Family and Community
Labor of Love: Lessons Learned Overnight
“Final year students are required to do two night shifts per week in their Obstetrics and Gynecology posting.”
Ever since I heard my in-charge say those words, the apprehension started building up until it became a real bothersome issue. I tried to look for an escape route, anything, to be able to skip those night duties. Amazingly, I’d never had to do night duties in my clinical rotations so far but this being my final year as a medical student, all the loose ends would now have to be tied up. In other words, there was no escape.
The reasons I was reluctant to experience the famous Obs&Gyn night shift were many: the delapidated infrastructure of the hospital I work in, lack of basic facilities, burden of work, uncooperative senior doctors and shortage of paramedical staff. Plus, the very idea of a thirty-hour work shift with hardly an hour or two of sleep in between, while being surrounded by the screams of women in labor, was something I couldn’t imagine myself doing. I didn’t even want to become an Obstetrician anyway! All I could foresee was me, frustrated and panicky, struggling to get through the night. I tried not to think of the condition of the doctors’ room, the bed-bug infested mattresses and the stinking washrooms.
With all these fears in mind and protesting about the cruelty of making us work such long hours, I tried to put on a brave face anyway and get through it. It’s just a month, just a month… it’ll be over soon insha’Allah, I kept repeating to myself. After a strenuous day in the outpatient clinics and an hour’s rest in my University’s waiting area, I joined four friends with my bags and baggage to walk over to the hospital. It was 3pm and I started wondering about whether the two water bottles I’d brought along would get me through the night (I didn’t want to wander off looking for water at night), what I would eat (would the sandwiches be sufficient?) and whether there would be water for wudhu.
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The teaching hospital where students like myself receive their undergraduate training is the second largest hospital in Pakistan. A public-sector hospital that is over a hundred years old, it suffers from many of the same problems that plague Pakistan: a lack of funds and basic facilities, mismanagement of available resources, deviation from some standard protocols, poor hygiene and sanitation, ill-discipline, etc. The Obstetrics and Gynecology departments, three in number, despite ongoing efforts towards improvement, are not such that you would ever want to see your relatives there. The doctors may be skilled and great at their jobs but the general condition of the hospital would make any conscientious public health official faint!
With a heavy heart but a firmly set jaw, I changed into my green scrubs, slung my stethoscope around my neck, filled up my pockets (blood pressure measuring apparatus, pen, paper, torch, pins, cellphone, etc.) and set off for the Emergency and Labor Rooms. It was just like past experience had indicated – busy, busy, busy. However, the work that interns were supposed to do was being managed by fourth year medical students with residents (senior doctors) occasionally supervising. That knocked some sense into me – if fourth year students were dealing with the work so skilfully (they had started night shifts earlier and were used to it by now), why couldn’t I?
I took the plunge and, subhan’Allah, there was no looking back. It was all very new at first, trying to keep pace with how expectant mothers were being managed in preparation for their deliveries. A lot of women were almost ready to give birth and so we were soon rushing to and fro collecting supplies, installing intravenous canullae and urinary catheters, administering various injections, fetching delivery trays, cotton swabs, shuttling between various senior doctors and coordinating with patients’ families waiting outside. It was Asr time before I knew it and I managed to offer my prayer within its proper time.
As Maghrib came around, the Labor Room showed no signs of “clearing out” any time soon. In fact, as one lady safely delivered her baby and was wheeled out, two more would hurriedly be brought in from the ER. It was right after Maghrib that I found myself assisting a fourth year student who was monitoring a lady in labor. It was my first real time directly assisting at such close proximity so I restricted myself to securing the patient’s lower limbs as she went through the pains and difficulties of delivery. It was a lesson in humility, watching the lady struggle to bring her first child into the world, alive and healthy. What saddened me, though, was the indifferent attitude of some doctors towards the lady – they spoke to her with impatience and in harsh tones, demanding she “cooperate” so that complications (such as ‘obstructed labor’) would be prevented. What has happened to us? Just because most of these patients are illiterate and from very poor backgrounds, we assume they do not have emotions and do not understand the language of love? The only (weak) excuse the doctors had on their side was the burden of work and long hours without adequate rest… but that doesn’t justify treating expecting mothers in such a poor fashion.
