iRADiX

Everyone has, at some stage faced tricky situations during calls.

The critically ill patient may require transfer to the radiology suite or other patient care areas, for either diagnostic testing or therapeutic interventions.      
                  

Many of us - especially heads - live in our ivory towers. Take the Chief of Radiology for example - never stops boasting of the "State of the Art" equipment ; a fully networked department- reasonably staffed with faculty and residents - purported to be one of the best teaching departments; high volume of patient load, great interventional work, good library and paper publishing record. Looks impressive; many outside KEM believe and think so. But Alas!, here at home in KEM as I listen carefully to my close friends- I realize the harsh reality - poor quality x rays; bad patient scheduling; wrong procedure reports; a mad-house called "USG"; lack of rapport of faculty with colleagues from other departments; Ravi is impossible to find… the list is endless. But could there be such a stark difference between one's vision and the others' perception?

It was one of those hot but cloudy October afternoons. As I stood sipping a hot cup of coffee outside the canteen , I saw two senior professors -both known for their hot-headedness - animatedly arguing outside the library. I thought a punch would soon follow - but then some one joined me and I lost touch of the "Two Professors Action"

Days later, sitting in the cool of the MLT waiting for the Dean to arrive for one of those, now familiar, HODs meeting - I found both those professors - lets call then Professor O and Professor F -(that's 128 bit encryption) - sitting a few seats away. Curious as to what they were fighting about, I asked -
"Hey! What was it that the two of you were fighting about the other day outside the library"?
"YOU". Pat came the reply from "Professor O"
Generally known for my peace making rather than peace breaking nature, I was aghast.
"Now, what have I done?"
As Professsor O rambled on, the realization slowly dawned on me that the fight was not about what I had done; but, rather about what I had not done.
The argument , it turned out, was about how the head of the department of radiology could say that he knew next to nothing of ultrasound and get way with it and ask one of his junior colleagues to do the ultrasound examination of a very close relative of Professor F.
At this time, Professor F joined in His face was smiling - but , inside him , he was dead serious as he said:
"YOU can get away with it because you are RR. If any of us say such a thing we would get a "memo".
I did not know whether feel good or bad about it; but I did feel sorry for ProfessorF - I had let him and his relative down - or had I really?