Category: ENT & Surgery

‘Doctor’ came from the latin word ‘docero’, which means ‘Teacher’. Our primary duty is to teach. But teaching has been much excluded from our day-to-day activities. Patients, sadly, have told me several times, “You’re the first doctor who has ever explained that to me.”… Read more

It is well known that doctors are not usually great communicators verbally, and even worse at the written form of communication. I know, I know. Writing is hard for us doctors. But 10-year-olds can do it, so it shouldn’t be that hard.… Read more

We’re busy. We walk past many people every day in hospitals. We walk into the operating theatre and demand things done quickly and efficiently. We walk into the wards, do our rounds swiftly and leave. What happens if we stop intentionally and specifically several times during the day to say hello to those we often meet but take for granted?… Read more

Write down in as few words as possible why you did medicine/surgery in the first place, and keep it somewhere visible. A post it note on the computer, a note on the iPhone home screen, a scribble on the dorsum of your hand, anywhere visible to you.… Read more

I know, I know. It takes more than 31 days to be a better doctor. And yes, I know, it’s a stupid challenge, you’re too busy and you’ve got better things to do. And yes, I know, doctoring is way more complex than doing stuff like these.… Read more

Revised edition from a previous post.

Surgeons are normally not comfortable among crowds who talk back to them. Christmas, therefore, presents a challenging social dilemma to the discerning surgeon. On one hand he/she is awkward in social gatherings, on the other he/she knows that being the centre of attention is important for his/her ego.… Read more

An Otorhinolaryngological Love Poem

My ossicles shiver at the sound of your name
My cochlea swirls at the sound of your voice
I get symptomatic labyrynthitis when I see your beauty
And my world becomes vertiginous when you enter it

When my optic nerve see your beauty, my facial nerve gets excited
Temporal and zygomatic open my eyes wide
The buccal and mandibular pull a smile
And I start to salivate

There’s nothing more pleasant
Than the fragrance of your presence on my olfactory fossa
Than the tympanic reverberations of your voice
Than the tactile impulses of your lips on my cheeks

The laryngologists have never heard a kinder voice than yours
The otologists have never met a better listening ear than yours
And the facial plastic surgeons have got nothing to add
To your perfectly symmetrical facial beauty

Your vocal cords calm me, comfort me, and strengthen me
Your tympanum have forgiven me much for my bitter tongue
There are no sinuses too deep, earwax too thick, or neck nodes too big
To keep me from loving you

Written for Mrs Otorhinolary on our 7th Wedding Anniversary.… Read more

This was last year.

Today is our Anniversary. I’ve been married to my best friend for 9 years. So how does it feel to be married for that long, you might ask? They say it is like vintage wine, it gets better with time.… Read more