The Life We Chose
When interacting with friends be it from health science faculty, upper campus or those already in the working world, our struggles are always followed by the statement: “Well it’s the life we/you chose”. Well that has made me really think a lot about this life we chose as the future doctors of South Africa and I subsequently asked the big question: If we had the chance to go back to the beginning, knowing what we know now, would we pick studying this degree all over again?
THE LIFE WE CHOSE:
The day begins whilst eating breakfast, thinking about the day ahead. It’s always a coin toss of whether you will get a friendly or maybe a not so friendly doctor teaching you today and you sit there saying to yourself: “please please could they be nice to us.” The day usually entails an overwhelming amount of knowledge that is always being reiterated to you as: “please don’t forget this as it could kill the patient if you don’t do this.” Not to forget the oh so normal feeling of embarrassment and inadequacy when giving not so great answers in the teaching ward round, or the everyday feeling of: “Do I actually know anything?? Will I really be able to take care of people in the future?”
Is it really worth it? Seeing hundreds upon hundreds of sick babies, mothers, fathers and grandparents? Where children are malnourished, abused, neglected and abandoned for reasons we may never fully understand. The single mother who is trying her hardest to make ends meet to provide for her children, at the detriment of her own health. The Gogo who spent her whole life providing for her children and her grandchildren but had to make the hard decision to travel from the Eastern Cape to seek better healthcare in order to return home and continue her daily routine. The father who left to work in the mines to put his children through school, but in return got lung disease that may never improve. The early mornings and late nights, the long hours of standing on feet that you can sometimes no longer feel by the end of the day. The unsuccessful resuscitation attempts, gunshot wounds, stabbings to the head, the high HIV rates, the wards filled with patients who have TB as well as the brave patients battling cancer.
Is it really worth it? Taking bloods, getting needle stick injuries, placing yourself at risk everyday of getting TB. Is it really worth it getting home from the hospital and thinking about the patient who just passed away in front of you or when you witnessed a family finding out that their mother or father did not make it through the night. When your only debriefing could be you talking to yourself.
Is it really worth it? YES IT IS. Seeing a mother’s face as she meets her newborn baby for the first time that you helped deliver. Meeting new people every day who share the most encouraging and inspiring stories that fill you with hope. Witnessing eyes seeing and ears hearing for the first time in a while, babies coming in dehydrated and malnourished and leaving full of energy and renewed health. Hearing the words “Thank You” after helping treat someone or just being there to listen and support them in your consultation. Seeing all health professionals, not just the doctors, working miracles in patients’ lives as they walk for the first time, speak for the first time as well as learn how to adjust to not being disabled but rather differently abled. The amazing work being done by each person no matter what the job description be it nurses, porters, cleaners, social workers, dieticians -and the list goes on is admirable. Although this degree may test me and question every decision I have made thus far whilst studying, I would not change it for the world. Yes, this is the life I chose and it is one that I intend on living to the fullest by making a difference in the world, no matter how big or small that difference may be.