Art Imitates Life
It is a well-known knowledge that every art ever made, every story ever written, every television stories every screened were all based on real life, at least part of it. Perhaps a little drama was added for aesthetic, but everything man made was inspired by God’s screenplay. Perhaps, it could not be truer than it is in residency.
Every time I meet someone outside the medicine world and introduced myself as a surgeon (or a surgical resident at that time), the most common question, after where and oh wows, would be: Is it like Grey’s anatomy? I kid you not! The most popular question I have been asked since in entered my residency, and always a reference to Grey’s.
I didn’t mind it, not at all. In fact, I would proudly say, yes! Yes it is. The medicine, the shifts, the inability to have life outside the hospital, and yes, of course, the DRAMA! And the sex :D
While I had decided to enter medicine far before I was exposed to any medicine TV shows, I like those shows nonetheless. In fact, I could almost always relate. And Grey’s, I seriously say, the drama is real. And I’m sure I’m not the only surgeon who feels that way or had that life. When you are confined to a place for more than 24 hours more often than not, with the same people, the same struggle, there bound to be some difference, some love, some lust, some tears, some laughter, some drama and a lot of sex.
One instance I am remembering right now is when I was a second or third year resident. I had my 24 hours shift at one of the community hospital that was a partner with our teaching hospital. Every shift consists of two second/third year residents and every month there is an on call chief that has his rotation at that hospital. I should probably explain, the chief resident in our residency system is the senior on the last year of their residency and the most senior at every rotation.
It was a Sunday, so the shift started at 9 A.M at the ER and would end at 6 A.M the next day, where daily schedule of OR and clinics continued. I was accompanied by my batch-mate, Dylan, on that day. After we screen the E.R, did few lacs in the E.R and an appendectomy procedure in the O.R, we grabbed some lunch and went to our room/temporary lounge.
The resident lounge in that hospital was under renovation at that time, so they gave us two VIP patient’s room as a temporary lounge to rest in. Each had two bunk beds in it, TV, refrigerators, toilets and all that. The rooms were to separate male and female residents, but we almost always end up just using one room regardless the gender of our shift partners.
So at around two P.M that evening me and Dylan went to one of the rooms (the one usually used) and found our chief of the month, Henry, lying sleeping on one of the lower bunk beds. We were not that surprised; we had an idea he was in the hospital. Our attending had a patient in E.R. and had told us that Henry was going to come and see the patient and prep her for surgery if necessary. We were just confused how we missed him in the E.R. I forgot the case exactly, but I remembered the surgery was cancelled for that day. I thought maybe Henry just didn’t want to go home.
Dylan went to the other bunk bed and climbed to it’s top, so I took the lower one. I must have dozed off; I woke up with a start to a noisy bed creaking and a snoring sound from above me. I opened my eyes and saw Henry was up. He saw me awake, came towards me and caressed my cheek.
No… it is not a story of sexual harassment!
Henry is a married man, a father of two, my senior and a friend. We had a few rotations together and at one of those rotations, we end up in bed together. I remember the first time we slept together, we were having a bad day at the hospital, so at end of the day, we decided to go out and have a few drinks. No one else wanted to join, so it was just Henry and me. In between drinks, Henry told me a sob story of how he married the wrong woman and only found out he loved someone else just few days before the wedding. But the wedding wasn’t and could not be cancelled, so he got married, but for two years he also had an affair with the woman he loved.
Honestly till date I do not know if that was a true story or just a sob one to get me into bed with him, but it worked. We got drunk and we had sex. It wasn’t something any of us regretted. Yes, we were drunk, but we were still in control of our decision. For Henry, it was probably a sport, for me, it was entertainment. I knew he had a family, so no strings attached. We started seeing (more accurately sex-ing) each other on and off since then. On that day of my shift, I hadn’t seen Henry for weeks, probably months, due to our schedule.
I smiled and sat up; he started kissing me and touching me everywhere. I giggled and pointed upwards, referring to Dylan who was fast asleep at the top bunk. Henry got up and left the room. I guessed he just decided it wasn’t worth the risk.
Few minutes later I got a text from him to meet me in the next room, the empty room we never used. I smiled, freshened up and went to get some. Sure enough we did it… twice, as quietly as possible as to not attract any nurse or anyone to that room. It was fun. Henry left form home after that and I continued my shift with Dylan.
Henry and I are still friends till date. However, the sex part isn’t a part of it anymore. Henry is a serial womanizer. A while after that day, I found out he was sleeping with a junior of mine. Although that did not break my heart, it bugged me a little, especially that their affair was not well hidden like it was with me. I was afraid if they were exposed, I would be sucked in too and I didn’t want that to happen. So I stayed away from Henry for a good long while. We had our fun once or twice more after that, but when Henry became an attending in a different hospital, our relationship turned into just friends, with no benefits.
There are a lot of stories about Henry and his adventures, but it is his story, not mine to tell. As I said in the beginning, the stories, the drama, the sex… they are all real in the residency world.
















