A Resident’s Musings

Far from havens where home and comfort stood
To the very first treads into doctorhood,
Converged a tender young physician crop
To face it all out in a New York City backdrop.

The routine begins at the crack of dawn
Brush, shower, don scrubs without a frown,
No waiting around for them elevators tardy
Run, ‘cause you don’t want to miss the Jitney! 

A day on the floors is an experience sound
With prerounds, rounds and post-rounds rounds,
And then there are the IDRs
With “safe dispos” and endless dialogues. 

The “units”, the ICUs
Where life and death weave their tangos,
Life-saving measures and adrenaline rushes
Prepare you for when a patient’s condition crashes.

A sigh of relief when it’s finally clinic block
Returning every 6 weeks like the tick of a clock,
Ambulatory woes seem distant from those admitted
Worry not, to your healing we are committed.  

How can I forget the ubiquitous EMR?
With every mandate raising the bar,
Navigating safety alerts and order renewals
And endless documentation for our wherewithal.  

Dreams take shape for some as the subspecialties
While others see hospitalist and PCP as the best opportunities,
Aspirations evolve as each rotation passes by
And each one sets out for their dreams to materialize. 

Thus goes on the circle of residency life
Start unhewn, experience sharpens the knife,
Role models and stalwarts steer the path
May you strive to giveth all that you hath.

“This is an original work of poetry that came to this writer while ruminating on the path thus far along residency in Internal Medicine, and the long road that lies ahead as graduation of seniors approaches. It is perhaps an ode to the residency program for shaping us to who we turn out to be as physicians and individuals as well.”

Currently an Internal Medicine senior resident at Mount Sinai St.Luke’s-West Hospital in New York City, Sridevi Rajeeve was born and raised in the beautiful South Indian city of Kochi where she completed medical school. Her academic aspirations include pursuing fellowship training in Hematology-Oncology and being a compassionate academic physician and mentor. Her leisurely pursuits include being a voracious bibliophile, traveling and being an amateur stargazer. She enjoys penning down her thoughts into prose and occasionally, as poems. She lives in New York City with her husband who is an engineer in Cloud and Artificial Intelligence. livewiresri.blogspot.com