Moments in Time - Coming and Going

There is so much activity inside the modern academic institution. Students, residents, fellows, attendings, nurses, clerks, technicians ...running around doing "their thing" in the hopes of curing and preventing illness. It's truly a marvel to hear, see and feel the "heartbeat" of the academic hospital "beast".

Yet in the moments of organized chaos and discombobulated focus there are moments of pause. That happens fairly regularly (for me at least) at my institution when the overhead speakers "click" on and we hear a short, just a few bars, music... Brahms "Lullaby" . It means that somewhere in the hospital a baby has been born. There is no announcement, no words, just the telephone-ringer-short-version of the lullaby.  I can't help it. I just stop or slow down my manic walk to the next assignment, listen and realize what's happening. I'm paying attention. A new life is coming aboard planet earth even as those leave us.

 

And so, it happened yesterday. There was a loudspeaker announcement of a "code blue, code blue, code blue,...room blah, blah, blah" as a patient arrested on the floor. Some doctor-looking folks jumped up from the conference room I was sitting in to run to the patients room.

And then, about 30 seconds later, the lullaby.  In under a minute, one patient "left" and one patient "entered". To me, a bit surreal. But I'll bet that most don't even notice such things.

Sometimes the hassle and bustle robs us of our humanity and really being present. I try not to let that happen. Or maybe I'm just sensitive to the fact that match is coming very soon and the rest of my life will reveal itself. So much easier to be "present" when I'm not studying for some major board exam.