Life of a Superstar's Wife

(From Internet)

Source : (DNA Magazine) http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/1546082/report-bollywood-reality-check-mr-filmstar-and-mrs-junkie

Bollywood reality check: Mr Filmstar and Mrs Junkie

The extreme stress of living perpetually in the shadow of a Bollywood superstar with a mammoth ego and narcissistic ways drives many star spouses to depression, and an escape from reality via drugs.

It’s well-known in filmy circles that the star wife of a Bollywood hunk (he loves showing off his six packs) fell into severe depression on learning that her husband was sleeping with an actress. She — let’s call her Mrs N — turned to drugs, and started eating less and less. Despite being slim, she lost 20 kg and now looks reed-thin.

Then there is the wife of a rotund star comedian. She copes with the reality of a husband who doesn’t care about her, and is a schizophrenic to boot, by regularly popping barbiturates.

Similar is the tale of a yesteryear star who had risen to filmy glory from a Mumbai chawl. His beautiful wife got hooked to drugs after she began dating a male model who was a known drug user.

From being a regular on the social circuit, she has withdrawn into a shell since her addiction.

Women of substances

Cases like this are legion, but they rarely come out in the open. Just occasionally there are incidents that indicate what’s going on.

A couple of months back, for instance, the wife of a Bollywood superstar was caught at Berlin airport with marijuana in her handbag. She was subsequently let off because the quantity was less — only enough for personal consumption.

Pressure was brought to bear so that neither the police nor the airport officials dared to reveal her name. And the incident therefore never made it to ‘news’, being consigned to a mention in the gossip columns and tweets.

But industry insiders admit that substance abuse is quite common among Bollywood spouses. Call it the stress of living in the superstar’s shadow. Apparently, beyond the glaring limelight of a movie star, there lies a zone of intense darkness.

More often than not, this is the zone the star wife inhabits. Of course, from time to time, she also gets to bask in the star’s reflected glory. But it is a truism in the Hindi film industry that being a star wife comes at a price.

Dealing with the fact that your identity will be blanked out by your spouse’s, that you’ll forever be referred to as Mrs Bollywood Superstar, takes its toll, and sometimes, the person snaps, and seeks refuge in the embroidered reality of a drug-induced high.

Actor Om Puri’s wife Nandita Puri sets things in perspective, stating bluntly that spouses of many superstars take to drugs and have extra-marital affairs when they can’t cope with the fact that they no longer seem to have an identity of their own.

“You must understand that theirs is a lonely world. It’s like living in a fish bowl, and being unable to get used to it. At first, you enjoy all the attention you get from your spouse’s cronies. Soon, you begin to lose your sense of who you are, who you used to be. And from there, it’s a downward spiral — leading to depression, drugs and all the rest.”

The experience of star wife, Mrs N, buttresses Puri’s viewpoint. “When I am invited to events and parties, it is on account of me being N’s wife. People talk as if I am responsible for his hits and misses and his good and bad performances on screen. Even when I visit a friend’s pyjama party, the whole evening is spent discussing him. There are times when I ask myself ‘God! When did my life become only about him? What about me?’ The very fact that I don’t enjoy this anymore is a sign that I need to break off and go somewhere and be my own self,” she says candidly.

“Things were worse when he was having an affair. People began to treat me as if I had lost my husband. My children were coming and asking me, ‘What’s wrong with daddy’, my brother was calling to ask me if it was really true and if I am moving out, and of course, there’s this big, bad friend-circle of mine who would wonder insinuatingly if he had lost interest in me because I don’t have sex the way he likes to or as often as he wants to.”

‘Coke only once in a while’

Mrs N, who herself comes from a leading film family, admits that she gets stoned just to escape the unpleasant reality of her marital life.

“I get together with my group of friends, and we smoke a lot of pot. We giggle and laugh when we are high, play games. Sometimes they bring tablets, and some snort cocaine. I do coke only once in a while. It transports you to a time and place where you are not bothered what’s happening in the here and now, and more importantly, you are not bothered what your husband is doing. It’s a blissful escape…” she trails off.

Model and actress Monikangana Dutta, who is part of the social circle that also includes perpetually coked up star spouses, believes that the stress of being a star spouse hits those women the hardest who just sit at home doing nothing.

“Not working, only looking good all the time, and ending up just socialising every day takes a toll on your sanity. You get a feeling that there’s nothing concrete in your life. On top of that, the husband is famous, and gets plenty of attention from attractive female fans and aspiring starlets — all that makes some women even more insecure, and they end up destroying themselves.”

In a way, being married to a star means you are married to someone super-successful, and this is a constant reminder to star wives of how unsuccessful they themselves are, avers clinical psychologist Seema Hingorrany, who has quite a few clients from Bollywood film families. “The best way to cope is to develop your own identity. And in the case of a drug addiction, they need to undergo a rehab programme followed by counselling.”

Puri sums up the predicament of star spouses in a nutshell. “Most of them are just plain tired of pampering their husband’s egos all the time. They are tired of walking in their shadows, and tired of forgiving every time their husbands cheat. There are times when you simply cannot digest the fact that your whole life centers around one person, a person who doesn’t even care about you, and there is no way out. The tragedy is that even if you leave your star husband, you will spend the rest of your life being known as that person’s ex.”

One Day in the Life of an Actor seeking work

(From Internet)

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Lee_Smith

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/473116

An Actor Seeking Work

A typical day for me while seeking work as an actor usually starts around 8:15am with a good breakfast of cereal, toast, yogurt, a big bowl of mixed fruit and green or white tea. While I'm enjoying my favorite meal of the day, the computer is connected to the internet and I'm checking my email hoping that a casting director or someone has contacted me from one of my online submissions the day before and checking out the three casting websites I subscribed to, seeing if anything interesting in the way of roles for productions, films, tv shows or what have you, came through that I should submit myself for.

