July of 2010.
Final year exams in full swing. Taking a toll on our physical and mental strength. Done with theory and the 7 dreaded clinicals were left.
One of our final year subjects is Pedodontics (Pediatric Dentistry) and as the name suggests deals with oral health of children. Since we were dealing with very young children sometimes as young as 4 , we were told by our staff to take written consent from the child's parent and also pick & drop the child at home (as the case may be!)
I met the parents of my shy 11 year old patient. After introducing myself and informing the parents of the treatment needs of the child, I was about to leave when the dad tells me, 'I have only one son. Please do take care of my child '. I reassured him and told, I myself will drop the child back at home (since the dad had work that day). Also gave my contact number and took the parent's number too.
The exam went well. Clinical viva went excellent and we were told by the staff to get ourselves ready for the theory viva. Since my name begins with "S" and roll number is almost towards the end, it would took some more time for my viva to begin. So I told my friend to drop my patient along with hers. I went back to preparing for the viva.
Around half an hour later, I see my friend running up and down the hospital giving me tensed stares at times and at times not looking at my face itself. Finally my viva got over. Seeing her franatically pace all over the department, I asked her what was the problem. After slight hesitation, she admitted the little boy who was my patient was missing. I completely LOST my temper with her. For having trusted her to do the job and we are talking about a very small child here. We started searching the entire college (..and that is no small feat due to the huge size of the college.) On top of it all, I had started getting calls from the dad.....
I didn't know what to do. I was worried about the safety of the child. I worried about the dad. I was feeling dizzy with all the tension.
Finally the guys in our class went with their bikes to the area around the child's house to see if by any chance, he had reached back on his own.... and, there he was !! Apparently, he got lost from the crowd of kids and found his way back home on his own.
I didn't know if to be mad at him for going without letting me know or heave a sigh of relief on knowing he was safe.
(Since the parents weren't in the hospital, they weren't aware of the confusion... )
I am no where near being a guardian of a child on my own...
...But for those two hours, I was a parent and it was my child who was lost. And I was WORRIED !!
Final year exams in full swing. Taking a toll on our physical and mental strength. Done with theory and the 7 dreaded clinicals were left.
One of our final year subjects is Pedodontics (Pediatric Dentistry) and as the name suggests deals with oral health of children. Since we were dealing with very young children sometimes as young as 4 , we were told by our staff to take written consent from the child's parent and also pick & drop the child at home (as the case may be!)
I met the parents of my shy 11 year old patient. After introducing myself and informing the parents of the treatment needs of the child, I was about to leave when the dad tells me, 'I have only one son. Please do take care of my child '. I reassured him and told, I myself will drop the child back at home (since the dad had work that day). Also gave my contact number and took the parent's number too.
The exam went well. Clinical viva went excellent and we were told by the staff to get ourselves ready for the theory viva. Since my name begins with "S" and roll number is almost towards the end, it would took some more time for my viva to begin. So I told my friend to drop my patient along with hers. I went back to preparing for the viva.
Around half an hour later, I see my friend running up and down the hospital giving me tensed stares at times and at times not looking at my face itself. Finally my viva got over. Seeing her franatically pace all over the department, I asked her what was the problem. After slight hesitation, she admitted the little boy who was my patient was missing. I completely LOST my temper with her. For having trusted her to do the job and we are talking about a very small child here. We started searching the entire college (..and that is no small feat due to the huge size of the college.) On top of it all, I had started getting calls from the dad.....
I didn't know what to do. I was worried about the safety of the child. I worried about the dad. I was feeling dizzy with all the tension.
Finally the guys in our class went with their bikes to the area around the child's house to see if by any chance, he had reached back on his own.... and, there he was !! Apparently, he got lost from the crowd of kids and found his way back home on his own.
I didn't know if to be mad at him for going without letting me know or heave a sigh of relief on knowing he was safe.
(Since the parents weren't in the hospital, they weren't aware of the confusion... )
I am no where near being a guardian of a child on my own...
...But for those two hours, I was a parent and it was my child who was lost. And I was WORRIED !!
