, through internship.

Internship by the way lasts for 6 months for dentists and 12 months for MBBS students.

internal strengh

this blog is called intern al angst, for a reason.a reason which is obvious to most people who have been interns,or are interns. internship is the interim period between being a medical student and a registered medical practitioner.
we r the overworked,un appreciated,unpaid..work force..
AH the angst is palpable!!
yet there r moments when ther is a huge sense of satisfaction.
tomorrow is 11 july,last year this day was the gruesome train blasts in bombay.
i remember myself a final year medical student,sitting in the library,when the news was being broadcast over the radio..
hoards and hoards of casualties,the injured,the dead,and their relatives.flooded the hospital.
All of us went to the emergency services..wanting to help..to do something..anything..but sadly were untrained,un skilled. All the interns were mobilised to help..and we tried, as mere final year students,to do what we could.
there was a sense of being impotent.All the bookish knowledge never put to practice.
But..today,as an intern in the surgical unit,i know that god forbid if something similar were to happen this year ..or in years to come..I CAN HELP.That is internal strengh..it is not a sense of self importance,not even power..it is just a sense of satisfaction..

a few days back earth day celebrations were in full swing..'the earth concert 'featuring 30 odd music bands of all genres,played at 12 different venues,but for the same cause..yo save the environment.
i am a self confessed 'green person',save trees ,say no to plastic types.. i always travel with a bag and as much as possible avoid using the plastic bags that the shop keepers tirelessly continue to use even wit the ban in place.
yes,i was under the misconception that i am doing my bit..
But here is the reality.
As an intern in kem hospital,i wear 1 pair of plastic gloves,under my sterile rubber gloves during collections.on an average ,on an emergency night i change my gloves 15 times..maybe more.
these plastic gloves are not reused,they r under the specific weight prescribed for plastics..
the foley's catheters,the iv lines,the cevafix,the polydrapes..all come in plastic packages.even the threeways.There is no way of doing away with this since it is necessary to maintain sterile conditions.
the coffee vending machine serves tea ,coffee, in plastic cups.on an average,i have 4 cups of tea.
plastic is indispensible to the world of medicine,or so it seems.
On the day that the world was at the earth concert,i was in a muggy,stuffy,emergency surgery ward.and all i could think of while i did my collections is...gosh what huge amts of plastic i use!
When i put in an intravenous line..the syringeis plastic,the three way is plastic,the iv catheter is plastic,the iv line is plastic,even the normal saline bottle is plastic.
happy earth day!