If it is a day designated for mailings, I usually use the time to write cover letters to new contacts, casting directors and agents, producers, etc. and make packets together with my headshot and résumé. Since my headshot is horizontal with space on one side, I downsized my cover letter and stapled it to the front of the headshot. This way, whoever receives my materials, will have everything at the grasp of one hand, because in addition to the headshot and cover letter, the résumé is always cut to the size of the headshot and stapled to the back of it. That's industry standard. Another reason why you should always staple them altogether is because if they get separated among all the mail that comes into those offices, they might not find their way back together again and you might lose out. Worse yet, you might not ever know it!

The downsizing of the cover letter was just one of the little tricks of the trade that I learned from Leslie Becker in my one on one consultation with her.

Mailings

I also use this mailing time to write postcards to my existing contacts to keep in touch and report any jobs I've gotten recently or even close calls such as call-backs or on-holds since the last time I sent correspondence to them. On that note, in the many question and answer sessions I have participated in with casting directors and agents, one of the questions that frequently arises is, "How often should actors keep in touch with agents and casting directors?" Almost always, the answer is, whenever you have something to say. The best things to say, as far as I have learned are things about what you have done recently in the way of acting; shows you have been in, movies, tv programs, independent films, commercials, or whatever. I've been taught to make my communication count and not send cards or correspondence just to say hi! Keeping in touch this way is professional and has paid off in that even the close call reports have resulted in my being called personally by casting directors to come in and audition.

Keeping in touch with industry contacts

And how to keep in touch is something I learned from Brian O'Neil's seminar and book. I completely transformed the way I approached my business of being an actor, after having taken several forums, during which I met with casting directors and agents. Brian O'Neil's book Acting As A Business is full of tips and valuable info. It's easy to see why it's one of the most read books in the Drama Book Shop in New York. I read it twice!

After putting together my mail, it's shower time and off to the first commercial audition of the day, which usually isn't before 11 - 11:30am. The first could be an on-camera commercial audition at House Productions downtown. The next one is around 2pm, for an industrial at Don Case Casting and then another around 3:30pm for an on-camera commercial down at Liz Lewis Casting. There's no rhyme or reason to what types of auditions. Could be three or four auditions usually either commercials, film, industrial or go-see (term used for commercial print auditions/castings) for print work.

In the next article, I'll finish the story. Or the day rather.

Anthony Smith left a successful corporate career as a senior manager in Nike and Levi's after 15 years to follow his dream of becoming an entrepreneur, writer, motivational speaker and actor. While enjoying success in his "new" life, Anthony shares his business insight and acting experience with young actors. Aside from acting work, he has created http://www.actingcareerstartup.com and his first book, Acting Career Start-Up: Four Key Factors For Success will hit the U.S. market in March 2007.

One Day in the Life of an Indian Teacher

(From Internet)

She wakes up around 5.45 in the morning. She normally requires an alarm to wake her up, because 6 hours of sleep is all that she can hope to get and that isn't really adequate.

She begins the day with her textbooks, brushing up for the classes she needs to take that day. That's the only time of day at home that she gets to herself, because all others are still fast asleep. She then prepares breakfast, packs lunch for her school-going elder son, her husband and herself, and gets a bag ready with dresses, diapers and snacks for her baby who has to go to a daycare later in the day with her husband.

If she had overnight put some clothes in the washing machine to wash, she takes out those clothes and puts them up on the clothes stand to dry.

All of that in less than one and a half hours, because by 7.30 she must herself also be ready to leave the house.

She takes an autorickshaw for the first two kilometers, up to a point where she can take a bus for the next 8 km. There's no college bus, so she depends on the government's bus service, which can be unreliable and crowded; and also difficult because she must necessarily wear a sari. The bus does not go up to the college, so she needs to take yet another bus for a further 2 km, and do some brisk walking for the final half a km.

The morning chores and the unreliability of the buses are a huge tension, because she must be in college by 8.20 to sign the teachers' attendance register. The register is taken away soon after.

Classes begin at 8.30. There are multiple classes in a day. Some classes have over 50 students, and that means she has to often shout to be heard. Students that age are also often difficult to handle. She has to frequently deal with girls (it’s a girls college) who are short of attendance and who are at risk of not being allowed for examinations (and not always for good reasons like in the case of Unmukt Chand). She has to deal with their parents. There’s typically a lot of pleading and weeping during these sessions, but university rules are university rules, and the teacher can’t bend them at her whim.

She is invariably in some college committee - an examination committee or a fest committee or an event committee. There are lots of such committees and they often involve a lot of work.

At 3, she is set to head home, unless there’s a college function, in which case it could be even later. A colleague who comes in a car drops her up to a point, from where she takes a bus to get to her baby’s daycare. The road from the daycare to the house is currently in a mess and autorickshaws mostly decline to come that way. So on most days she walks for 1.5 km, carrying her baby, her college bag and the baby’s bag. On some days there’s even a shopping bag.

Back home, she’s once again busy, dusting furniture as the maid sweeps and mops the floors, preparing snacks for the kids, and later dinner. She manages to catch a few TV serials that she is fond of, sometimes dozing off in between because the day has been tiring. Late in the night, she is back with her textbooks, preparing for the next day’s classes. If there has been an examination, there are plenty of papers to correct late into the night.

She has been with the college for 10 years now. She worked prior to that for another five years. Last year one of her nephews passed out of an engineering college and joined HCL Technologies in Bangalore. This year one of her nieces passed out of the college where this teacher teaches, and joined Goldman Sachs’ backoffice operations in Bangalore. Both these freshers receive salaries that are as much or more than the salary she receives after 15 years of working, six days a week.

The UGC has raised teacher salaries. But what is unsaid and unnoticed is that the UGC has abandoned much of the teaching community. Only about 10-20% of the teachers in many colleges receive UGC salaries. The remaining receives salaries fixed by college managements, which are often no more than a third of UGC salaries. And despite numerous UGC vacancies in colleges, the UGC does not fill them up.

On Teachers Day, this teacher who I know came home with lots of flowers, greeting cards and a little gift, a coffee mug. The students clearly like her. It’s these little gestures from students that perhaps keep her going. And the love of teaching.

Companies from around the world flock to India looking for talent. The reason for that can only be our teachers’ commitment to teach, despite all the difficulties they face each day, and their depressing service conditions.

