Textbook Questions
1.”I have done something, oh, Cod! I’ve done something real at last.” Why does Andrew say this? What does it mean?
Ans. Andrew was fresh from the medical school. He was still working as an assistant to Dr Edward Page in Blaenelly. He had yet to prove his merit. He got a chance soon to test all his learning. He knew that a doctor’s job was to save a life. He got a golden opportunity unexpectedly one evening. He was called upon to supervise the delivery case of Susan Morgan. He waited all night. But he was horrified to find the newborn baby almost lifeless. The mother was also collapsing. He first saved the mother’s life by giving an injection. Then he turned to the stillborn baby. He applied treatment he had once seen at school. He dipped the baby first in warm water and then in icy cold water. His effort was crowned with success. The child began to gasp and then cry. Andrew had supreme satisfaction because he had saved two lives.
2. There is a great difference between textbook medicine and the world of a practising physician. Discuss.
Ans. Bookish knowledge and practical experience are equally important for success in any profession. A textbook discusses the symptoms of a disease and its cure. But not all cases are so simple. The physician himself learns a lot while dealing with patients. Andrew rightly guessed that the newborn baby was not all lifeless. There was warmth in the baby but it was a case of lack of oxygen in the blood. He gave an innovative treatment to the baby. He remembered a similar case he had seen earlier. Using hot and cold water and with the gentle pressure of his hands, he revived the child. It was a clear victory of his past practical experience over textbook medicines.
3. Do you know of any incident when someone has been brought back to life from the brink of death through medical help? Discuss medical procedures such as organ transplant and organ regeneration that are used to save human life.
Ans. Let all the students discuss it in classroom and recall incidents when timely medical aid brought a dying person back to life.
