from ‘Playing God’ - by
10. A note of warning to patients when all else fails
/
/ Sometimes the needle is too blunt.
/ The stethoscope is too quiet.
/ The…
medicine
These are the Hands - by
for the 60th anniversary of the NHS
/
/ These are the hands
/ That touch us first
/ Feel your head
/ Find the pulse
/ And make your bed.
/
/ These…
Second Opinion - by
We went to Leeds for a second opinion.
/ After her name was called,
/ I waited among the apparently well
/ And those with bandaged…
From the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh - by
My only talent lay in these.
/ My father rubbed his hands together,
/ stared as though their whorls held codes
/ of thirty years obstetric…
Twenty-eight Weeks - by
We nearly missed her.
/ This little storm of life,
/ could have blown by
/ before we weathered her.
/ But here she is: sturdy,
/ definite, pointing her…
A brief format to be used when consulting with patients - by
The patient will talk.
/
/ The doctor will talk.
/
/ The doctor will listen while
/ the patient is talking.
/
/ The patient will listen while
/ the…
From ‘Doing Calls on the Old Portpatrick Road’ - by
12 Graham’s Landing
/ ‘The ear says more
/ Than any tongue’
/
/ I thought I spoke the language
/ asking what the matter was, the wrong.
/ I only…
From A Year and a Day: 19 October 1979 – 19 October 1980 - by
To be taken in small doses as required
/
/ October
/
/ 25: Miss G -, born while Queen Victoria was still alive,
/ standing proudly…
A Medical Education - by
for Dr Peter Rothwell
/
/ In obstetrics I learnt that a woman opens swiftly like an elevator door.
/ The body wriggles free…
Cocktail hour - by
Measure out, administer.
/
/ Katie’s half dribbling, half tiny-bubbling.
/ She’s laughing (gentle). She’s not swallowing this, tells it
/ in a viscous mumble, bright red…
To The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (1505-2005) - by
A Welcome
/
/ Sons and daughters of Aesculapius
/ from Doctor & Prof to Mr & Ms,
/ we the citizenry of Auld Reekie
/ celebrate your Quincentenary;
/ James…
The Curator - by
Step this way, sir. Just here you may see
/ a child’s head so full of water
/ that the world’s alarms were quite…