Gross! (Scrubs Diaries 3)

This scene from Scrubs reminds of a case I saw in the surgical emergency of Dr RML Hospital. This young guy in his late twenties comes with his index finger wrapped in a cloth. His finger apparently got stuck in a hotel food processor. And when he unwrapped the cloth- lo behold, the sight was Gross! The distal phalanx (that would be the top one-third of the finger) was exposed to the bone, covered in blood… and when he shook his finger in pain- a piece of muscle fell in front of me. Inspite of all this, he had a big smile bordering on a LOL face- I thought he was either high or being a 5-star-hotel-employee, I thought the smile was a permanent feature! Well, it wasn’t any of those, it was a mature defense mechanism that our body has, to cope with the immediate excruciating pain… (The body never ceases to marvel!) (Even in the clip, Ben seems to be fine with the nail in his hand- defense mechanism again!).

Anyways, what did I want to do when I saw that? I wanted to faint (just like JD did) but I didn’t. As an intern we see many things that would make us woozy! But, as a matter of fact- I have never seen or heard of an intern fainting at the sight of blood or exposed anatomy. Why is that?

Well, I can say this for me (and I think for most medical interns)- such things are thrilling- it may sound rude, but it is the fact. There is an adrenaline rush that gets you through it. You don’t want to miss out on the learning experience- you want to be in the spot and see how it is going to be managed. You want to be of help and be proud of it. Also, being exposed to dead cadavers and gross anatomy on the very first day of medschool helps! (There are people who faint then).

Sure, stuff like rectal examinations, or inserting a Ryle’s tube and getting vomit all over yourself, makes me want to vomit! Gross Gross Gross!!! But these urges certainly dont get in the way of finshing up our work.

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