One Day in the Life of a Doctor

(From Internet)

A day in the life of……….…….…a Doctor at Church Street Practice

Patients seen on day: 34

Male: 12

Female: 22

Age <18 : 3

Age 18 - 59 : 20

Age - 60+ : 11

I arrived at work at 7.30 and was the first one in so had to turn off the alarm, put the lights

on and open the consulting room door. I turned on my computer to start the main

programmes which are used to detail patients’ notes, appointments, e-mail, outside mail

and dictation software. Whilst the computer is booting up, I start the day by signing 10

prescriptions left over from previous day. When I get a prescription, it is not just signing it

but involves looking up and checking medications, renewing repeats in some cases and

dealing with queries that the dispensary staff can’t answer (i.e. medications a patient hasn't

had for a while, or repeats asked for too early or too late). Some patients I know, some I

don't, a few queries to be dealt with later in the day regarding an insulin script.

By 7.45, I start dictating letters for patients I saw yesterday. One is to a local chiropractor

and the other may require some investigation regarding an allergic reaction, I am not sure

who would be most appropriate to refer to. I will ask the secretaries to look into this.

Interrupted at 7:55 by another GP to discuss a few of the day’s issues and also a couple of

patients he had seen. In particular, we are at issue with the treatment of tennis elbow and

the use of steroid injections!

At 8:00 I finish dictating then load up the blood test results which have been sent from the

JR. These are sent electronically to reception at 8am and are distributed according to who

asked for the tests. All have to be verified and commented on. It is a tedious process.

Some patients I will remember but some of the routine checks, I may not and it often

requires reviewing the notes of each patient. I have about 40 results this morning, which is

about average. They are a mixture of things from regular screen for diabetes and

hypertension to more urgent tests. The comments will range from saying they are normal

to asking patients to talk to me. One particular result which indicates low potassium will

require me to ring the patient later to make a plan for thinking about dietary increases and

then repeating the test. I will do this at the mid-morning break.

Its now 20 past eight and I wander down to talk to the GP who has an interest in eye

problems about a girl I saw yesterday. I am not sure what's wrong and have asked her to

come and see him today. At the same time I look at some photos of a rash that he has been

sent which seems non-descript. We discuss the photo with another GP who has an interest

in dermatology.

08:25 Just enough time before the referral meeting to check emails. (I am presently

arranging the 2nd meeting of a young GPs group. We meet monthly to discuss the latest

clinical, political and personal issues!) I also look up any updates to the management of

nocturnal leg cramps, which I saw someone with yesterday (making sure my knowledge is

up to date!).

At 8.30 each day we have a referral meeting where the GPs discuss all referrals we are

thinking of making. The reason behind this is to make sure that they are appropriate.

There are often other ways of dealing with a problem than just getting a specialist opinion

and the practice uses each GPs own specialised knowledge i.e. eyes, skin, women's health,

paediatrics etc to help decide this. There are often solutions we haven't heard of or a more

specific clinic to send patients to. It’s a dynamic group that most practices won't have. I

think we benefit enormously in discussing things with each other and as a result so do the

patients! The patients are getting 5-7 amounts of brain power rather than one! 2

At 9 am, the appointments start. My first is a lady who needs a chaperone and luckily, I

find one of the nurses free before surgery. The use of a chaperone for some examinations

is a must but often disrupts the rest of the day, mainly because finding someone to help

may mean an extra five minutes or more for the patient. The patient I am seeing requires

care jointly between us and the hospital and is reviewed every 6 months. Before the next

patient, I need to call the information manager as I can’t find right heading for the

computer entry. As always she finds the solution quickly!

9:10: See a man of 42 with chronic low back pain and prescribe pain killers. I will review

the medication effectiveness by phone. GPs see an awful lot of back pain, and along with

other chronic joint problems it is often difficult to manage.

9:20: A girl aged 8 with mouth ulcers. It is nice to talk directly to children rather than

parents as they are often good historians!

9:30: See a male, 49, for diarrhoea and vomiting advice. The D+V season started about a

week ago. Most of the time the cause viral and is treated with time and fluids. Often with

self-limiting viral illnesses the main difficulty is putting across to our patients that they will

get better without treatment.

9:40: See a female, 39, with a chest infection which is not improving. Explain giving the

antibiotics time to work and discuss worrying symptoms.

9:50: See a female, 27, with ear an infection which is not improving. Again, explain things

will take time.

10:00: Male, 50, for review of shoulder pain and movement problems. The patient

requires a steroid injection, which is a practical procedure I enjoy doing – and hopefully

the patient will benefit from it too!

10:10: Female, 73, who is suffering continued problem with breathlessness. Exercise and

healthy lifestyle were discussed. I referred her for a chest X-ray and will review in a

month after x-ray, if it is normal. We also discuss her recent blood results. I’m now

running 5 minutes late.

10:20: Male, 78, came for review with his wife, after having an echo of his heart. He has

heart failure and will require changes in his medication and a review by the community

heart failure nurse. Apart from this I also reviewed a skin lesion, and gave him the `flu jab.

I want to make sure his wife is coping as his main carer and we explore this. I discussed

the South and Vale Carers organisation and the case management team who may be of

some help in the future. Now 10 mins late

10:50: Mid morning break. Fill it with more script signing, a couple of phone calls caused

by blood tests this morning and prescription requests. Issue prescriptions and arrange for

district nurses to do bloods on the patient with low potassium. At coffee had an interesting

discussion with another GP about the moments where as doctors we know the diagnosis is

going to be bad and how we discuss this with patients and explore their worries.

Now I have 4 telephone slots. These are each 5 minutes long.

11:10: Continued diarrhoea, in female, 41.

11:15: Medication review for a female, 48.

11:20: Medication review and vomiting in a boy aged 4 after he took the medication I had

prescribed yesterday. Symptoms caused by medications we prescribe are often

unavoidable but I still worry whether it was right thing to do.

11:25: Check before a visit to a female, 89.

Back to seeing patients.

11:30: Female, 60, concerned with a chronic headache. Headaches are often a difficult

problem to deal with as patients often think the worst and we have to reassure them that it

is a mostly a benign temporary condition.

11:40: Female, 77, who is tired and has been asked to come in by husband. 3

11:50: A double appointment for antenatal (pregnancy) check on a female, 41.

