Arabs, Jews and a Large Needle

Want to discover the Middle East? How about checking yourself in for a night at an Internal medicine department at the Tel Aviv medical center? Like that old Benetton united colors add it's just full of the widest collection of skin tones and languages you can find. The department where I did my six month internal med rotation was an extreme example. Nurses and doctors, patients and families stuffed into a long neon-lit floor with very little in common except all were very busy being sick or trying to get rid of it. We had Muslim nurses, Russian-Jewish doctors, Ethiopian staff members, immigrants from all over the world. The sexual orientation was from a military macho straight doc who likes them young and tender to the flamboyant gay nurse who loves them big and hairy. Hebrew was the common language but not many were truly fluent. Like a mini New York City or an ancient merchant port in the Roman empire all sorts of colourful people managed to get along and continue with the business of living (or dying) despite having so little in common. Medicine has it's way of uniting people. You put aside your personal feelings or political ideas and just focus on a patient in trouble. Amazing how we all regress to being little babies in need when sick and babies don't know racism or prejudice.

And since a sexy image must sign off every post to keep me happy here is one cute aussie beach boy from Beauty and the Bum.


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