This hospital doesn’t have a labor and delivery department — if she’s here, it’s an emergency

“I don’t like talking to Jews.” It’s a flat statement, and I’m speechless for a moment

I have to be extra careful to think with my head and not with my heart. It can be hard not to let emotion take over. It’s almost easier not to know my patients.

I’m learning to look past the grime, the tattered clothes, the strangeness, and the fleas (although that last one isn’t easy)

Competent and efficient, Nadia's bedside manner is definitely lacking

And it’s on to the next poisoned patient, with the same beautiful synchronization of care

Every family simchah throws my careful plans into a wild tailspin

“We’ve heard stories,” the father tells me authoritatively. “Doctors miss things. We want to make sure it’s just a stomach bug, and not something worse.”