Feb 21, 2021 2 min read

❄️ Freezethawed: The Newsletter #021 - 'Rounds' and the fabric of medicine

Hello!

I hope you all are doing well, as am I. It has been another high leverage week of my peripheral posting at Aravind Eye Hospital with me struggling to make time on a Sunday morning so that I do not skip this week’s newsletter. However, I am glad with the consistency that I am making an effort to keep.

This week, considering the fact that a lot of my subscribers are medical students or young doctors, I thought I’d delve into a frequently thrown-around term among them. I myself found out the origin of the term a couple of weeks back in-spite of using it on and off for the better part of the last three years! If you do not have a medical background also, I am sure you’ve heard this nomenclature, at least in some medical dramas, if not anywhere else.

“Rounds!

Let’s go for rounds!

I’m almost done with rounds!

I’ll see you after rounds!”

“Rounds” is a term that has been used by almost every practicing doctor, of any department at least once. But what does it actually mean?

Here goes:

Sir William Osler, while at John’s Hopkins Hospital introduced this term. The original building at the hospital containing his patients had a circular dome surrounded by octagonal wards. Osler and team of trainees had to walk circular hallways to see patients, hence calling them ’rounds’ and the name stuck!

Nowadays as well, doctors frequently travel the length and breath of the hospital to see patients, often ending at their starting point, which is probably why the term ’rounds’ remains in vogue.

**Osler’s ward at John’s Hopkins Hospital**

Hope this little nugget brightened your day.

See you next week!

Anujeet.

Anujeet’s book journey

Currently I am reading:

– Why We Sleep – Matthew Walker

This one is taking a while. However, I would like to recommend this book to each and every soul, whether you are or aren’t happy with your sleeping habits. It is an insightful read.