Spread your wings

Part of pretending to be a Doctor is dealing with the spectrum of patients that encompass the human condition. Most patients are happy enough. Sometimes patients are just generally unpleasant. Sometimes they are too focused on a problem that they can't see all the functional bits that are left over!

Every now and again though, you find the proverbial diamond in the rough. The sort of patients that justify the existence of the human race. I saw a patient today, elderly but sharp as a tack. A former bomber pilot.

Part of my learning experience is something called 'parallel consulting.' Whereby I see a patient for 30 minutes, then the GP comes in and looks over what I've done and cleans up my mess in half the time.

I really enjoyed talking to the chap today. It was possibly the first time I've wanted the doctor to run late because once my medical is over we usually make chit chat. So we got to talk about the war, flying and life in general. I told him about my love of that era and how I've always wanted to learn to fly. It was great! He sized me up pretty well too

"I like that you're speaking loudly for me, you're at the right volume. But your enunciation is terrible." It may be true, but I'm going to blame the poor acoustic insulation in those cockpits...

I really warmed to the guy. He commended my personality and told me I'd make a good GP. I don't think anyone has ever cast me as a GP before, normally my nerdy and anti-social side shines too bright.

As I passed him over in to the care of one of the practice nurses, he shook my hand and gave me some sagely advice.

"If you want to learn how to fly, get in to a glider. It's only when you can't power out of trouble that you really learn how to fly."

Part of me feels that coming to the sticks for the year has put me in to the pilot seat of a glider. It is as scary as it is exhilarating. Despite my enormous lack of knowledge, I'm really keen to see how we land this thing.

In conclusion, I know those words make for a great metaphor but I fully intend to one day take them literally.