Still nothing medical to write about. I spend my days doing social work and case management. I’ve gotten really good at sitting in patients’ rooms, taking the time to actually sit in a chair (which certainly does lend a more relaxed air to the conversation), and listening to all kinds of details about their lives which are not medically related. This makes me feel like a good person, and hopefully is giving me practice at establishing rapport with people. I haven’t done some of this stuff since medical school.
It makes me feel like a bad surgeon. Why do I not have anything else to do with my time? A surgery resident is doing something wrong if they are not busy. I keep going through my list looking for something to do, and except for the occasional consult (who now gets the complete history and physical, including review of systems, social, and spiritual history – some of which I have been in the habit of omitting when rushed), I have very little to do.
On the other hand, since it seems like every other surgery resident in the hospital loves Obama, there is no shortage of conversations opening with, “You actually like Palin? She’s an idiot. She’s never been outside this country. She likes to ban books. She likes guns. She believes in abstinence-only sex education. She is opposed to abortion at all times. Isn’t that horrible?” And I grin at them and say, “No, that sounds just perfect to me – except for the idiot part and the banning books part, which the media made up.” And we’re off. I think my political and religious convictions have a perverse fascination for my more liberal colleagues, and they can’t stop coming back to check if I still believe this stuff.
(And yes, I give up, all the rabid Obama supporters hating on Palin have convinced me: I’m voting Republican this year. Once I find the absentee ballot registry form. When does another chance like this show up: A Vietnam vet (from the Hanoi Hotel, no less; those guys are some of my biggest heroes), and a gun-toting pro-life soccer mom with five kids. Compared to an America-hating socialist with no clue about policy – and the only policy ideas he does have consist of taking more of my money to give to the unemployed, and nationalizing my job; after he surrenders to the terrorists, and invites Ahmadinejad to the White House.)
September 23, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Well, I’m glad to see you’re finally in your right mind regarding whether or not to vote this year
PS – I realized today, while studying the ALS/spinal cord, that the body actually has two sides, even though the diagrams only demonstrate one side of the system. This discovery was earth-shattering.
September 24, 2008 at 4:24 am
Thats awesome that you take a spiritual history as well. Biopsychosocio-spiritual!
September 25, 2008 at 9:44 am
Alice, your enthusiastic support of Palin seems inconsistent with your previously stataed position that a married woman should not hold a position of greater authority than her husband. Would you elaborate? As an avid Obama supporter, I’m really interested in listening with an open mind!
September 25, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Ruth – What can I say, I’m inconsistent. I still think married women ought to submit to their husbands; but I also don’t think that we should socialize healthcare or allow abortion under all circumstances, which seem to be Obama’s positions. The more I looked at the options, the less of an evil the McCain ticket seemed; so I’ll take the lesser of two evils.
Which particular point (or points) is it that you like about Obama so much?
September 27, 2008 at 11:11 am
Alice, I support Obama because of his stance on the Iraq war. The religion I practice has a “just war doctrine” and the Iraq war did not meet them, and so for me, the decision is simple. I believed the same thing about the Gulf War, and so, finally, have a chance to vote for someone who states his opposition meaningfully for me. I have never before, and hope will never again, be a single issue voter. I believe this is a bad practice. However, in this case, the war is so serious for me tht I believe I must cast my vote in this way. I hesitate to mention my denomination as you have spoken disdainfully of it before, but I do take it seriously and assume you can respect that.
September 27, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Ruth – That’s a fair statement. I could argue that the Iraq war did meet just war criteria, but there is perhaps a more significant point: I’m not sure which denomination you’re referring to – Mormon? – but I’d hazard a guess that it also opposes abortion. Did you know that Obama voted against a bill to ban partial-birth abortions (for which there is no medical excuse whatsoever)?
I have issues with Bush’s foreign policy, but I think 1) he grasps the seriousness of the Islamic threat as few other leaders do, and 2) anyway, the abortion of 40 million innocent children is of greater moral clarity and scale.
September 27, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Alice, I imagine many of us who apply the just war criteria will come up with different opinions.
As for my denomination, I am a Roman Catholic, and since no politician lines up with Catholic teaching on all issues, we’re left to struggle with our selections and end up with the best decision we can. You will find “Catholics for McCain” and “Catholics for Obama” if you look, so we fall on both sides of this issue.
I’m certainly opposed to abortion, but really don’t want to go into that discussion; too hard to do unless face to face.
In any event, I’m glad you decided to vote, even if not in ‘my’ column! I’ve been voting for 40 years now, and I’ve never been completely delighted with any of my choices, but we gotta stay in there and be involved in a very imperfect process. The end result is still a very great, great country and we are damn lucky to be here.