12:10: A female, 23, who needed health education about the cervical screening program

and symptoms. Public health and patient education - always a worthwhile part of the day!

12:20: A last minute cancellation meant I could catch up with prescriptions. This also

meant I was now running on time again!

12:30: Girl aged 5 with allergy.

12:40: Telephone call to elderly patient with blood in urine but a history of cancer who

feels weak. I will need to visit him later.

12:50: Started eating lunch, while going through 10 more prescription requests and issuing

medications that the dispensary can not issue.

1:10: Interrupted by a GP from Newbury Street practice. He requires a signature on a

cremation certificate for a patient who had died. This necessitates a history and then

talking to someone who was around at the time of death. In this case, I was able to

telephone Wantage Hospital, where patient died, and speak to one of the health care

assistants. However, the staff member who knew patient would not be in until tomorrow

so spoke to Knapps to inform them that certificate would be done then.

1:20: Filling in two insurance forms for patients either claiming insurance or applying for

it. This is a tedious job as you need to sift through a patient’s history even if you know

them well!

2:00: Visits: First to Childrey to visit a patient recently discharged from Wantage hospital

following a hip replacement. Patient very anxious that I may re-admit them but doing well

so needed a lot of reassurance and going over safety. Carers and a son close by but I make

a mental note that may need to be referred to the case management team in the future.

....Then back to Wantage to visit the patient I spoke to earlier with blood in urine. There

are lots of difficult problems which I was able to discuss openly with the patient as they

know they have had cancer for some time. The patient was last seen at the hospital 2 years

ago, and it's probably time to be seen again. It is encouraging that the patient is open about

what may or may not be. Patient choice and frankness are important here. I will be

referring him to Urology. Took blood while there. I also need to contact the district nurses

by e-mail to warn them, as if continues could lead to the patient needing a catheter. Get

back to practice an hour later, run through reception discussing with dispensary about a

Nomad tray for a patient's meds. Solve issue and collect rest of scripts (another 20) to

check, sign etc! Have to then fill in details of visits into patients notes.

3:20: Check mail - usually letters and other information regarding patients which are

scanned in every day. They are generally on the system from 3pm but do get put on

throughout the day. The number of letters varies wildly from a few to having 30! Today I

have an average of 12. In looking at them I have to high-light and comment for things

which need to be summarised into notes or not. There are always extra things to do

sometimes doing a prescription, contacting patients or discussing as a team. Today a letter

from rheumatologist asks for a patient to have digital retinal screening. I discussed this

with a colleague as the investigation is probably not needed, and will discuss it further with

the ophthalmologist when she comes to clinic on Friday morning and then e-mail the

consultant.

3:40: Telephone appointment not taken

3:45: Telephone appointment not taken

3:50: 41 year-old female with multiple problems. We also discussed smoking cessation

and childhood sleep problems in son.

4:00: Female, 24 with issues with pill and its risks. Changed type and gave counselling.

Also discussed weight management and referred to nurse team for weight issues – the

nurses are more up-to-date with knowledge and better equipped to deal with this.4

4:10: Female, aged 60, with dizziness who is worried due to history of cancer, maybe

connected. Now running 5m late

4:20: Shoulder pain in a female, aged 52. Now 7m late

4:30: Female, 41. Double appointment to review low mood which allowed time to discuss

all issues. Double appointments are very useful with psychological complaints. The time

allows us to explore ideas without being rushed! Although I am now10m late

4:50: Male, aged 62, with problems with medication. 12min late

5:00: Coffee but really straight into next appointment as running 12 minutes late!

5:10: Urinary problem in a 21 year-old female.

5:20: Male, 64 with tendonitis.

5:30: On going treatment of a female, 47, with acute exacerbation of asthma.

5:40: Fertility problems in a 27 year-old female.

5:50: Male, 61, with arthritis. Discussed complementary therapy. I quite enthusiastically

support complementary therapy if it does no harm and doesn’t prevent diagnosis. Often

will use in chronic musculoskeletal problems.

6:00: 50 year-old male with difficult chronic problem.

6:10 Female, 22, discussing contraceptive safety whilst having D+V.

6:20: Infected bite in a 59 year-old male.

At the end of surgery I always look to see how other colleagues are doing with their

appointments. I find that the duty doctor has had to go out on several urgent visits and the

other GPs are seeing some of his patients. Another GP is admitting a patient and thus has

two patients still waiting, I see one and another GP sees the other. In some practices each

GP keeps themselves to themselves and will not necessarily help out in these situations. I

am very happy that we all have similar feelings about work and am pleased I work in such

a supportive environment.

6:40: 39 year-old male with a throat infection due to be seen by the GP on the visit.

After seeing the extra patient, I chat to the receptionist - who is on until 7 - about an

admission last week. Then I finish off a few more prescriptions but some will have to wait

for tomorrow morning! Close down the computer and leave at around 7pm.

Another eventful, interesting 11½ hours..... and I am sure the same again tomorrow!

One Day in the Life of a Medical Intern

(From Internet)

Many a medical show has portrayed the struggles of a medical intern (albeit more dramatically), but you might be wondering: What is it really like?

[See U.S. News's Best Medical Schools rankings.]

Dr. Patrick Wiita, an intern at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, took time out of his hectic schedule to give us a candid snapshot into a day of his intern experience at one of the nation's busiest hospitals.

5 a.m.: Second alarm goes off—the real one this time. I learned to set two alarms to feel I'm sneaking in an extra half hour of sleep. Get out of bed, shower, get dressed. Today it's scrubs because my team is on call.

5:30 a.m.: Drive to work. Luckily it's early so traffic isn't horrendous.

6 a.m.: Park. Head to the 8th floor of L.A. County/USC's main hospital: Pediatrics. Search desperately for valuable computer time. Print out my patient list. Come back from the printer to see my computer already hijacked. Find another computer. My senior resident reminds me that, thanks to confusing recent residency work hour changes, my co-intern won't arrive until 8 p.m.—so I now get to see all of his patients this morning, too.

6:30 a.m.: Seeing patients. Surprisingly, kids don't like to be woken up at 6:30. They are not happy to see me. Happily, they're all fine (for now).