I wasn’t able to dwell on those thoughts long as our attention was soon diverted to another lady who was also in pain and distress. However, her distress was of a different nature. I saw her turn her face away towards the wall, sadness written all over it. She was at the end of her nine-months but had experienced a fall about five days ago and could not feel her baby move anymore. Based on tests, the doctors feared the worst: her baby was no longer alive. Helping with her delivery was something I won’t easily forget. After an agonizing wait, her fully formed and healthy-sized baby boy emerged from the womb, clearly showing signs that he had passed away days ago. The doctor moved to place the limp baby on the mother’s abdomen but, out of sheer distress, she brushed him away with a cry of sorrow, unable to bear the sight of the son she’d been nurturing for the past nine months. She grabbed my hand and held it close to her face and I couldn’t move or say any words of comfort.
Just imagining how it would feel being in her place brought tears to my eyes – what was she going through? Oh, what Allah (swt) wills, our limited knowledge can never encompass it! We ambled over to see the baby later and it was difficult to look upon his still body without feeling a stab of pain. But work had to be done and life must go on, so leaving him wrapped up in a cloth, we returned to our duties.
The hours flew past and it would be 8pm one moment and 11pm the next! Running to and fro between the ER and the Labor Room, fetching forms, working around irritable nurses (who didn’t release medical supplies readily!) and politics between doctors, I soon forgot my own issues. It was getting late and hunger pangs were hastily suppressed with a bite here and there between duties. After a quick break for Isha, it was back to the ER for the actual night shift. At this point, I’d been awake for eighteen hours and didn’t know if I’d be able to sleep during the night. Sympathy with myself, does it sound like that? It might, considering how I’d lamented about the night shift earlier but strangely, as the hours went by, I thought less and less of myself as I witnessed the suffering of others. How is that for a lesson in humility? Alhamdulillah.
Sometime around 1am, I was busy in the ER, arranging for patients’ blood request forms and ordering necessary supplies from their relatives waiting outside. It was then that I met Mehnaz. A slight figure, pale and looking like she was past forty, she was sitting demurely in a chair, waiting to be attended to. Upon inquiry, I discovered she had come to the ER because of pain in her lower abdomen after a pregnancy-related surgical procedure she had undergone a day earlier at a private clinic. What shocked me was that she said she was actually twenty-seven years old! Her extremely low hemoglobin levels and the resultant anemia, coupled with a frail constitution (from undernourishment) made her look much older than her actual age. It was suspected that the procedure she had undergone had perforated her womb – she would have to undergo exploratory surgery as soon as possible.
I got a chance to be directly in-charge of carrying out Mehnaz’s initial assessment. As I drew blood into multiple syringes for necessary preoperative tests, I sensed some resentment in her towards me. It was not surprising, considering how frail and weak she already was, as well as the irritable attitude she was used to seeing some ER doctors display. I wasn’t sure how to react myself, as I’m not very used to being open with my emotions, but as I talked to her and learned about her circumstances and family, the reserve that had previously marred my dealings with the patients began to fade away. That was when I began to really feel what it means to be a doctor: you’re not just someone treating wounds but rather, you’re in a position to lessen someone’s pain solely by speaking kind words and reassuring them. And for some patients, that means much more than any medicine!
I kept checking back on Mehnaz to see if she was comfortable and didn’t realize it was already 2am. Could I catch an hour or two’s sleep now? After all, without sleep, staying awake in class the following morning wouldn’t be very easy. I checked back on Mehnaz again.
“You won’t go away, will you? You will be here till morning, right?” she asked me hurriedly, as if sensing I was about to take my break.
Mehnaz’s worried but hopeful tone touched me deeply. I reassured her I’d around until morning, insha’Allah.
“Please, it won’t hurt, right? I’m so scared that it will hurt!” Her voice shook as she voiced her fears about the impending surgery and suddenly, she was clinging to me in fear. Oh, how these patients were suffering from physical and emotional pain! All they needed was someone to sit with them for two minutes and reassure them, and their hearts opened. This time, I didn’t feel awkward talking to her and trying to allay her fears. The reserve was gone. If this was what I was staying for overnight in the hospital, it wasn’t “torture” at all… suddenly, it was a chance to work in the way of Allah (swt) through helping His slaves. It was like Hajj or Tahajjud, where you stay awake at night for a purpose! It’s no longer about missing sleep but making millions… the kind of “wealth” that really matters.
