My Lifelong Childhood

AU REVOIR, LA BELGIQUE! Photos taken by a Belgian friend, Bart Carotte, of our "neighborhood" "Goodbye to All That"                 Robert Graves (1895-1985) Loose Ends:       Having lived in another country for eight years definitely changed my outlook on life, community,  friendships, and, most of all, my worldview.  I've never been one for borders or the separation of humans into little islands.  That being said, multiculturalism can bring delights to our souls.  We can be citizens of the world and respect our differences at the same time.  Living abroad for an extended period taught me more than just a medical education.  It gifted me with a compass that has remained throughout my life, guiding me through difficult navigation, and at times, stormy seas, but it has left me with a deep sense of respect for the differences that we all bring to the human family.      In wrapping up the so-called loose ends of our sojourn abroad, I'm left w

"A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running"                             Groucho Marx  (1890-1977)         A word of apology to my readers after being away from my blog for a while.  I hope you haven't lost interest!  Ten flights over the past 3-4 weeks to and from Washington, DC, Munich, Catania and Palermo in Sicily, Toronto, Houston and NYC have kept me busy and away but, now travel-weary, I'll try to pick up where I left off. Letting us loose on real patients!            Having successfully reached the clinical years and getting out of the laboratory was liberating for me and my colleagues.  We were now known as "externes", allowed to have special caduceus-shaped "eleve-medecin" stickers on our car windshields, wear long white frocks, and actually carry a stethoscope.  We were "farmed out" to both University hospitals as well as ones in the suburbs and even further afar.  In return, we had to take call, either