7 a.m.: Morning Report. Well, first, grab breakfast. Last night's on-call team presents two clinical cases for discussion. The first case is a 12-year-old girl with a seizure disorder whom they suspect has psychogenic seizures. As an intern eventually specializing in psychiatry, my interest is piqued.

8 a.m.: Grand Rounds. Today it's on Fetal Alcohol Disorders, presented by one of our Developmental Pediatrics specialists. As a psychiatry intern on Pediatrics for two months, I'm still enjoying the department's teaching.

9 a.m.: Rounds! I meet our supervising attending and medical students up on the 8th floor; we see our patients, formulate plans, and write orders. One of the students gives us a presentation on antiepileptic medications and also brought cake.

10 a.m.: Time to write progress notes for our patients. We discuss overnight events, document our exams, and discuss plans for today and tomorrow.

11:30 a.m.: We get a call that one of our patients, recently diagnosed with leukemia, who we saw playing video games in the playroom just 20 minutes ago, is now unresponsive and in respiratory distress. We push IV antiepileptics and start manual ventilation while transferring him to the Pediatric ICU.

12 p.m.: Family meeting for a teenager with cerebral palsy. He needs his nutrition through a feeding tube but he's not tolerating the feeds anymore. Our Palliative Care specialist joins us to discuss prognosis.

1:30 p.m.: Lunch. I just finish my cup of coffee as my pager goes off.

2:30 p.m.: Three new ER admissions: a toddler with a probable genetic disorder refusing to eat, a grade-schooler with his first asthma attack, and a teenage girl with likely appendicitis. My senior resident takes the appendicitis case and I supervise the medical students seeing the other two.

3:30 p.m.: Finally done seeing the screeching toddler and ordering studies with one medical student, move on to the asthma case with my other student.

4:30 p.m.: Documentation time. The other interns have gone home but today it's my turn to wait to hand off my team's patients to the night intern. At least now I have my pick of computers in the workroom.

6:30 p.m.: Done with charting and requesting consultations. Update the patient list so it's ready when my co-intern arrives at 8.

7:30 p.m.: Drive home. Tonight it's drive-thru food for dinner.

8:15-9:15 p.m.: Watching TV while eating drive-thru tacos.

10:15 p.m.: Bed. Get to wake up at 5 a.m. tomorrow and do it all over again.

Medical school and residency can feel hectic at times, but many graduates describe the process as transformative. Knowing what it's like to walk in an intern's shoes for a day is important in making a decision on whether medicine is the best fit for you.

One Day in the Life of a Junior Doctor

(From Internet)

Over a year after graduating from medical school, Dr. Vicky Donkin talks about the realities of working as a junior doctor.

August 2nd 2010 was the day I walked onto a ward in my scrubs with a Dr. before my name. I spent my F1 year (foundation year one, also known as preregistration year) working in Exeter. Then, after becoming fully registered with the General Medical Council (GMC), I moved to Torbay hospital in South Devon.

It’s been a whirlwind, and nothing you learn at medical school really prepares you for the transition. However, it’s not all bright lights and dramatic operations as shows like Casualty would have you believe. The vast majority of your job for the first year or two will be paperwork and practical procedures such as taking blood and inserting cannulas (drips). But you play a key part in the running of your team and it is usually you that knows the patients best.

Throughout the winter I worked on a ward caring for the elderly, one of the busiest departments given bed pressures and winter outbreaks of flu, pneumonia and vomiting bugs. Much of our work was centred on rehabilitation and ensuring safe discharge for vulnerable elderly patients.

A day as an F1 doctor in care of the elderly would often run like this:

08:30 Arrive at work to add new patients to the list and discuss any issues that have arisen over night with the nurses.

09:15 Board round led by myself and an F2 (foundation year two doctor) taking it in turns to discuss each patient with the rest of the ward team (made up of nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and pharmacists) and make plans for the day. Board round is a key time to allow everyone to have an opportunity to speak and to prioritise particularly unwell patients and urgent jobs.

09:30 Ward round: twice weekly consultant led rounds where it was my job to tell the consultant about each patient, to ensure unwell patients were seen first and no one missed. Hopefully the round would be finished by midday to give time for lunch. On days with no consultant the F2 and I conducted our own ward round ensuring that all patients - especially new patients – were seen. This gave us the opportunity to develop clinical assessment and decision-making skills.

13:00 Catching up with jobs from the ward round, writing discharge letters to GPs and prescriptions for patients.

14:30 Visiting time, mostly spent speaking to patients and relatives about their condition, care and discharge planning.

16:30 End of visiting time, review of job lists to ensure all jobs done, update list and home by 17:30. However, I may be called to review a sick patient at any time, making the day unpredictable and variable.

Although this is how a ward works during a normal day, weekends and nights have much less staff on duty and patients are only seen when required and only urgent jobs are done. This is the time when skills in triage, prioritisation and efficiency are important.

One day in the life of a Police Officer

From the Internet

Working as a police officer brings on a range of emotions. It can leave you feeling satisfied, rewarded, sad, disgruntled, lonely and fulfilled, all in the same shift. If you've ever wondered what it's like to work in law enforcement, take a look at a day in the life of a police officer.

The alarm wakes you up from your long sleep or your nap, depending on what shift you're on. You grab a quick shower to get the sleep out and give yourself a thorough shave so your sergeant doesn't ding you on your inspection.

As you get dressed, your whole demeanor changes. You become quiet, stern and thoughtful as you prepare yourself mentally for whatever the day is going to bring. You stop being "you." Slowly, as you strap on your ballistic vest, tie your boots and zip up your uniform shirt, you become "officer you." As you wrap your utility belt around your waist, the transformation is complete.

In Service and Ready for Duty

You kiss your kids and your husband or wife goodbye or goodnight, again depending on what shift you're on, and step outside and into just another day on the job. You sit down in your patrol car, turn the ignition, and reach for your police radio. You key the microphone and advise your dispatcher that you're "10-8," in service and ready for duty.