After a quick cup of tea from a tea-vendor who was passing by the corridor outside (no kidding, it’s a public-sector Pakistani hospital!), I changed places with a friend who’d had her nap. Barely able to catch an hour’s sleep in the doctors’ room (which was punctuated with the sounds of doctors entering and leaving every few minutes), I was awakened by another friend who needed to rest, too.
“Who’s in the ER?” I whispered.
“No students right now,” she replied and went off to sleep.
In true TV medical-drama fashion, I rubbed my eyes, caught hold of my stethoscope and shuffled out the door to the ER again. It was 4am and I was just pondering over the idea of Tahajjud when I met Farzana. She was in evident pain and her sister, also a doctor, related to me how they’d come to the ER at that hour. The family had been going from one hospital to another, each refusing to take them in because Farzana’s case was “complicated”… in other words, it was very risky and there was a real risk she could pass away on the operating table. Looking at Farzana, no one could have guessed just how much she had been suffering for the past twelve hours, as she tried and failed to give birth and then was refused treatment by one hospital after another. Finally, her family came to us and she was being prepared for an emergency operation. More work needed to be done around the ER so, feeling like a heartless soul, I had to detach myself from Farzana’s family and run the other errands the seniors were handing over to me.
During the night, I also noticed the concerns and suffering of the patients’ families. I’d write them request forms and ask them to get this test-tube or that syringe from the pharmacy and they’d readily comply. How wonderful are Muslim families who come together to help their loved ones in their hour of need! It would be late at night but they’d rush to the blood bank and get the required blood for the surgery to go ahead. Some hung around the Labor Room entrance, eager for news about the birth of a new child, granddaughter or niece. Therefore, it won’t be very surprising for me to tell you that I looked forward to be able to tell the waiting relatives, “You’ve got a darling new girl!” or “It’s a boy! What will you name him?” In their joy and appreciation for the hard work the doctors were putting in, despite the problems in staffing and management, a doting grandmother would bring in sweets for the staff or insist for them to accept some money to buy sweets later.
So at the end of the night, as dawn broke and I headed off to a secluded area for Fajr, with my scrubs bearing the marks of splashed blood and medications, my feet bearing blisters from all the running around… how did I really feel? The honest answer is: I felt alive… as if I’d just returned from a night at Muzdalifah during the Hajj! I could have been sleeping at home in my comfortable bedroom with it’s neat-and-clean attached bathroom, offering my Fajr in a plush Musallah… but no, going through all those experiences that night opened my eyes to an existence that was based on putting someone else before your own needs. In a sense, it was a physical enactment of suppressing the desires of the nafs for the sake of pleasing Allah (swt).
The lessons I learned that night are too many to count. What I saw with my own eyes, heard with my ears and felt in my heart are all valuable experiences I will carry with me insha’Allah. Sure, I may not feel like I can keep this up on a regular basis, or as a future career option (for the sake of my family, whose rights upon me are my basic priority in life, after Allah 
‘s Rights) but to learn this now, at a time where I doubted my abilities to empathize with patients, is something that I cherish and am grateful for.
Oh, another thing this experience taught me, and what you might have picked up too: never judge something beforehand. Perhaps something is good for you when you are considering it to be the worst thing that ever hit you! I walked into the Obs&Gyn ER with a grim face and walked out with a light heart and a smile. Does it not remind you of an ayah in the Qur’an?
“… and it may be that you dislike a thing while it is good for you, and it may be that you love a thing while it is evil for you, and Allah knows, while you do not know.”
(Qur’an 2: 216)
Okay, better go and prepare for my next night duty now, insha’Allah. Who knows what new lessons in love and sacrifice it will teach me?
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Abusafiyah
March 12, 2010 at 3:53 AM
Beautiful story….i wished i could be doctor and be able to provide such a valuable service to people…May Allah reward you abudantly. Make dua that i can reap the rewards you are busy getting in tons,…and have sabr to loose the sleep also;)
Ameera
March 12, 2010 at 11:14 AM
Your sincere intentions really touched me – Insha’Allah, may Allah reward all those who intend to help other people, in whatever way they can. You have motivated me more with your words, may Allah reward you for it! Ameen! May Allah accept our meager serviced from us!
hakim
March 12, 2010 at 4:14 AM
MAY ALLAH AZZAWAJAL REWARD YOU SIS
Amad
March 12, 2010 at 4:53 AM
Love it… awesome blogging mashallah… I almost felt that I was with you in ER!
