Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures
By Vincent Lam, The Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner
Published by Anchor Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited 2006.

This book is a collection of stories which recount the normal life of a medical doctor.

I found it interesting and a worthwhile read.

I was particularly drawn to the portrayal of the night shift work, which explains why patients have to wait hours in the ER before the doctor can attend the sick? Dr. Lam explains by giving an example of one normal night shift in Toronto General Hospital. As the doctor stepped in the ER to begin his night shift, the nurse told him that there were twenty-three patients waiting and was about six hours behind schedule. In the eight hours of his shift, the doctor did the most to clear the entire backlog, plus the stream of patients who were taken in by ambulances. Non-stopping and exerting all his effort, he managed to catch up and clear the entire backlog for the day shift doctor who comes in in the morning.

As I laid down the book, my mind filled with the hapless experiences about my mother’s many experiences in ERs, I fell pensively into a thought which has long been profoundly disturbing my mind, that is the question of “how far a medical doctor’s responsibility goes?”

Accidentally, I found the possible answer to my question in a documentary film. The story is about Dr. Young who, at age seventy-six, has retired as Professor of Medicine at Hong Kong University. Dr. Rosie Young Tse Tse still practices part-time at Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong and occasionally teaches HKU medical students. To her students, she always says that being a medical doctor is not just an occupation but a life long mission. You must have good heart and you must care both for your patients and their family members. She has worked tirelessly all her life in education, research and in serving the community. I believe that Dr. Young is a role model for all medical students. Her ethics and beliefs go far beyond just “Do no Harm.”

Of interest:
Honorary Doctor of Science Professor Rosie Tse-tse YOUNG (PDF)
(Google Cache of HTML Version)