Traffic Stop

As you pull out of your driveway and onto the main road, you spot a car with a headlight missing. You pull the vehicle over, get out of your car and cautiously approach. You wonder whether this will be your last traffic stop ever as you get closer to the violator's car.

You introduce yourself and inform the driver that you pulled him over because his headlight is out. You let him know that it's a potential safety hazard because it affects not only his ability to see, but other drivers' ability to see his car. You issue him a warning or faulty equipment notice to remind him to get it fixed and wish him a safe day.

Crash With Injuries

Back in your patrol car, your dispatcher advises you that there's a serious traffic crash with injuries and entrapment near your location. You inform him that you're "10-51 10-18," en route with lights and sirens.

When you arrive on the scene, you see chaos. Two vehicles appear to be welded together. The coolant and oil that was spilled in the crash is burning and boiling off of the still-hot engines, transforming what was once two distinct vehicles into one massive, steaming pile of twisted metal.

Though you're trained to give first aid and basic life support, you are silently thankful that an ambulance is already on scene. You see paramedics talking to a bloodied driver in one of the vehicles, while firefighters work fervently to cut a way into the vehicle to get her out. There's a driver in the other car as well, but he's not moving. No one's trying to help him, either.

A crowd is gathering as you talk to one of the paramedics and confirm what you already knew, that the crash involved a fatality. You call for a traffic homicide investigator begin to cordon off the scene with crime scene tape. Out of respect for the deceased, you grab a fire blanket out of your first aid bag and drape it over the dead person's car.

You gather witnesses, take statements and work to identify the drivers. When the traffic homicide investigator arrives, you brief her and provide the information you've obtained so far. She takes over the investigation, and you offer to provide whatever assistance she needs.

Notifying Next of Kin

Relieved of investigative responsibilities, the task falls to you to inform the deceased's next of kin. In this case, it's a wife who stays home to care for two small children. You show up at her door and ring the doorbell.

She answers the door and stares at you as you stand there with your hat in your hand. She knows why you're there, and you know she knows. There's no easy way to tell her, so you rip the band aid off. "Ma'am, I'm very sorry to tell you that your husband has been killed in a car crash." Naturally, she cries, while you do your best not to. You offer to make phone calls for her and to stay with her until a family member, minister or friend can get there.

Back on Patrol

After you've made sure that the new widow has been cared for, you get back into your patrol car and inform dispatch of the time you made notification. You advise that you're "10-98," task completed, and that you're "back 10-8."

Worn out and thirsty from the day so far, you stop at a gas station to get a cup of coffee. You avoid doughnut shops at all cost so you don't play into the stereotype. You drive through the parking lot and scope the place out one time to make sure you're not walking blindly into a robbery. As soon as you walk in the door, the clerk greats you and asks you to deal with some teenagers who are causing a disturbance in the store. You never do get your coffee.

Real Police Work: Report Writing

After you leave the gas station, you find a vacant parking lot to catch up on reports. You park someplace where people can see you if they need help, and it doesn't take long before someone does. As they approach, you get out of your car so they can't surprise you while you're sitting down. You're always thinking tactically. As it turns out, they just need directions, which you are more than happy to provide.

You just get back to your report writing when another car pulls up. You get back out of your car and meet an elderly woman who's frightened because her door was open when she got home, and she remembers shutting it and locking it. She asks you to come to her house and make sure it's safe and that no one broke in.

Burglary and House Clearing

When you get to the house, you ask her to stay outside by her car as you check the doors for any signs of breaking in. You notice scrape marks on the rear door and it appears someone tampered with the lock. You draw your handgun and enter the house to clear it, wondering if it will be the last thing you do.

Finding no one in the house, you ask the woman to come in and see if anything is missing. You caution her not to touch anything as you process the scene, and call for a crime scene technician. She gives you a list of what she is missing. You tell her you'll do everything you can to help her get her things back and make sure she's safe and secure before you leave the scene to enter evidence into the property room at the station and write your report.

She offers you $20 dollars for your trouble, which you decline. She insists in paying you for your services despite the fact that you tell her you're already getting paid. She continues to press the issue, so you ask her to donate it to a charity of her choice instead.

You drop off your evidence at the station and realize that it's almost time for your shift to end. After you finish the required paperwork, you get back in your car and start your way home.

You Never Get Home On Time...

As you're pulling into your neighborhood, you notice a car in front of you is weaving within it's lane, slowing down, speeding up and braking erratically. You become concerned that the driver is either impaired, tired or sick. Whatever the case, you know it requires further investigation.

Despite the fact that your shift ended 15 minutes ago, you pull the car over. When you approach the vehicle, you're greeted by the strong and distinct odor of an alcoholic beverage. The driver's eyes are bloodshot and watery, and his speech is slurred.

Even though you're already late getting home, and even though it will take another three hours before you're finished with the paperwork, you know your job and your duty so, after the driver performs poorly on the field sobriety exercises you offered, you make the arrest.

One More Day Down

After you've left your paperwork at the jail, you make your way home. Fortunately, this time, you don't come across any other issues. You walk in your front door four hours later than you were supposed to. Depending on your shift, your dinner's long gone cold or your family has already had breakfast and left to start their days.

You take off your uniform and slowly transform back into yourself. Tired from a long day, you lay down to go to sleep. Your last thoughts are about how happy you are to have the opportunity to do be a police officer, and how thankful you are that you made it home safely for one more day.

One day in the life of a Servant

(From Internet)

AT 7 O’CLOCK each morning, Jagannath Mandal is up and dressed in his white working clothes, making fresh ginger tea for “Madam”, whom he never calls by name. Mr Mandal will today juggle the roles of cook, driver, butler, cleaner and laundryman. He will be on his feet for 11 hours, albeit with an afternoon break.

Mr Mandal is one of India’s tens of millions of domestic workers. Servants are an established tier of Indian society, as they were in Britain and America until the early 20th century. Affluent families have long enjoyed having live-in staff. Yet as we’ll explore in a forthcoming article, 24/7 help is becoming harder to find, as job opportunities increase and most servants’ unregulated wages stay low. Mr Mandal, who has lived with the same family in Mumbai for 30 years and estimates that he is 60 years old, seems to be one of a dying breed.