May Allah reward you for your services to humanity.
Ameera
March 12, 2010 at 11:24 AM
JazakAllah Br Amad! It’s motivating as well as humbling to hear this from you, as technically speaking, you’re more like a “CEO” here. :) I thought it would be cumbersome for readers to read a blog post so descriptive but sometimes, the real message is lost if you can’t imagine what the writer’s saying in the first place!
Bushra
March 12, 2010 at 7:14 AM
Masha’Allah, fantastic! I felt like I could feel your pain with all the distressed mothers. What happened to Farzana in the end?
Ameera
March 12, 2010 at 11:16 AM
Jazakillah for your comment! Alhamdolillah, Farzana emerged safely from her operation and her baby is also in good health! When I had written this blog post, I didn’t know the outcome of Farzana’s operation and so forgot to add it in. Jazakillah for the reminder!
Amatullah
March 12, 2010 at 8:54 AM
jazaaki Allahu khayran…beautiful.
Sammy
March 12, 2010 at 8:54 AM
Ameera, this is so beautifully written, at one point I had tears in my eyes! Doctors should read this and realize just HOW blessed they are to be able to collect good deeds for just doing their job! :)
A teacher, the other day, told me just how precious the words coming out of a doctor are… He once brought in his relative for something minor, thought he’d crack a “joke” about how he would need a big surgery… and they found out he actually had raised blood pressure consequently… Just imagine! The power we possess is almost deceptive and if put it to good use, like just passing a smile, holding a hand or saying a kind word, we could earn “millions” (like what you referred to)!!!
… even though, I personally believe that every job has the potential for you to earn “millions”, so to say, we just have to find the ways to it.
Ameera
March 12, 2010 at 11:20 AM
Jazakillah! :) Didn’t imagine you’d enjoy reading it this much, especially when I’d already told you all about it in person! Maybe I left out details?
Great point: doctors can make it or break it for their patients, even with their words. I’d rather not be a doctor than be one who shouts at or insults his or her patients, especially those from poor financial backgrounds!
And of course, yeah, any job can be a great opportunity to rake in those “millions” in terms of good deeds – just got to open your eyes to those chances!
Sammy
March 14, 2010 at 6:04 AM
The part about Mehnaz was just heart-wrenching.
alhamdulillah
March 12, 2010 at 9:54 AM
very very beautiful…subhana Allah..jazakum Allah khaire for sharing this…
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Ameera
March 12, 2010 at 11:26 AM
JazakAllah for the generous dua’s and motivating comments, everyone! I just related what I saw and felt and if it can inspire anyone, like it inspired me, the purpose of writing this would be fulfilled, Insha’Allah! Your words will keep me going, Insha’Allah, and strengthen my resolve!
Yumna Akhtar
March 12, 2010 at 12:22 PM
Very well written Ameera ! mashAllah , the experience was touching ,JazakAllahkhair for giving us the reminder which we often forget, keep it up!
PS: I just miss the TTL classes after reading ur blog :)
Ameera Khan
March 13, 2010 at 2:37 PM
Jazakillah Yumna apa, we all need these reminders and your mentioning TTL made me so nostalgic! :S I miss TTL too, sooo much! I’m looking forward to being able to join there soon Insha’Allah. Current circumstances have brought in delays – Allah Knows best!
Zainab
March 12, 2010 at 12:42 PM
Subhanallah!! I feel like this was written just for me :). I’ve had a goal for two years… and throughout those two years, that’s all I was aiming for (it’s a good one too!) but when the time came, I realized that it wasn’t possible and it just couldn’t happen (at least at the moment) but it made me so sad… it took time to get over it and realize that it might not be good for me right now. We plan and Allah plans… and Allah’s plans are SOO much better than ours.
Jazakallahu Khairan for writing this. It was beautiful! I’m looking forward to more pieces like this one :).
