My Life as an OB-GYN by Heritage Douglas;

Author:Heritage, Douglas;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Group
Published: 2016-10-11T19:57:58+00:00

A Big Mistake

“Get off the damn bed, Heritage!” Don Hale shouted. It was lunchtime and the West Hospital residents’ room was packed, including myself and some friends of mine. We were in our fourth year of school. The “luxurious” residents’ room opened off of Labor and Delivery. It was about 8 by 10 feet. It contained a desk, an ancient TV, and two chairs. The only other furniture was a double-decker bunk bed. There had to be at least 10 people crowded in when I arrived.

Don Hale, a senior resident soon to finish the program, sat at the desk. The other chair was occupied, as was the lower bunk. An open attaché case lay on the top bunk, but there was plenty of free space beside it. I boosted myself up, jostling the case but not spilling anything. Hale was notorious for his condescending and noxious attitude towards anybody his junior.

“Get off the damn bed, Heritage!” he shouted. “And you better not disturb my brief case!”

I had had minor run-ins with Hale before, but now I let the notorious Heritage family temper, like an evil twin, take possession of me. It was a big mistake.

“Don, I didn’t disturb your freaking briefcase, and I have just as much right to be here as you!” The room went dead silent. Hale just stared at me for a moment, then got up without a word and walked out.

One of the Assistant Residents came over to stand beside the bed. “You know where he’s going, don’t you?” he said quietly.

“I don’t care where he’s going.”

“Well, you should. I know him, and I guarantee he’s on his way to Dr. Dunning (the Chief of Service) to complain about you. I think you just kissed your chances at a JAR slot goodbye.”

I debated whether to go see Dr. Dunning and try to explain the situation or say nothing. I decided to say nothing. I didn’t want to be a crawling petitioner when I felt I was in the right. But as days passed, I began to get the cold shoulder from residents I considered my friends and downright hostility from the others. I made an appointment to see Dr. Dunning.

“Dr. Dunning,” I began. “A situation has come up that I need to tell you about.”

“What situation is that, Douglas?”

“Well, it seems that I’ve made an enemy of Don Hale.”

“How so?” I explained what had happened in the residents’ room. “And I’m getting the feeling that I might be passed over for the JAR position.”

He stared at me with pale blue eyes that might have been chipped off an iceberg.

“Douglas, as you know, one generally serves an internship before being considered for the Residents Program.”

“Yes, sir, I know that. But I understand that, occasionally, one can go straight to Junior Resident. That’s why almost all of my electives this year have been in obstetrics or gynecology. I think — I hope — that I already have the experience that an intern would have.”

“No decisions have been made yet.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.