Mr Mandal’s main workplace is this narrow kitchen, barely more than a metre wide, in a plush but compact seafront flat. “I’m here day and night, so if anything is required I can do it,” he says cheerily in Hindi as he makes upma, a savoury semolina dish, for breakfast. He then fries cauliflower, cooks dal and makes chapatti dough in preparation for lunch. “Sir” works from home, as does the family’s youngest son. The two elder children now live in America.

The job is exhausting. Other morning duties include washing the car, buying groceries, setting the table, answering the phone and the door, and driving Madam to work. “I’m used to it,” he says of the aching soles and calves. “After I come back from [a holiday in] the village, it pains for two-three days, but then it goes.”

In the early 1980s Mr Mandal, then a famer, left Bihar, an impoverished northern state, in search of work. He soon joined this family as a live-in cleaner and was later promoted to cook. He chops vegetables finely and speedily like a TV chef; his chapattis are as light as paper. He earns 9,000 rupees ($172) a month—whereas a live-in cleaner would make on the order of 5,000-7,000 rupees—as well as the standard perks of meals, one or two sets of clothes and one month’s paid leave every year. His employers, who hold him in great affection, also cover his health-care costs and his youngest son’s IT course; many in their position would not.

Mr Mandal sits down for the first time at 2.30pm. He spends most of his afternoon break sleeping in the empty waiting area for one of the building’s retired lifts. He could put his thin rollout mattress on the floor of the flat, but prefers it here. He often chats outside with staff from other flats but, with afternoon tea to brew at 5pm, he rarely goes beyond the compound. After the chai, he does the ironing and makes supper. Every meal is made from scratch. “I have a great view so I don’t have to go out,” he shrugs. The full-length window at the end of the skinny kitchen has a show-stopping view of Mumbai’s coastline and the Arabian Sea below. He eats his meals in this corner, perched on a stool.

Washing machines and microwaves have made his job easier. Other technologies have not. “It used to be that everyone was out of the house by 8am to go to the office. But now because of the internet they can work from home,” he says. “There’s always a pressure to behave a certain way when your boss is around.”

After the family retires at 10pm, Mr Mandal watches TV for an hour (he follows the news closely). Fewer young people have been becoming servants over the past five to ten years, he reckons, partly due to the poor pay. He doesn’t mind the lack of freedom or privacy, which also tends to deter them. In a plastic tub by his stool, he keeps his health-insurance card and a pair of special glasses for watching eclipses out the window. “There’s always something to look at,” he says. “I watch the ships come and go.”

One day in the Life of an Airline Pilot

(From Internet)

It’s not common for most passengers to question how their pilot’s day has started. They just go about their business of getting to the airport on time, getting through security and hoping to have a little time to grab themselves a vente white chocolate mocha from Starbucks. Did you know your pilot is likely going through the same thing? The pilot’s schedule can be an extremely rigorous one. Some may only fly a few times a month and some may fly as many as 4 to 5 days a week, depending on their seniority number within their company. The higher their number, the better schedule they can get. The FAA rules state an airline pilot can fly up to 100 hours in a month and not exceed 8 hours of actual flying time within a 24 hour period. Sure, that seems like a great deal considering most folks work on average of 40 plus hours per week which is 160 hours or more a month. Most people might assume, the airline pilot has it easy. The reality is actually the complete opposite once you factor in the other components such as the amount of time the pilot might be sitting around the airport. Many pilots work an average duty day of 13 hours. The maximum duty day for a pilot can’t exceed 16 hours according to the FAA’s current rules. The duty time is the time a pilot is on the job and available to fly.

The typical day of an airline pilot will usually start the night before. What time did they arrive to their hotel? How much sleep did they get? That answer can be broken down on a few levels. The pilot may have started a very early morning shift the day before which may have put him or her into their hotel before 6pm, giving them plenty of time to rest. However, the quality of rest can be debatable. Pilots are usually put into hotels the airline feels are affordable for their bottom line. These guys and gals aren’t typically staying at the Hilton or a Ritz Carlton. The quality of rest can be very hit or miss. Another common scenario might include the pilot working the maximum duty day allowance. They may not have gotten to their rooms until late at night and have a 6 am flight the following morning. The FAA’s current rest requirement is 8 hours. That does not include the time it takes to de board your final flight of the evening, powering off the airplane, walking through the airport to catch the hotel shuttle, driving time to the hotel and the time it takes to check in and get to your room. Those 8 hours have likely decreased.

The following day begins with the hotel shuttle from the hotel to the airport where the pilots must go through the standard security. Many airports have separate lines for employees to help get the flight crews through quicker without the long waits most passengers might encounter. The pilot will then check their gate information and head to their aircraft. Once at the gate, the gate agent will get the pilots paper work printed. This paper work will include the flight plan, weather information, the weight of the aircraft, estimated flight time and other important information such as any minor maintenance issues that airplane may have. If time permits, they may attempt to grab a bite to eat if they didn’t have the opportunity at the hotel. Most hotels do provide some type of breakfast for crew members, however, if it’s a 6 am flight for the crew, the odds are they breakfast wasn’t available yet. It’s very common for many flight crews to not eat for the first few hours of their duty time.

Once the crew is situated on their airplane, they begin the routine of running the airplane’s numerous system checks and other checklists. The copilot generally heads outside to do a walk around of the aircraft looking for any abnormalities, such as low tire pressure, leaks and the exterior condition of the engines and the airplane’s control surfaces such as the wings and flaps. Once that is completed he or she will then head back into the cockpit to complete the other duties such as programming the FMS (flight management system). This is the computer that is programmed with the flight plan information and is the main navigation system for the aircraft. It works in coordination with the airplane’s autopilot system. After the preflight cockpit procedures are completed the pilots may take the time to brief the rest of the crew about the flight and safety procedures if he or she has to declare an emergency.

Once the airplane is boarded and ready for departure, the pilots will get the necessary clearance from the tower as well as taxi instructions to the runway. Even though the busy work might be done, the pilots still have a lot of duties to do inflight. They will constantly monitor the airplanes systems as well as make note of close airports in the event they need to deviate due to weather or any mechanical issues that may happen. They are also constantly preparing for the final phase of the flight; the landing.