Ameera Khan
March 13, 2010 at 2:42 PM
Jazakillah for reading, appreciating and for deriving lessons for it, for your own life! I was surprised how you took the core message here and applied it to your life. Masha’Allah! What you described is something that hits each one of us, as some point in our lives. Everything seems fine but things just don’t happen the way you want them to. For the one with a strong Iman, it is indication that Allah(swt) has *other* plans… and yes, they turn out to be better plans! :D Perhaps I must write on this – I have had a classic experience in this phenomenon. :)
Jawad
March 12, 2010 at 1:34 PM
Assalyum Alkum,
Jazak’Allah khair Sr. Ameera, excellent and very descriptive piece. As a first year medical student, I have been told of familiar stories in E.R and the Oby/Gyn wards. However, living in a secular society, most of the accounts that I hear are always in a complaining tone. Reading your article shines a completely different light on how we as Muslims should be reacting to the stresses of life with humbleness and gratitude.
Ameera Khan
March 13, 2010 at 2:49 PM
Walaikumussalam brother in Islam and fellow medical student! :)
JazakAllah! As you noticed, from how I started this blog post, I wasn’t happy about the Obs&Gyn night shift either. When I first told my mother I’d have to do them, she said, “Well, this is how you’ll learn, it’s good.” I was shocked to hear that! “It can’t possibly be good! Those long hours working overnight, without proper sleep? That’s insane! I’ll do it but I won’t ever be happy about it!”
Okay, proved wrong! :) SubhanAllah!
As a Muslim and a medical student, you’re in the perfect position to approach the clinical postings with a positive frame of mind Insha’Allah. Whenever you are asked to run an extra errand or help adjust a patient’s IV line – even minor things like checking their temperature or adjusting the blankets – remember you may be rewarded for it by Allah(swt). You’ll work with a smile, Insha’Allah and your patients’ dua’s will aid you Insha’Allah in whatever you do!
Mariam E
March 12, 2010 at 2:07 PM
Asalamu Alikum,
MashaAllah sister Ameera, that was beautiful. Jazaki Allah khair
Ameera
March 13, 2010 at 9:25 PM
Jazakillah for reading and appreciating it – may Allah guide us all! Ameen.
Abd- Allah
March 12, 2010 at 3:16 PM
JazakumAllah khayr for sharing that experience.
muslimah
March 12, 2010 at 5:41 PM
subhanAllah..I usually never post comments but this article really touched me; I felt as if i was there with you..it made me cry a few times as well
JazakAllahuKhair!
Ameera Khan
March 13, 2010 at 3:00 PM
Jazakillah! Do remember me in your dua’s! You comment humbled me… don’t have words to describe what I feel!
Azeem
March 12, 2010 at 9:13 PM
Jazaak Allah Kher sis. Just by reading this blog I sensed that you were really into it… Alhumdolillha it was written like a novel. I’m glad your doing so well as a doctor but you certainly have the potential to be a good writer as well. Anyways, I agree with you when you say there are tons of lessons to learn from your experience particualary don’t judge the book by it’s cover so to speak. Best of luck!
Ameera Khan
March 13, 2010 at 3:05 PM
JazakAllah! What a nice thing to say, Masha’Allah – that’s big time motivation to write! There is neither Might now Power except from Allah(swt)! I hope I only write meaningful stuff that benefits readers Insha’Allah. Really, the MM platform promotes and brings out the best in its writers, Alhamdolillah! :)
Bushra Mehmood Wains
March 12, 2010 at 9:21 PM
Awww.. Ameera you have depicted the feelings of a medical student like us in such an awesome way MA. I have seriously learned many lessons from this story of yours. I think now i am all set to do my night duties at gynae ward with a positive approach=). May Allah give courage to all of us to conduct our duties honestly n compassionately. Ameen.
Ameera Khan
March 13, 2010 at 3:09 PM
Jazakillah Bushra! :D It’s so nice to see you here. You’ve got Gynae nights too? Great, I hope you enjoy yourself even more than I did and find that satisfaction that comes from working not for yourself, but for someone else. Ameen!
Sadaf Farooqi
March 12, 2010 at 11:20 PM
Very well-written, inspiring and thoroughly heart-felt! Jazakillahu khairan for giving me a glimpse into the world of doctors – such hard workers, masha’Allah.
Truly, may Allah reward you all for your services to humanity and efforts to alleviate others’ suffering. Ameen.
