A Lesson for the Intern



A Lesson for the Intern
The patient did not want the language line and had no relative to interpret.  
And so—the intern took the history in the patient's heavily accented English and presented that the patient was—as the term goes—a poor historian.
When I spoke to him in his native language---he was alert and focused.  He was rich in detail and appreciation.
The intern asked me if the patient had become suddenly more alert.
I admitted that certainly that was possible---but that more likely---as with us all---he didn’t think with an accent.

About this poem

real life in the Emergency Department

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Written on March 27, 2022

Submitted by JamesEspinosaMD on October 11, 2022

Modified on April 07, 2023

29 sec read
58

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCCDE
Characters 557
Words 96
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 6

James Espinosa MD

I am a practicing emergency physician who feels that now—more than ever perhaps—practitioners need the humanities in medicine and patients need the result of that process. more…

All James Espinosa MD poems | James Espinosa MD Books

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    "A Lesson for the Intern" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/142342/a-lesson-for-the-intern>.

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