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Why should I become a doctor when I can be a nurse?
Beta, nurse kyun, doctor kyun nahee? (Why do you want to be a nurse and not a doctor?) “Nursing? Woh choro, doctor banjao” (Nursing? Leave that and become a doctor) These were some of the things I had...
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Soliloquy of an on-looker
The haze slowly cleared out and I regained consciousness. As I became aware of my existence, I gradually began to recall what had brought me here in the first place. My mind felt like an old desktop...
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Save our doctors at Civil Hospital Karachi!
One morning I decided to make a surprise visit to the Civil Hospital Karachi. The motive of my visit was to get an idea of the current security arrangements, so that violence in hospital could be...
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My visit to Aga Khan Hospital’s cancer ward
“The cells found are malignant and you are likely to have cancer.” On a visit to Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), a 43-year-old woman suffering from lymphoma cancer, told me that her first thoughts...
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A doctor’s worst nightmare
It had been a pretty gruelling 30 hours. Her hands shook as she poured out a cup of tea for herself and tried to relax. Four patients had been admitted with final stage liver disease, the previous...
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Pir Sahab’s orders: Don’t breast-feed your child or eat meat
Recently, a two-month old boy, Faizan, was brought to the hospital where I work, by his grandmother. She complained that he suffered from severe diarrhoea. I immediately asked her to bring Faizan’s...
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We’re not God, we’re just doctors
You must have heard stories about doctors or hospital staff giving the 'wrong' injections and blood transfusions which were said to be the cause of death. Although I agree that such tragic mishaps do...
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Protection of Pakistan Ordinance: A legal pass to abduct, torture and kill?
“Kaleemullah, 22, was coming out of a mosque in Kallar Syedan near Rawalpindi in June last year when personnel of an intelligence agency allegedly took him away. Son of a retired Khateeb of the army,...
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Doctors in Pakistan: Sumbal, only the peptic ulcer wali bibi, not a person...
Her doctor thought she was an open mouth for him to dunk pills into. Instead, she turned out to be a person with thoughts, feelings and questions that were all left unaddressed. As part of Pakistan’s...
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Why was my mamoo killed?
The gunshot outside was deafening. The woman inside the house continued talking on the phone, thinking it was just one of those routine firing shots that are a norm in her area of residence. Moments...
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The bench
My crutches sank deep into the muddy grass, the result of a downpour last night. Without tumbling face first into the mud, I yanked them out— it must have rained until morning because the puddles in...
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Capitalism, the disease that breeds social injustice
A while back, a story went viral on the internet about a young girl, who worked as a house maid. Long story cut short, she asked her employer for an advance because her mother was extremely ill, but...
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Força Chapecoense!
The Brazilian plane crash in Colombia yesterday has virtually left many in shock and tears. A sports fanatic myself, the news was terribly heart wrenching, considering an entire football team simply...
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I did this to my wife for eight years and today I am filled with regret
We had a baby! A little baby boy who finally arrived in our lives after nine long months of waiting. I was still exhilarated with the way his little hand had wrapped around my finger. But the joy was...
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The media is relentless in its pursuit of exclusives, and Kashmir is always a...
(Disclaimer: Graphic images below) Me: “So why don’t you start studying again?” Baba: “No, I can’t...” Me: “But why?” Baba: “It’s of no use; I have eight FIRs against me madam. The first one was...
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Dear Yoda, would dad approve of my decision to sign his code status as ‘Do...
Dear Yoda, As you know, dad had a massive stroke a few months ago. The stroke was like Hurricane Harvey in several respects – it occurred around the same time as Harvey, and like the hurricane, was of...
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The reality of public hospitals: I lost my nana to medical negligence in...
On March 18th at 11pm, my nana (maternal grandfather) developed an acute shortness of breath, and was admitted to the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) at the People’s Medical College and Hospital in Nawabshah....
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“Mera jism, khandaan ki marzi”
It was a particularly tiring emergency day in the obstetric labour room. I was writing down patient notes on a file when a woman came pleading to me, “Doctor sahibaa, mehrbani karain, mainay jo sign...
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