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To Colin Douglas' moving comments about the old (and now dead) Royal
Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE), I would like to add a few more.
The RIE will be remembered (not always fondly) by countless doctors
who either as undergraduates or postgraduates attended lectures there and
were taught on the wards. The "medical" lecture theatre was excruciatingly
uncomfortable, but to this day I remember the first two clinical cases (of
renal colic and angina) we were shown during our first week as students.
On occasions the place was truly terrifying, for example turning up in our
suits for the final examinations, but at other times crossing the meadows
on a glorious spring day (cherry blossom overhead, Arthur's seat to the
right) for ward teaching was a heady experience that could not be
bettered. The RIE had the capacity to inspire, and the sense of pride we
had walking in in our fresh white coats was also I think shared by our
patients: this was no ordinary hospital to be treated in!
Lastly, I also remember going past the imposing entrance as a
seventeen year-old schoolboy, on a day trip to Edinburgh with my parents.
I peered through the iron railings to read the inscription over the
entrance steps: "I was a stranger and you took me in. I was sick and you
visited me". A shiver ran down my spine.
An Inspirational Institution
To Colin Douglas' moving comments about the old (and now dead) Royal
Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE), I would like to add a few more.
The RIE will be remembered (not always fondly) by countless doctors
who either as undergraduates or postgraduates attended lectures there and
were taught on the wards. The "medical" lecture theatre was excruciatingly
uncomfortable, but to this day I remember the first two clinical cases (of
renal colic and angina) we were shown during our first week as students.
On occasions the place was truly terrifying, for example turning up in our
suits for the final examinations, but at other times crossing the meadows
on a glorious spring day (cherry blossom overhead, Arthur's seat to the
right) for ward teaching was a heady experience that could not be
bettered. The RIE had the capacity to inspire, and the sense of pride we
had walking in in our fresh white coats was also I think shared by our
patients: this was no ordinary hospital to be treated in!
Lastly, I also remember going past the imposing entrance as a
seventeen year-old schoolboy, on a day trip to Edinburgh with my parents.
I peered through the iron railings to read the inscription over the
entrance steps: "I was a stranger and you took me in. I was sick and you
visited me". A shiver ran down my spine.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests