They Are the Brave
Xavier Leonard
Is the one who must wait
For a white coat’s return
Who’ll no doubt understate
Such a delicate matter
But have many a plan
And some nebulous phrases
“We’ll do what we can”
The waiting continues
The internet slow
Defining the jargon
That she ought to know
If she’s fighting this illness,
The white coat has claimed,
Two years in her body
But only just named
The patient is patient,
Through stress upon stress
She continues to smile
While her fears coalesce
And her treatment continues;
She does what she must
Taking pill after pill
Based on nothing but trust
From a long list of questions
She asks only one
And listens intently
Though her heart weighs a ton
She says sorry for asking
But committed no crime
And despite all that’s hurting
Thanks us for our time
Our knowledge can glow
Though beware of conceit
As we cannot compare
To the people we treat
An honour to serve them
From cradle to grave
We may be the learned
But they are the brave.
By doing this I feel that I have been able to produce a piece of work that reflects my unlimited respect for patients in general, many of whom undergo a lot of hardship in pursuit of good health.
More importantly, however, I hope that my poem will remind doctors and medical students alike to treat their patients with the utmost respect; there is no doubt that medical personnel are some of the most hard-working individuals in the world, but it is crucial to realise that are sacrifices are often incomparable to those of the people that we have the privilege of treating.
Commendation and Recognition of Excellence for Outstanding Creative Work
I really enjoyed reading this poem, it captures the reality of how it feels to be a patient as well as the bravery patients have to have to pursue good health and in doing so put themselves in vulnerable positions.
The fabric of this poem is deep and personable. The content is dense in both what is and isn’t said. The structure plays a large role in it for me an element of structure to it, serving the conversational, “spur-of-the-moment” type tone. Everything considered, it is very clear that the patient here has resigned to her vulnerability. It really helps me to feel like I am there. It makes me ponder what I would do in this situation.
The silent foreboding reality of the uncertainty that both I, the reader, and the patient are experiencing creates a little knot in my stomach as I think about it. From “nebulous phrases”, apprehension is driven in me and comes around to become more stark as we get to “two years in her body”, “conceit” and finally “grave”.
I enjoy the subtlety of the prose which leaves a lot in my head, reminding me that we, medical students and doctors, are not omniscient. There is always a lot more to know. The writer has honed in on the parts that matter. There is no substance as to where they may be, how they’re positioned or even what the patient is suffering from; it could be anyone.
I feel the writer has succeeded in their goal to remind medical students and doctors to respect their patients. From my own experiences in the hospital, I recognise how afflicting or haunting it may be at times. All in all, a fantastic piece that casts the spotlight on the patient and demonstrates what they’re experiencing.
The poem presents a unique and empathetic view of the patient perspective. The format is reminiscent of a monologue, providing a deeply personal and candid thought piece that effectively portrays Leonard’s admiration for patients generally, and indeed their struggles within the medical system.
Interestingly, the text creates a profound dichotomy between the patient and their doctor through the use of objectification. The ambiguous patient, or perhaps patients generally, are described as being inherently human. This is primarily due to their feelings of “fear”, “stress” or “trust” – all of which are qualities of humanity and being, allowing one to truly understand and empathise with the patient. Juxtaposing this however, Leonard chooses to objectify the doctor as a mere “white coat” – thus detaching any aspect of personal being. One could infer this is to further highlight Leonard’s admiration for patients and indeed their struggles in an increasingly clinical and impersonal medical system.
Additionally, Leonard effectively depicts a paternalistic medical system throughout the narrative of the poem. Each of the three initial stanzas discusses the patient as being quite literally “patient” and “one who must wait”. As a result, one begins to empathise with the patient as they navigate and incessantly “wait” within a medical system that appears increasingly abstract, purgatorial and disconnected with an individual’s personal experience. As a result, the ambiguous patient can only “continue to smile” as “her fears coalesce”, effectively establishing a feeling of patient disenfranchisement and powerlessness.
Although, despite the morose and empathetic outlook on a patient’s experience within the medical system, the piece ends on a rather optimistic outlook. Leonard mentions what “an honour” and privilege it is to serve those in need of care, even reminiscing Beveridge’s “cradle to the grave” vision. In my personal opinion, the poem proves an excellent inspiration to both aspiring and current medics to continue to understand their patient’s experience and to uphold the values of patient-centred care as a primary principle to practice. The final quote proves a rather poignant summary of this principle, stating that as medics “we may be the learned but they are the brave”.
I like how well this poem captures how vital trust is when practising medicine. It takes a tremendous amount of confidence in someone to allow someone to diagnose and treat you when you may not even be able to see your illness. It is a privilege that even in sickness there are people, strangers even, who are willing to give you the role of protecting their livelihood.
What I also like about the poem is how it highlights the mundane repetition that comes with treatment. When you prescribe someone with medicine, for example, it’s easy to forget that these pills will be taken every morning, with every pill being taken they may feel one step closer to recovery when often that isn’t the case. An effect of medical school is we so often isolate disease from the person it is impacting. For us, it is simply an intruder on a ‘normal’ body but for the patient, this is their body under attack and whilst our job is to help them overcome ailments but in turn, this restores the patient’s sense of being. The poem is right in that there is a massive toll in caring for patients but being a suffering patient is a feeling that is unmatched.