Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

A medical student’s first day of clinical training started on the bus

Ron Li
Education
July 26, 2011
Share
Tweet
Share

It happened on a bus on my way to work. I got on and sat in the only available seat, which I quickly realized was next to a disheveled looking man who smelled faintly of urine and had a dry hacking cough that could be heard throughout the entire bus. He was leaning against the window and did not seem to notice me. I was less than pleased with my seating choice but did not want to stand back up and appear rude. So I turned around with my back facing the man to avoid contracting any potentially contagious disease.

I then saw on the other side of the bus a disabled boy in a wheelchair with his father, both sitting in the reserved seating area for the disabled. The boy had in his throat what looked like part of a tracheostomy tube and his father was cleaning it with a portable aspirator. I wondered what their story was. I wondered how the father had to change his life to care for his sick son. I tried to tap into my repository of medical knowledge to think up of a differential for what the son could have had. And I could not help control the rising feeling of smugness that came from my belief that as a medical student, I was probably the only person on the bus being so observant and thinking such complex medically oriented thoughts. I stretched my neck a bit to get a better view of the device because an old man with a cane had just gotten on a bus and blocked my view.

Suddenly, I heard a loud shout from right behind me. “Hey! Watch out! There’s a kid sitting there!” Before I could even react, the disheveled looking man who faintly smelled like urine and had a hacking cough sitting next to me suddenly stood up, rushed past me, and reached his hands out to support the old man with the cane.

“He blind. He didn’t know you was there,” the disheveled looking man said to the stunned father and the boy. I watched, also stunned, as he helped guide the old man with the cane to another empty seat. In the midst of my self-absorbed thinking, I had completely failed to see that the old man with the cane who was blocking my view of the boy with the tracheostomy tube was actually blind and would have accidentally fell on the boy and his father. It was the disheveled looking man sitting next to me who had recognized and reacted to the problem with such amazing speed and precision.

I learned something from that man that day. And when I become a clinician, I hope to one day be like him.

Ron Li is a medical student.

Submit a guest post and be heard on social media’s leading physician voice.

Prev

How to be a star intern, from a former nurse

July 26, 2011 Kevin 3
…
Next

Passing along the cost of health care to consumers won't save money

July 26, 2011 Kevin 8
…

Tagged as: Medical school, Patients

Post navigation

< Previous Post
How to be a star intern, from a former nurse
Next Post >
Passing along the cost of health care to consumers won't save money

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Ron Li

  • Discovering medicine’s unrehearsed harmony

    Ron Li
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    How to foster a cycle of excellence in medicine

    Ron Li

More in Education

  • Why medical schools must ditch lectures and embrace active learning

    Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA
  • Why helping people means more than getting an MD

    Vaishali Jha
  • Residency match tips: Building mentorship, research, and community

    Simran Kaur, MD and Eva Shelton, MD
  • How I learned to stop worrying and love AI

    Rajeev Dutta
  • Why medical student debt is killing primary care in America

    Alexander Camp
  • Why the pre-med path is pushing future doctors to the brink

    Jordan Williamson, MEd
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in every emergency department triage [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why PSA levels alone shouldn’t define your prostate cancer risk

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions
    • How to handle chronically late patients in your medical practice

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Reframing chronic pain and dignity: What a pain clinic teaches us about MAiD and chronic suffering

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • Why medicine must evolve to support modern physicians

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 3 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in every emergency department triage [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why PSA levels alone shouldn’t define your prostate cancer risk

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions
    • How to handle chronically late patients in your medical practice

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Reframing chronic pain and dignity: What a pain clinic teaches us about MAiD and chronic suffering

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • Why medicine must evolve to support modern physicians

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

A medical student’s first day of clinical training started on the bus
3 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...