As an after-thought, I was thinking how internally strong doctors must be, to see so much pain, death and illness on a daily basis, and yet plough on doing their work with strength, positivism and energy.
Ameera Khan
March 13, 2010 at 3:20 PM
Jazakillah for your generous words of praise, Sadaf baji! :) Coming from an inspiring writer like you (Masha’Allah!), it means a lot and is so encouraging!
The life of doctors and nurses – well, it’s very similar to other professions (hard work) but yes, the human elements of suffering, pain, hope, joy and life make it unique. You have to steel yourself to be able to handle difficult situations without bursting into tears or becoming nauseated but you also have to speak softly, empathize and keep a check on your body language (facial expressions, etc.). Sometimes, patience runs out when a patient’s relatives will insist on a particular measure or treatment for seventeen times, even when you explain to them in detail why it’s not right, every time. May Allah guide us all, there is indeed opportunity to do good but the risk that we may wrong someone through our words or deeds!
Ify Okoye
March 13, 2010 at 9:52 AM
Ma sha Allah, tabarakAllah, thank you for sharing. I can definitely agree and empathize, working in the hospital this year during my first year of clinical rotations made me realize how much I love helping others and humility at the fragility of life.
Ameera
March 13, 2010 at 9:12 PM
Jazakillah!! I keep forgetting you must have similar experiences yourself! You’re so right and Alhamdolillah, Allah(swt) puts us into these professions where we realize, “Hey, *this* is truly *the* job for me!” And learning lessons in humility and the sanctity of life is the best bit, Masha’Allah. May Allah(Swt) make it so for each one of us, in whatever profession we are. Ameen.
Farah Anwar-Bawany
March 13, 2010 at 4:03 PM
You’re so right! Every patient goes to a hospital seeking medical attention, but in the process of getting that help, they are treated as just another number in a long list. I can’t tell you the number of patients I have treated that complained about the attitude of their doctors being indifferent or harsh. Sometimes this attitude can make things worse for the patient, and their illness is increased. A few kind words go along way – well done for seeing that.
As for the lady who gave birth to the still-born baby, my heart and prayers really go out to her. If we could be so affected just reading about her, Allah alone knows how she coped with the ordeal. May Allah give her strength and faith.
Keep working hard, and may Allah reward you for each and every struggle :-)
Ameera
March 13, 2010 at 9:24 PM
Jazakillahi khayran for your kind words and dua’s! The insight you’ve given into the link between healing and doctors’ attitude towards patient is very valuable. It makes me wonder to what degree relief depends on speaking softly, listening well and counselling right? What you said about your patients’ complains, that should serve as a wakeup call to those doctors who, for whatever reason, use only harsh tones with patients. Is it a deficiency in fearing Allah(swt) – Taqwa – that is responsible? I’ll continue to think over this, observe more closely and also ask some practicing doctors about it Insha’Allah.
And about the lady whose baby had died in her womb, Masha’Allah she had such strength and courage! I visited her two days later and she was in good spirits. When I reminded her that is was Allah(swt)’s Will and He took his amanah back the way He had given it to her in the first place, she smiled and only mentioned how cute her baby was! She has six living children Masha’Allah but that was not the reason for her Sabr because women with even more number of children will tell you how every child is dear to them. It was so wonderful to see her so positive, SubhanAllah!
Mehak
March 14, 2010 at 12:46 AM
Asalamualaikum
Jazalkillah for the beautiful post! This is surely going to be a great motivating force for me in our next nights inshaAllah!
Just wanted to share some encouraging ahadeeth
“Whoever removes a worldly grief from a believer, Allah will remove from him one of the griefs of the Day of Judgment” [Saheeh Muslim]
” A Momin is an embodiment of love and affection and there is no good in one who neither loves nor is loved” (Ahmad)
talib
March 14, 2010 at 3:23 AM
Assalam allaikum wrahmatullah wabrakatahu,
there is no exageration to say that you are doing a great job in the fevour of ummah , going on sirate-mustaqeem.
May ALLAH bless you.
also comes at Deen-Dunya. We’ll merrily.
wassalam
Ayesha A.
March 14, 2010 at 9:57 AM
Amazing Article MashaAllah…KEEP UP the good work…
May Allah reward you for what you do….
