A practitioner ponders

摘要

AS I sat quietly reading in the practice staff room this morning, it gradually dawned on me that I'm really rather behind the times nowadays. Partly, the realisation came about because of comments received from the other vets and nurses that were present, comments aimed at my choice of book. I'm currently halfway through Oliver Twist and - as I told the staff, who were being rather derisory towards my literary preference - freely confess that I'm finding it a whole lot more enjoyable than when I hadto read it as part of English lessons many, many years ago at school. The current crop of bestsellers, mainly bulky paperbacks with lurid covers that lay scattered around the staff room, hold no appeal for me; I finished Wuthering Heights last week and intend to move on to the Sherlock Homes Omnibus next. Everyone sniffed in disbelief at my preferences and started enthusiastically comparing notes about whatever it was they were reading instead. However, it's not just my choice of literary material thatmarks me out as old-fashioned. In consultations, I still use a mercury thermometer (in Fahrenheit, not Celsius), rather than one of the new digital ones. I also prefer to send clients a letter or postcard, reminding them that their pet is due a booster,instead of relying on a text message or e-mail. I pay much more attention to what a good nurse tells me about an animal under anaesthetic than what the pulse oximeter is saying. And I still approach our ultrasound machine as if it's going to bite me -1 can never remember which button to press next and end up getting hopelessly confused, much to the amusement of the younger vets.