The landing phase is an extremely important and potentially stressful moment for every pilot. Prior to landing the pilots will get the destination airports current weather conditions as well as the wind speeds. This is done in order to calculate a number of important factors for a safe and efficient landing. If there is a heavy thunderstorm in the area, the pilots may have to put the airplane in a holding pattern near the airport until the storm has passed. On occasion, the visibility may be diminished at a destination airport making it extremely challenging for pilots. It requires an endless amount of concentration in preparing for what pilots call an IFR approach (instrument approach) where the pilot relies mostly on their cockpit instruments without the assistance from the control tower. These are fairly routine procedures but they can also become very stressful at times.

After making a successful approach and landing, the airplane is parked at the gate and the pilot starts the process all over again with a different group of passengers. For many pilots, this can be repeated many times in one day. The life of an airline pilot isn’t the glamor many folks may have envisioned when they board their flight. The schedules can be very rigorous and extremely draining on a pilot’s physical and mental well-being. Recently the FAA put a new rule into motion that will give pilots 10 hour of required rest in addition to cutting back on their allowed duty time.

One Day in the Life of a Nurse

A Day in the Life of a Nurse (From Internet)

It is 5:00 am Monday morning and as I turn off the alarm clock I know that I need to get going and not be late for work. This will be my third 12 hour shift and I can’t wait until my day off tomorrow but now I need to get to work. I sure hope my day today is better than yesterday. Yesterday began like any other day. I arrived at work and had my coffee and chatted with my coworkers before the shift report. We were all in a good mood and looking forward to a calm day. I received report on my patients and I was ready to begin the day.
It didn’t take long for the day to fall apart. One of my patients was going to surgery in 30
minutes and the consent was not signed. I had to contact the physician to make sure the
procedure was explained to the patient. It took three calls before I could reach the physician.
Once the patient left for surgery I was behind on administering medications. I rushed to catch up and some of the medications were not available so I had to call the pharmacy twice to get the medications. As soon as I thought I was caught up I received a new patient from the Emergency room. The patient was in a lot of pain and also spoke only Spanish and I had trouble getting the information I needed to call the doctor. I contacted the interpreter to assist me with getting the information that I needed. The patient was experiencing a lot of pain so my priority was to contact the physician and give the patient medication to relieve the pain.
While this was going on one of my patient’s family members wanted to speak with me. As I tried to talk with them, the patient I had sent to surgery arrived back in his room. I needed to stop my conversation with the family and excuse myself to check the patient from surgery. It took 45 minutes to get the surgery patient settled and comfortable before I could return to talk to the previous family member. Okay, it was only 10:00 am and I was exhausted. I still had so much to do and nine more hours to work. I ran to the break room and had a quick cup of coffee to rejuvenate myself and then go back to work. Things went smoothly for the next hour and I thought that now the rest of the day will be fine. Wrong!
One of my patients slipped and fell and the new admission was having increased pain and I
needed to deal with both situations at the same time. I called both physicians and the patient who fell needed to go to have x-rays and the patient with pain needed to go for a CT scan. I got both patients prepared and sent off for their tests.
For the next hour things were quiet and I had the time to actually visit all of my patients and
make sure that they were all comfortable. I was supposed to be doing hourly rounds on each of the six patients but I had not been able to see all of them every hour. I really needed to do better the rest of the day and see each of the patients hourly.
The patient who fell was okay without any injuries and was now resting in her room. The patient with the pain needed to go to surgery immediately so I began to prepare him. I contacted the interpreter and family to instruct them on what was going to take place. I needed to complete all of the pre-operative orders and call physicians in addition to completing all of the teaching. This took about one hour to complete. Now my hourly rounds were once again behind schedule. It was also time to pass medications again to all of my patients. My coworker came by and said “let’s go to lunch”. I responded that I can’t go yet because I am trying to catch up with my work.
It was 1:00 pm and I finally had some time to eat lunch. No sooner do I sit down to eat and I
received a phone call that the physician for the patient who fell was here and wanted me in the patient’s room right away. I went to meet the physician and discuss the patient’s condition. There were additional tests to be done so I needed to arrange the tests before I could go back to lunch. It was now 2:00 pm. The good news was that I finally finished lunch. The better news was that there were only five and one half more hours to go before I could go home. I went back out to check my patients and the charge nurse approached me. She stated that another nurses needed to leave for a family emergency and I would need to take care of two additional patients for the remainder of the day. I reluctantly agreed even though I was already so busy with my other six patients. I checked on the two new patients and then I sat down to do some charting. Even
thought the charting is on the computer it was still time consuming. I also needed to complete the risk report for the patient who fell. By 3:30 pm the patient was back from surgery and after 45 minutes I had him settled and comfortable. The shift was over for those who worked only eight hours and I was jealous that they could leave and I still had four hours to go. I met with the new staff and filled them in on the events of the day. I started rounds on my eight patients and hoped for a smooth four hours. Just as I was finishing rounds on the patients one of the patients pulled out her IV and another just was informed that she could go home and her family was already waiting and somewhat impatient. Discharge teaching and preparation takes at least 30 minutes to complete properly but I really needed to restart the IV. I spoke to the impatient family and informed them that it would take a little time to get the paperwork ready and I had a procedure to perform first. They were not happy but reluctantly agreed to wait. Of course the IV did not go in smoothly and it took three tries to finally place it. Now the family was really upset and I went to do the discharge process.
It was 6:00 pm and I only have one hour to go. I was on the home stretch and what else could go wrong? Then it happened. There was only one empty bed on the unit and I needed to admit another emergency room patient with only an hour of the shift to go. Fortunately most of my coworkers were relatively caught up and they all helped to admit the patient. Admissions go so well when done by a team effort. I finished calling the physician, completing the new orders and charting just in time for the end of the shift at 7:30 pm. I gave report to the oncoming nurse and went home. I was so exhausted that I only ate a bowl of cereal and went to bed. Now it is time to go to work again. Yesterday was a busy but a successful day. Today may be busy again but I am a nurse and I know to expect the unexpected. I love being a nurse and I am glad to be going to work for another day.