Also i am a med student 4th year….earlier i wasn’tt that fond of medicine …but now as the years are passing by i really love it more and more…each day there is a new learning and a new experience…
Most importantly,..All our intentions should be directed to please Allah….thats the key to be remembered by all Of us!!!
Jameel
March 16, 2010 at 7:14 AM
As salaamu 3alaikum,
Jazak’Allah khayran for your service to others and Allah(swt)!
Very well written story as well! Masha’Allah!
I hope one day to be a physician, also. My only hope is that I can approach it with the same compassion as you.
Allah ma’ak (May Allah be with you),
Jameel
Yousuf
March 18, 2010 at 1:57 PM
Beautifully written sister Ameerah!!! loved the details.
Even a smile from a doctor at that time really comforts the patient
Slave of the Most Loving One
March 28, 2010 at 2:08 PM
Salam wrt wbrt dearest Ameerah!!!
MashAllah!!!! may Allah SWT bless u and make all ur tasks easy and grant u sabr!
IM SOOO glad that there are people like u out there… seriously a doctor has to be kind…if not kind atleast not harsh…. recently i had to consult different doctors because of breathing attacks and some other symptoms which by the way is still not properly diagnosed..(some say sleep apnea, others say itz epilepsy and so on) …khair the thing is alhamdulillah i m cool with it (except wen i get my attacks..hehe)…but definitely my parents are worried like anythin (may Allah grant them strength) ….so once we went to meet a neurologist and OH MY!! his rudeness was so much so that he cudnt return back salam (yeah he heard us sayin salam more than once!) and the way he wud speak was too much for me to take, especially the lack of respect he showed to my parents!
And there was another doctor, the few kind words he said made me feel so touched that i dont know how much i prayed for him and his family!
So yes u get inshAllah reward of AllahSWT as well as dua of ur fellow beings for kindness :)
Plz pray for my family (to grant them strength if anythin serious shud happen to me…and plz pray that ill never be a burden to anyone…especially my family)
JazakAllah Khair for the post….hope other doctors can learn from this beautiful eye opening experience of urz!
take care
salam :)
nazia javed
June 7, 2010 at 12:27 PM
MASHALLAH……u really make it easy for me to do my night tomo… really i did evening the thing u mentioned above all those pain,distress the patient suffer frm or us per if doctor treat the patient badly ,it do make me feel bad too the same think happen wen i did my evening the doctor was shouting on patient to hurry to push the baby out (but patient was exhausted) or else she will leave her n will go to check other patient , but being in labor room its kind of scary n creepy feeling coz all those shout n women in pain make me feel there pain:(
i just hope to get over with this ward by giving my 100%:D
really very impressive ameera thnx for sharing it wid me
tc
keep sharing such experiences:)
Sectional Garage ·
November 9, 2010 at 1:58 PM
sleep apnea may seem harmless but they can really trigger some other bad effects on your health “
Ahmed
December 26, 2010 at 10:45 PM
Ma’sha’allah, Sr. Ameera, an eye-opening, touching piece. As you fellow nearly-done medic, I of course can relate to it in a sense, but I’ll just mention that over in the Czech Republic, being foreigners, we don’t get to do proper all night duty, but one thing I can back you up on is that it is in the those little moments, that may not even involve one’s active duty as a medical student, that really touches one’s heart, makes one thankful and hits that spot so-to-speak.
Jazak’Allahu Khairan for sharing your experience with us – very admirable ma’sha’allah and May Allah (swt) Grant you Success the rest of the way and beyond. Ameen!
Anonymous
February 19, 2021 at 5:37 AM
Jazakillahu khayran kasirah, Sr Ameera. One of the best article ever read. It touched my heart and motivated me just as nothing ever before. I am aiming for medical entrance exams this year. I usually sleep a lot and my studies are affected but when I read this article I realized sleeping less is something I am to aiming to do all my life..inshaallah. i am trying my best to sleep less and cover all my backlogs in studies by sacrificing my sleep.
Jazakillah sister
Also, this is best combo of reality, world and hearafter… And how they are and should be interconnected with a single aim in our mind..Pleasure of Allah
I don’t know where to find such perfect article… But have been searching MM for a long time but have not found yet any….. Please, please sister, write more such wonderful article about harsh realities dealing with a positive attitude towards all.
Dear sister please do write more of your experience esp that of sleepless night inspite of tiredness to motivate other muslim young doctors