The Littlest Doctor

I was sitting at the bus stop beside the hospital, waiting for the bus which was already 5 minutes late.

An older man sat beside me. Just then, the blades of the chopper on the nearby helipad began to beat faster, and faster. The chopper rose in the air. The noise was deafening.

We looked at each other, sharing the moment of excitement (I felt a silly urge to wave at the chopper! :P)

As it flew off, we made small talk about how loud it was.

And then the man said "It's wonderful though. Every time you see that you can think to yourself that there's another life hopefully saved. It's amazing, isn't it?"

And for a moment, I felt proud. Proud that when I'm work those patients are brought to me, to my department, and my colleagues.

I know this probably sounds conceited, but in the day to day running of things we don't get time to stop and reflect on the work we do. We focus on the difficult (and usually very well!) patients who challenged us, or worry about things we could have done differently.

But today, a stranger at a bus stop reminded me of the good that we do. And I'm so proud of us!