Original Submission

Celebrating the Little Victories

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Submission by: Neehar Gaddam – OMS III

Image accessed from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cards/28612302532

When observing masters of any craft, you notice that they do not waste any motion. Every movement is quick and precise. They often spend years improving their techniques, down to perfecting the last detail.

They realize that the road from average to master is paved with details. Step here. Cut here. Carve here. Heat for 12 minutes, not 10.

What this reminds me as a medical student is that, details matter. Small improvements, matter.

Over time, they can even snowball into big changes. As such, they deserve to be celebrated. This holds true for us as well as for our patients. Progress is progress. Incidentally, a major source of burnout is a feeling of inefficacy.

You are just not making the difference you thought you would.

As Andy Warhol put it,

“You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.”

This quote reminds me that even minor changes deserve to be reveled in. Even small improvements are steps forward.

So stop, take a moment to celebrate the minor victories with your patients, appreciate what went into achieving that progress, and then keep moving forward, as a true master does.

Seeing Clearly Now

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Submission by: T Offori Esq. MB;ChB(UGh) MSc(Lond) FRCSEd FRCS(GS)Ed, Consultant Colorectal Surgeon Rtd, South Yorkshire UK

After many weeks of fairly firm lockdown in the U.K. , it is uplifting to be able to embark on walks for as long as one desires.

It is not only a time for physical exertion, but also for observation, contemplation and reflection, all very familiar to us in the healthcare field.

I hope these few lines will encourage readers as we think on nature’s scope, from the microscopic to what has clearly always been before us.

On a Country Walk;

Now We See Better

by: T Offori Esq. MB

Amazing how the planted seed thrives amidst the broken ground.

We see the shoots
We see the stalks
We count the buds

We pick the blooms.

But we must walk the beaten path to stretch the sinews and tend the mind to see these things.

Amazing how it takes the small unseen to see the spread of nature’s hand;

The plants, the birds, water and sky;

All carry a prettiness taken for granted,

Until now.

And as you meet a fellow walker, keep your distance and doff your hat,

with a “Hi”, “good day” or a “hello mate”,
We remember the import of the little things,
Both seen and unseen.

–TWKO