My Teachers.

I have been blessed with great teachers. They showed me horizons which I thought did not exist. They had an array of personalities and professions. Not all of them were strictly in the academic settings. They varied in age and things they had to offer, at different stages of my life. Like my high school teacher Ms. S, who taught me time management and brought out the best in me. My father, who showed me being a doctor, is more than billing a patient.

My little 6 year old daughter, who taught me what is more important in life, when she asked me to donate money to the hospital I work at, I asked why. She said “so that you can spend more time with me”. My teacher at Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Dr. Ferris Hall, who taught me that you can not ask for respect, you earn it.

My “singing heart” patient who taught me that you have the power to brighten someone’s day. My supervisor at the carpet cleaner company where I worked in Chicago during my first year in America, who taught never to treat anyone the way you don’t want to be treated.

Our janitor Julie, who spent decades at University of Massachusetts, taught me never to ignore people who help you, with what you do. She said "I feel invisible, people pass by me all day long but never seem to notice my presence". Indeed, she was right when I saw her next day working, she was….invisible to everyone.

I cannot forget my senior resident Kirk MacNaught, who told me once during my intern days when I was in a hurry to make a decision about a patient, “You should never treat a patient like you would not treat your own family member”. Then he continued in his soft voice “can you please stop running around the hospital like a chicken with its head cut off and get back to work”.  

I sometimes still run like that. I never claimed that I was the best pupil, I was just lucky to have great teachers. Most of all my patients are the best teachers, who teach me things I could have never learned in any school.


About the picture: I think this does not require any explanation.