Clinical Language Practice

I had posted a 9 year old kid with an abscess for incision &drainage in the operation theatre.I had to do it under local anaesthesia,sedation and my sweet talk!So,I started trying to soften him up in my pathetic Telugu & Tamil(The kid knew both & I didn't know both).I tried all through the procedure with gems like "valli irakka?","noppi unda?","ayi poyindi","nidra po","nidra vastunda?","valli irakka ante sollu"etc.I struggled throughout the procedure(not with the procedure but with my communication skills).
After the procedure,I called the mother of the patient in to pacify the patient a little bit.
Guess what she spoke to her child?
"Enappa novu agtha ideya?Alabeda mari,agi hoythu"
Kasthuri Kannada!!I didn't know whether to laugh or cry!!!!

Surgery-Art or Science?

Continuing from my last blog,one of Gawande's essays dealt with the proficiency of Indian surgeons.Having worked in quite a few places,I can vouch for this.At the junior level few can beat us in terms of exposure or skill but people in other places like UK,US are more structured and focused in their training & approach.
We routinely deal with all sorts of cases-urology,plastic surgery,pediatric surgery etc.General surgery means,in general,all of surgery!!
While learning to do surgery,we are faced with a dilemma.Daring or caution?Learning to find a balance between these two and improving surgical skills requires experience in itself.