Saturday, November 29, 2008

A Doctor's Death

I just found out today that one of my childhood doctors passed away this year due to pancreatic cancer.

Dr Foo had a private paediatric practice somewhere in Subang Jaya, if I'm not mistaken, before joining the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC).

I will remember him for the koalas and other furry animals that lived on his stethoscope. But more than that, I think I will remember him for being a rather reluctant sort of doctor. Mum would tell me how Dr Foo would examine a child and then tell his/her parents, "Why did you bring her all the way here? This will go away in a week. Nothing to worry about!"

And so he would see up to fifty children on any given morning, only to tell most of them that the visit really wasn't necessary. Perhaps it was from this that I developed my inclination towards 'self-monitoring' when ill, instead of going to see the doctor.

What I can quite assuredly say is that he was one of three doctors who planted in me an interest in the medical field and, were I ever to become a doctor, it would in no small measure be due to the passion of this man.

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