My silver lining as a physician

Some days my work feels thankless

Despite my best efforts I confess

There are days when nothing goes right

Patients don’t get better despite our efforts to fight

Their disease together, sometimes they’re upset

Then I retrace my steps, sometimes I regret

What I did and what I said

I should have chosen a different course instead

While constantly second-guessing myself teaches me

Such rumination wears me down considerably…

**

Then there are days when out of the blue

A patient or caregiver stops to say thank you

Usually it’s for something I’ve done without giving it much thought

That could be routine practice for me, for the patient it’s not

That silver lining a sense of purpose for me renews

There is so much to gain, even if sometimes I lose

Maybe I’m doing something right after all

I shall continue my efforts, in right places pieces shall fall…