The True Exams of Life

We all hate exams. Months of studying tested in this battle with the examiners who seem to be trying to expose our ignorance and lack of experience. Exams are inevitable in our educational journey, but what we must realise is that they are only a shadow of the true reality of life. They are testing theoretical situations to discover the background structures of thinking and knowledge that we will need later in life to inform the real tests. The true exams in life are the individual moments when we meet another suffering human being who asks us to help with that suffering. Imagine a typical Wednesday morning. You have already seen 18 people whose problems were not easy. You are very short of coffee, you are hungry and tired. Last night you had an excellent party, but this morning you had a difficult situation with your family at home and you find that you are continuing to worry about it. And here comes another patient. You think to yourself, "Bother, I do hope this one is easy." Now imagine you are that patient. Life is terrible. Sadly you have no family and now very little money, through no fault of your own. You have tried so hard, so very hard to survive and do the right thing but suddenly you have been drinking too much alcohol to try and hide the despair. This alcohol has made you fall and hurt your self badly - you are bleeding. Although you are sober again, you feel terrible and have not been able to wash. You are very, very ashamed. It has been a very hard decision to overcome your pride and ask the doctor for help. The doctor is facing his true test. This is a real life exam! What will happen in the next five minutes? What thoughts go through the doctor's mind in the first 30 seconds of this meeting?

Perhaps he smells the alcohol on the breath and the dirt on the clothes shrugs his shoulders and shuts his heart to this human being. He fulfils his contract to sew up the wound, takes off his gloves and turns away to the next task on his desk while saying goodbye over his shoulder. He has done his job, BUT - he fails the exam. Perhaps things are different however. Just before he called in this patient the doctor stopped for ten seconds and reflected once again on the mystery of being alive himself, and the honour of being able to care for others who suffer. He sees this new stranger and something about the look in his eyes alerts him to a genuine need. Behind the unpleasant smell he senses honesty in this person... he gives the patient a few minutes to talk: he finds himself recognising the suffering of the soul. He realises this person really needs understanding and the strength of human friendship. The bleeding and the brief spell of alcohol are superficial simplicities, and easy to solve. The main treatment of this consultation is the doctor himself. He cannot change the patient's overall circumstances in life, but he offers deep understanding, mercy and compassion. He passes the exam. When we retire and look back on our careers in medicine we will know in our hearts whether we have passed the real exam of our life's calling as doctors. We will realise that these academic exams have been very important, but are as nothing compared with the true exams of everyday life with real people's pain. Our lives will be judged not by how many professional exams we pass but by the quality of our inner personalities, and how we have touched the hearts, lives and illnesses of the thousands of people who have sought our compassion and help at their moment of need. Dr John Caroe PRIME Chairman