“Seriously,” I thought as I helped the patient onto the toilet. I then helped her off and situated her on the couch. As I draped a warm blanket over her, she grabbed my hand and with genuine gratitude in her eyes said, “Thank you, dear, for helping me,” reminding me why I went into medicine.
This 55-word story is about the time I spent 30 minutes helping a patient, *Ms. Newman, use the restroom while I was on my surgery rotation. Surgery rotations are notoriously busy. That particular day I had two other patients to see and a surgery to prepare for in the afternoon. I was just coming in to ask Ms. Neman a few questions, expecting to spend 5-10 minutes in the room. However, Ms. Newman ended up asking me to help her use the restroom. She had been needing to use the restroom for a while, but the nurses, being short-staffed, had not had a chance to come in and help her. Ms. Newman had a disability that required someone to help her ambulate to the restroom. When she expressed her need to use the restroom and asked for my help, I knew that I could have said I will have a nurse come and help you, however, I always had trouble with grabbing the nurse for tasks that I could easily help patients with. So, I told her I would help, thinking it would only add a couple more minutes of my time. Helping her get out of the bed onto the toilet, then waiting for her to finish using the restroom, getting her a new gown to change into since she had soiled hers, then helping her out of the restroom and into a chair which I had to drape a warm blanket over because the leather irritated her skin, and then another warm blanket over her shoulders because she was a frail, cold woman ended up taking a total of 30 minutes. In all honesty, while I was happy to help, I was also frustrated and a little stressed because I had so many things on my to-do list. In the end, Ms. Newman grabbed my hand and looked me in the eyes. She thanked me for helping her and expressed how she was so grateful for my kindness. She said she felt as if I really cared about her and told me I would make a great doctor one day. It was at that moment that I was reminded of why I went into medicine- to provide care for patients in whatever capacity there is. Although I had a to-do list, the most important thing was caring compassionately for a patient and making their life a little bit better in whatever way – big or small – I could. It was an important reminder that illuminated the importance of humanity in medicine.
Nisha Rehman is a member of The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix Class of 2023. She graduated from Arizona State University in 2019 with a major in Biomedical Sciences. She is passionate about providing mentorship and care to refugee populations. In her free time she enjoys going to the gym, reading, and practicing the art of henna.